Cramping, increasing stamina + strength after long rides
slipalongtrevaskus
Posts: 10
Hi all,
Hoping you can help.
Im a dh-er at heart but have been dusting off the Am rig for some fitness and fun. My usual xc loop is around 15 miles which I do at least once a week at what I consider to be a farily fast pace,(im a 25 y/o farmer so Im pretty fit and strong anyway) I starting xcing it at the start of summer.
However I increased my local loop by 5 miles last week and I was hanging. Got really bad cramp in the last mile- something Ive never had before.
On sunday I hit afan and rode white's level in the morning and penhang (or something that looked like that anyway) after lunch. it was 22 miles in all and I completey ran out of steam in the afternoon. It really ruined my day as usally I would get in DH mode and shred the place, like I did for 4 days during the kona mash up in the summer and was fine.
I used nuun electrolite drink all day on sunday, had 5 litres if not more and powerbars, powergel and frusil bars too during the day. But I got cramp in the car on the way back. I found the climbs bloody hard work too, I had to stand up and use my dead weight to pedal, holding myself up with my arms.
I warmed down, sat and span around the car park and stretched, had a choco milkshake too.
Today I dont feel so bad, but what can I do to increase endurance and get rid of my cramping?
Hoping you can help.
Im a dh-er at heart but have been dusting off the Am rig for some fitness and fun. My usual xc loop is around 15 miles which I do at least once a week at what I consider to be a farily fast pace,(im a 25 y/o farmer so Im pretty fit and strong anyway) I starting xcing it at the start of summer.
However I increased my local loop by 5 miles last week and I was hanging. Got really bad cramp in the last mile- something Ive never had before.
On sunday I hit afan and rode white's level in the morning and penhang (or something that looked like that anyway) after lunch. it was 22 miles in all and I completey ran out of steam in the afternoon. It really ruined my day as usally I would get in DH mode and shred the place, like I did for 4 days during the kona mash up in the summer and was fine.
I used nuun electrolite drink all day on sunday, had 5 litres if not more and powerbars, powergel and frusil bars too during the day. But I got cramp in the car on the way back. I found the climbs bloody hard work too, I had to stand up and use my dead weight to pedal, holding myself up with my arms.
I warmed down, sat and span around the car park and stretched, had a choco milkshake too.
Today I dont feel so bad, but what can I do to increase endurance and get rid of my cramping?
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Comments
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To improve your performance and endurance you need to train properly. There are plenty of websites that will show you how, one of the best I've found is timetrialtraining.co.uk.
This will give you the basics, I would also invest in a HRM, you find out a lot about how fit you are and where your limits are.
I ride most of the time with a HRM, it's helped with my training so that I now know that I can ride at 90-92% of max for an hour or more with no problems.
As you get fitter your resting heart rate will fall, which you can easily monitor.
My resting heart rate is 50 which puts me in the top athlete position, and I'm a farmer like you but I'm a bit older at 59 years, never too old to train.
Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"0 -
thanks robert, ill definitly look into a hrm and checking out the website right now!
Edit- can u recommend any? A quick CRC search reveals massive price hikes0 -
This is what I use http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/11 ... nitor.html.Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"0
