What to do stop really REALLY aching legs

thegodplato

I'm new to this cycling and 40!! Looking at getting much fitter to do a 1 day C2C later in the year and LeJog next year. I have been considering suppliments from MyProtein.com to aid energy and recovery but wonder if I don't really need them until the hours on a ride increase? I don't go to a gym so this is my only form of exercise. I'm not too fat at 12 stone 12pounds and 5`10" but could do to lose a bit of the belly!
I've started off easily over the last 3 weeks with rides or 10, 16, 23, 36, 30 miles in the first week followed by 33 miles and a 48 mile run last week. The 48mile run was following Cleveleys Cycle Club's route on MapMyRide which went from Thornton to Ribchester and back. I did it in 3 hours 20mins and apart from a really sore backside, was reasonably OK. Yes it was hard going but felt much better than the 36mile ride I'd done the week before.
I went out on Wednesday morning to the Trough of Bowland and did a 42 mile route in 2 hours 53mins, felt knackered which was to be expected, but when I got home the ache in my legs was awful ( once i'd stopped riding ). I was in quite some discomfort and it took a hot shower to eleviate some of the pain.
Thing is I'm doing the route again with my best mate ( who got me into cycling ) and he is a bit of a fitness freak ( 8% body fat he proudly tells me - sod! ) and, as we will be doing more training together, don't want to be left behind too much.
I've been told to take whey protein for helping my muscles recover and tri-carb for improving my endurance. I've been looking at their build your own bundles packs which have the whey, tri-carb but also other products that I'm not too sure I really need like CLA, Creapure and the Alpha Men tablets. There are plenty of other tablets on there to confuse me too. Have also looked at the contents of the Sports Performance bundle which has Caffeine Pro tablets and Daily Vitamins in it which I'm not sure about nor do I feel its as good value as the Build Your Own Bundle options.
I don't think I will be happy if my legs are going to be so painful after every long ride I do as that will not help me want to train.
I currently drink the High 5 tablets whilst riding and had some energy flap jack from Holland & Barrets on the 48mile run but just the drink on the last ride.
So looking for any advice to improve my fitness and endurance.
Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon?

kayakerchris

Hi
I think you are describing Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_on ... e_soreness

This is common and improves each time you ride the same distance. It recurs each time you do a longer distance!! So as you train up the pain will occur the first time you do a longer ride.

Chris

BruceG

Use Milk as a recovery drink AFTER the ride. Works for me and many others, tastes good and isnt full of over priced chemicals as per the Branded Recovery drinks, which are not as effective. IMHO

jgsi

Your fitness will slowly inprove... over time.. anyways
To address the sore legs... get into a routine after each ride.
stretch well the lower body muscles
get a leg massage
failing unable to get someone to do it for you..
a hard foam roller
and massge the calves/quads/hamstrings/glutes and itb

you can also use an oil containing magnesium... this can be had from H&B and places

this is a bit time consuming but may speed up recovery to get training miles in a quicker timescale frequency.

dead legs from time to time we all get whatvr level we are at.

Muffintop

The whey protein milkshakes help me after my rides/sessions at the gym - I can feel it the next day with general soreness and tiredness, and they are particuarly useful if you've not got much of an appetite after. Are you stretching much straight after your rides? If not I'd consider a few yogaesque moves when the muscles are still warm will help keep the muscles more comfortable and not seize up.

During rides I've come to like the gels (some with caffeine) and stuff during the rides with the odd baby potato thrown in to stop cramp but this is after a year of so of trial and error on different things. If you're keen to try these things (there are several brands which really don't agree with me) you can get samples as opposed to kitting yourself out with items that you might not like. Same goes for the CLA stuff - you might find you don't actually need them once you get your roll on, and at this stage (since it has only been a couple of weeks) I don't know if they'd make you any faster.

Mx

smidsy

If you are like me (40 and starting from ground Zero) in terms of proper excerise I think your 'super fit' mate should make allowances.

The rides you describe are not easy and 40 miles (although not the 100 many talk about) is not to be sniffed at. For 3 weeks thats an awful big jump/improvement - you should be well happy.

So yes I think you are expecting a lot.

It is important to stretch the muscles after and also to have rest days. If you do lots of consecutive days you will get fatigued and the process becomes that much harder.

Fuelling and diet are different for everyone but you seem to be thinking in the right manner and that is half the battle.

I started in January and have got to the point where I can do 60 milers but I need 2 days off after.

Listen to your body - it knows what it can do - if you have REALLY sore legs rest them.

AdsH

Without a shadow of a doubt you are massively over training and will shortly injure yourself. Ligaments and tendons do not keep up with such rapid muscle growth.

I've had that ache after events that I've drained every ounce of energy from my body and which requires quite a period of rest. Sounds like you're not resting which = overtraining.

I would say that you should be concentrating on slow and long with some interval training. Continuously training at higher levels isn't very efficient at getting fit. You end up working inbetween aerobic and anaerobic and don't make such good gains.

Have a look at this. It works and keeps you from injury.

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ics-28838/

andrewjoseph

+1 for too much too quickly.

compression tights may help.

We use them after big rides and every night when touring.

Bobbinogs

If you look at training plans like this one:

http://www.doitforcharity.com/cycling-t ... guide.aspx

...then you can see that you are probably going overboard and risking injury as others have said. Having a good core fitness helps but sometimes I think that just makes an individual tend to do too much cycling when they are new to it (I now have the same problem when running as my aerobic fitness is great... so I end up running too far and get sore muscles for days afterwards).

Take it easy, have breaks when your body feels it needs them (don't be afraid to tear up a training schedule if you just don't fancy it every now and then).

All the tips above I think are very valid and follow my own experiences but there is no shortcut to getting cycling fit.

thegodplato

Some good reading there guys. Thanks.
I suppose maybe I did overdo it the first week but the excitement of the brand new Bianchi Nirone was too much! But now I'm doing 2 rides a week so there is a good few days between them.
Thing is, I'm not sure its DOMS as the pain was there as soon as I got into the house and reduced within an hour or so. Yes I do stretch afterwards - perhaps I might try it for longer though. I was a little stiff later in the day and the walk for the kids helped. The following day I was fine.
My wife thinks it might be lactate acid as that is what she was told the pain in her body was when weight training in her teens.
Heart rate wise, yes I huff and puff on a steep hill ( and there are quite a few in the Trough! ) but I find I am more out of breath when I first start riding ( say the first 5 - 10 miles ) than when I finish. Its seems to be just general tiredness when I stop. But I can't do that training mentioned in the BikeRadar article as I don't have a heart rate monitor - I don't even have a bike computer yet to monitor how fast I'm going. As I use my phone to record the route and its tucked in my back pocket.
So it looks like I'll have to improvise in some way.

Yes, my super fit mate will have to make some allowances for his normal mate!

springtide9

thegodplato wrote:

Heart rate wise, yes I huff and puff on a steep hill ( and there are quite a few in the Trough! ) but I find I am more out of breath when I first start riding ( say the first 5 - 10 miles ) than when I finish.

I think most people struggle when they first start. I'm not sure why, but I guess it takes a while for your body to adjust to exercise (and most athletes warm up before being able to perform)
I think REALLY aching legs go after time.. unless you put in a big effort that they are not used too.... but I would say my legs are generally a little bit stiff most of the time.

thegodplato wrote:

I don't even have a bike computer yet to monitor how fast I'm going. As I use my phone to record the route and its tucked in my back pocket.

If you have an Android or iPhone, you can use apps like Strava ( http://www.strava.com ) for monitoring your speed/distance. Apps like Strava are more useful than distance alone as they will also include other data such as altitude climbed, which makes tracking your progress easier (as the data is more useful).. just remember that there are a lot of factors that impact your speed... so if it's windy.... expect the ride to hurt as well as being disappointed with your performance!

In terms of over doing it, your body will tell you - your speed will start dropping off... which is why I think it's useful to be able to better monitor your rides.

thegodplato

I can track my progress whilst on the move as the MapMyRide app on my Samsung gives me mph, etc but as its tucked in my back pocket I don't get it out until I'm home. Then I can upload the info to show me the route with altitude so I do get to analyse the ride. I know that on the last ride to the Trough it was quite windy on the shore road so the first 15miles I managed just under 15mph, then when in the hills it dropped considerably to 12mph which was for 7miles and then the return half must have been done much quicker as I got it back upto 15mph.
I have managed over 17mph average on a 30mile run which I'm happy about.

I am looking at a Garmin Edge 800 so that I can track the progress, etc and look at how far I have gone, etc which might help me pace myself a bit better as currently I have no idea how far to go if I'm in an area that is unknown to me.

centimani

Just a quick point re aching legs, if it's your thighs particularly, make sure you don't have your seat too low, that will murder a fit guys thighs.
TBF you are doing a lot so achy legs are no surprise really, but worth looking anyway.

neeb

when I got home the ache in my legs was awful ( once i'd stopped riding ). I was in quite some discomfort and it took a hot shower to eleviate some of the pain.

Probably not the best idea - try a cold shower or bath instead. Heat will just increase peripheral blood flow / inflammation.

Other than that, as others have said, take it gradually and leave enough time between rides for recovery, take some carbs (perhaps with a little protein, e.g. chocolate milk, chocolate soya milk, bananas + whey) as soon as possible after stopping, and do some stretches while the muscles are still warm (don't stretch so much it hurts, but hold it for a long time, i.e. 40s to a minute).

ALaPlage

Just on the Garmin Edge purchase. Excellent piece of kit and I thoroughly recommend it for ride data on ride and on upload to either garmin connect or strava. I purchased the 800 however on reflection and £100 less I probably should have gone for the 500. The 800 does sat nav but I have never used it as I know my routes and just use it for the ride data. The 500 does all that I need so unless you need the route directions in front of you save some money and go for the 500 instead. They are both great as you can calibrate the screen to show as much data as you need or can stretch it over 3 screens that a finger swipe will display. Useful if you want the data displayed bigger as the more you squeeze onto a screen the smaller the font and it can be difficult to read whilst riding.

I also find the HRM great use for training too. Has really helped me in both pushing myself on and also to pull back a little at times to keep the heart rate in the right zone for the training I am doing.

essjaydee

Your new to cycling and did 115 miles in the first week, including a 36 miler.
I'm not surprised you have sore legs :!:
It's your body's way of telling you too much too quick.
Your body needs recovery time and you didn't give it enough.

Build up the time and mileage steadily so your body adapts to the new demands your placing on it, and your fitness will improve. Important to rest properly too, especially after longer rides.

cornerblock

Tell them to shut up.

warrerj

1. Make sure you warm down.
2. Stretch well after your ride
3. Get your chosen recovery drink/food down you within 15-30min of your ride.

For recovery i use Mars Milk Refuel. After a hard session to fight the DOMS I use Cherry Active and find it works VERY well (not cheap but it works for me).

Bobbinogs

thegodplato wrote:

I am looking at a Garmin Edge 800 so that I can track the progress, etc and look at how far I have gone, etc which might help me pace myself a bit better as currently I have no idea how far to go if I'm in an area that is unknown to me.

Might also be worth looking at the Bryton 20 with the optional extras of HRM and speed/cadence sensor. It is only just out but the reviews look good; it is a GPS tracker (rather than navigator) that works with Strava and has all the basic functions as well as access to the Bryton site which apparently gives an alternative to Strava too. All that and for £150.

ShutUpLegs

'Whoever recovers the fastest wins'

The question, but who has the million dollar answer :?:

sumosprintstar

essjaydee wrote:

Build up the time and mileage steadily so your body adapts to the new demands your placing on it, and your fitness will improve. Important to rest properly too, especially after longer rides.

+1

thegodplato

Thanks for all the advice. I've been out this morning with super fit mate and we did more or less the same time for the same route as I did on Tuesday - 42 miles. The pain in my legs when I stopped at home was no were near as severe as Tuesdays run which I'm glad and I feel much better now as I write this.

essjaydee

thegodplato wrote:

The 48mile run was following Cleveleys Cycle Club's route on MapMyRide which went from Thornton to Ribchester and back.

Why don't you join us (cleveleys club) for a Sunday run :?: