Aches and pains

comicbookguy

Guys,
I'm new to biking, a fat lad trying to lose weight, I'm really enjoying it loving getting out and about. Got a good bike and loads of routes near me.. only been on it for just over a month working up from a couple of times a week to these last couple of days I've managed to cover nearly 40km, which I'm happy with. Question I have is, I was expecting saddle soreness, which is not too bad, but I wasn't expecting my legs to feel like lead, my arms and shoulders are also really tight, what do you guys reccomend to combat feeling like this. A mate of mine has recommended a yoga for beginners. DVD but I wanted to see your ideas please...

Stu Coops

If your new to MTB it's basically your body adjusting to change, make sure you always stretch before every ride, press ups a few times a week and core work using a swiss ball "lots of techniques on YouTube" as your core takes a lot of punishment while mountain biking and a lot of people ignore this strengthning process.
Keep it up and after a few weeks the aches your getting now will reduce radically but after a long ride you will always feel aches and pains as the body takes a pounding on techy rough terrain.

learnerDave

dont worry too much, i was training to run a matathon and would say im pretty fit, but then got into mtbin, for the first 2weeks was aching all over but didnt rest so had no time to recover. then had a week off from biking and exercise, now feel great and aches aint half as bad when i go out. dont burn yourself out mate, your body needs rest and youll come back stronger and enjoy it more

cooldad

Welcome to my world. I call it old age.
Just ride it gets better

waby1234

I'd say lightly stretch before a ride, then ride for ten minutes, then stretch some more (your muscles are warmed up then). Then cool down and stretch after your ride, and eat some protein straight after if you can.

YeehaaMcgee

Just ride more.

1mancity2

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Just ride more.

This!

Briggo

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Just ride more.

Indeed, and the stretching malarky I find makes little difference for biking. Just take it gentle for the first 5-10 mins, that's your 'warm up'.

comicbookguy

thanks for all of your advice guys. I think ill try the ride more with a moderate pace first 5 or 10 as suggested, and see how I go. thanks again

Rocketmagnet

It's possible you've not got your bike setup correct and some technique issues.

Sholders and arms could indicte the reach is wrong and/or the cockpit isn't setup optimally for you
brakes/shifters putting your hands in an odd position for example - if your hands are hurting then try 1 finger braking
its usually more comfortable resulting in a better bar grip (personally i never wear gel padded gloves
as they can be painful grip wise imo.. but thats rider dependant).

From a technique perspective if your setups right then probably your not dropping your heels on the downs and taking the
hits through your legs and your weight is forward with your weight through your hands and bars
hence the sore sholders and arms as they are taking a right beating over the rough stuff.
Will be plenty of skills videos on youtube.

As for legs well you said your a big lad so strength isnt the issue.. just will take some time.. in my experience
new bikers run out of legs before they run out of breath. Still some basics i've found are if my saddle
is too high i hurt my hamstrings and too low my knees, too far from spot on my back can ache a bit
on long rides with lots of effort so its critical to get your saddle heigh right imo.

So as well as being physically new to biking its harder technically and your working harder overall to make up for it.
Sounds like your off to a good start though

Make sure you drink plenty pre, during and post ride and you could try some Skinz tights for post ride leg
recovery as they are supposed to help.

TheNorthernTrain

Can't say I've ever stretched before a ride... but whatever you do, make sure you are nicely warmed up before stretching. Never ever stretch from cold, always do some form of warm up first or you'll do more damage than good.

I do recommend spinning for five minutes in a low gear at the end of the ride though.

As someone said before, if you're aching, give your body a couple of days to recover and you'll reap the benefits. Of course you can keep on going and eventually the pain will cease.

mcnultycop

I was a proper lard arse when I got back into mountain biking, and I was aching a lot all over after rides. I played around with my set up and that helped, but found things got better as I got fitter. After about 18 months of biking I started hitting the gym doing a lot of heavy compound moves (squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, bench presses, etc) and this has helped a lot more. I still know I've been out on my bike after a decent ride, but feel great for it rather than walking round like an arthritic old man.

A big glass of milk and a banana helps recovery no end, also.