My legs don't feel fatigued anymore...???
Bhima
Posts: 2,145
When I first started going out riding for fitness, I almost always had really tired legs afterwards (and the next day). This has changed recently though and I'm unsure why...
I have been doing the same 30-mile route every day now for the past 5 weeks and i've noticed improvements in maximum speeds, times taken going up particular hills and a massive decrease in fatigue and heart rate (even though I don't have a HR monitor). I actually got home the other day and it felt like the 30 miles was nothing - so I went out and did it again. After the 60 miles, still, nothing. I didn't feel tired at all! I was going to do another 30 but I was so confused I didn't want to risk pushing too hard and injuring myself. I went to the gym recently and killed it on the exercise bikes for a few hours and the same thing happened.
So more recently, it feels like the limiting factor of how fast/far I can go is not how fatigued my legs are getting but how well i'm breathing - so I usually run out of breath and have to slow down waaay before my legs give in. (Never smoked, by the way, my lungs are clean)
My training sessions have recently been ending with my legs feeling a little tired, but nowhere near as bad as "usual" but the next day, they seem to feel REALLY tight - a lot tighter than usual. I'm doing loads of stretching and eating well so I can only assume that i've passed some kind of fitness threshold where my muscles are getting more "built"/"toned" as opposed to "in shape"... Only been cycling (seriously) for 6 months, you see...
Has this happened to anyone else? Is it normal for this to happen?
I have been doing the same 30-mile route every day now for the past 5 weeks and i've noticed improvements in maximum speeds, times taken going up particular hills and a massive decrease in fatigue and heart rate (even though I don't have a HR monitor). I actually got home the other day and it felt like the 30 miles was nothing - so I went out and did it again. After the 60 miles, still, nothing. I didn't feel tired at all! I was going to do another 30 but I was so confused I didn't want to risk pushing too hard and injuring myself. I went to the gym recently and killed it on the exercise bikes for a few hours and the same thing happened.
So more recently, it feels like the limiting factor of how fast/far I can go is not how fatigued my legs are getting but how well i'm breathing - so I usually run out of breath and have to slow down waaay before my legs give in. (Never smoked, by the way, my lungs are clean)
My training sessions have recently been ending with my legs feeling a little tired, but nowhere near as bad as "usual" but the next day, they seem to feel REALLY tight - a lot tighter than usual. I'm doing loads of stretching and eating well so I can only assume that i've passed some kind of fitness threshold where my muscles are getting more "built"/"toned" as opposed to "in shape"... Only been cycling (seriously) for 6 months, you see...
Has this happened to anyone else? Is it normal for this to happen?
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I must admit i have been cycling regularly for about 3 months now, ie about 100 miles per week and also doing circuit traing etc at the gym and my legs are constantly sore, not to any huge discomfort level but enough to know that they hurt.
So i have been thinking recently about when it may stop.0 -
Yeah, mine were sore around the 3 month mark too - really sore!
I was told a few minutes ago by a mate (swimmer/runner) that his fatigue goes round in cycles - as he gets stronger, his body can handle the training and it then takes about a month of pushing harder to the next level before he really feels fatigued again.
Perhaps this happens with cycling too...
Anyone long-term cyclists got any idea what's going on?0 -
I find it just works like that - you'll always notice your weakest area and it will naturally be the limiting factor in your training, as you improve that weak area you'll just unsurface the next weak link. Eventually as your cardio will catch up with your legs... for me it was then my core fitness that followd next but I don't know if that was due to MTBing but eventually it'll go full circle and it'll be your legs again.
That's how it is for me anyway
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Glad your legs don't hurt anymore...
I wonder if it's the case to open a new topic to say that you are fine. I will open one to let everybody know when my cold has gone
left the forum March 20230 -
Yeah I have the same thing - can tear it up but can't push harder due to breathing, not burning legs. Sometimes about 2 days after a hard session I can feel it in my thighs though.0
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Well, if you want to have a better understanding, then have a read up on the Impulse-Response model of training by Bannister, or perhaps the Performance Manager items by Dr Coggan (which is based on the same I-R model) but is specifically designed for cycling:
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/ ... nager.aspx
In essence, as you ride regularly and provide a training stimulus, your body reacts by developing the physiological adaptations required to better cope with that stress next time.
If the level of stimulus remains static (e.g. 30-mile rides) then over time your body eventually adapts so that it seems "normal" and hence the sensation of it becoming easier. If however you begin to add to that stress (e.g. by riding further and faster) then your body will continue to adapt (up to a point).
It should also be noted that stress is relative, in the sense that what was a hard pace when you started, might be a very comfortable pace now. So in order to get the same level of training stimulus, you'd need to ride just as relatively hard in exertion terms.
It is possible to quatify that stress using various techniques, with the most useful being the Performance Manager (and variants) as previously mentioned, which uses power meter data. Other similar models include TRIMPS based on HR data.
In essence, "the more you train, the more you can train".0
