The term "hitting the wall"???

sigorman85

Is this when your completely fooked no energy left and lose the will to go on?
I get this about. 45 mins to 1 hour in to a ride then I'm ok about. 5 mins later and can carry on to do 30+ or so.so could someone explain to me !bit of a noob question

danowat

45mins to an hour?, you aren't hitting the wall, unless you eat like a sparrow....

Hitting the wall is complete glycogen depletion, it's very unlikely that this is happening, and if it was, you certainly wouldn't recover after 5mins.

It's possible you are suffering with a glycemic spike, I have this if I eat too close to a ride, what are you eating in the couple of hours before your ride/s

majormantra

I think of it as a runners' term. The cycling equivalent would be 'bonking', which is where your blood sugar drops to the point where you are running on empty. It's very, very unpleasant, but not what you're describing - you wouldn't get it after such a short time.

You might be talking about 'blowing up' which is where you push yourself at an elevated heart rate to the point where you have to stop and recover.

EDIT: Beaten to it.

essjaydee

As MajorMantra says, 'Hitting the wall' is more commonly know in running. I had this a few times when training for the London marathon back in 99
Not nice and literally one minute your fatgued but ok, and then BAM! Nothing left and every step is a struggle.

In cycling it's called 'bonking'! Only had this once on way home from work and had to stop and take on an energy gel, which did the trick and got me home ok.

sigorman85

Ah I see .... I normally go for a morning ride and have a cup of tea and toast with jam or peanutbutter and then go out 30/45 mins later... So I'm not leaving enough time from eating to jumping on the bike?

Buckled_Rims

sigorman85 wrote:

Ah I see .... I normally go for a morning ride and have a cup of tea and toast with jam or peanutbutter and then go out 30/45 mins later... So I'm not leaving enough time from eating to jumping on the bike?

Everyone is different. We don't know your weight, training routes, fitness, etc. You would "Bonk" if you had not eaten for say, 12 hours beforehand and did a hard 1 or 2 hour training ride. You should not bonk if you had something to eat 30 minutes before hand and only done an hour's ride.

As a quick and dirty calculation, a hard training ride, assuming you are fit and riding at a fast pace with hills is about 500 calories per hour. Gentle pace might be 400 per hour.

When glycogen is depleted it will eat your fat reserves - which is how to burn fat. This is when you will start to Bonk/Hit the wall if you have not trained for that event.

You can train on empty. Have nothing to eat for 12 hours before hand and then do a 1 hour training ride before eating . Many people hate this, yet it's one of the worlds great training routines. Most Armed forces use this type of training on new recruits to get flabby unfit cadets upto fitness in a few months. Usually run or march or assault course before breakfast.

Buckie2k5

this is hitting the wall lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKhkvSRQZYo

diy

If it is happening so frequently then why not either take a snack or gel or drink supplement and see if that makes a difference. For me it normally happens after a bout 6 or 8 hours. It's the point where despite my efforts I cannot replenish the fuel burnt. Sound like you could simply be dehydrated. Do you get cramps too?

sigorman85

It's not happening frequently I just wanted to no if it was the hitting the wall !some very good info here cheers guys also I can vouch for the armed forces training I was in for 6 years its not very nice.... I'm quite new to road cycling and trying to get as much info so cheers again

essjaydee

Trust me, you'll know if you hit the wall

NITR8s

I get this after about 3 hours, I put it down to dehydration as I am a werido and never get thirsty. I find it hard to make sure I drink enough during the day and if I do drink I usually have a cup a tea etc so not really getting enough fluids.

I have tried to increase my water intake but never actually do it. When I used to do running, I mean 10 miles to half a marthon a day, I used to get severe stomach cramps, one of the reasons I stopped running.

danowat

Buckled_Rims wrote:

When glycogen is depleted it will eat your fat reserves - which is how to burn fat.

Not quite as simple as that....

The body will always burn both glycogen AND fat, however, the percentages of glycogen and fat burned change depending on the intensity of the exercise (which is where the fat burning zone myth comes from).

When you run out of glycogen,the body goes into ketosis as it attempts to metabolise fat (a slow process), but vital organs like the brain are prioritised, hence the amount of glycogen available to the muscles is minimal.

TheSmithers

NITR8s wrote:

I get this after about 3 hours, I put it down to dehydration as I am a werido and never get thirsty. I find it hard to make sure I drink enough during the day and if I do drink I usually have a cup a tea etc so not really getting enough fluids.

I have tried to increase my water intake but never actually do it. When I used to do running, I mean 10 miles to half a marthon a day, I used to get severe stomach cramps, one of the reasons I stopped running.

I'm exactly the same NITR8s. I just can't get the intake of water I should because I'm never thirsty for it. I mostly drink tea and coffee during a normal day, which is bad. I should be drinking around 5 to 6 glasses of water per day, but as stupid as it sounds, I find it hard to get a glass of water down me. After a 3 to 4 hour ride, I still have around half of a bottle of water remaining from two.

Back on topic, I find that a ride gets harder before it gets easier. I don't know what the technical terminology for this is, but it happens. I used to do running too and I found the same applied; I'd get to a point where I'd hit a pain barrier and had to will myself to run through it. Then the run would "settle down", I'd get into a rhythm and there would be no pain. That's the point you really start enjoying it. With cycling, I always find that once I've completed that first hard climb and nearly killed myself in the process, the rest of the ride gets easier and I almost feel I could conquer anything.

essjaydee

The trick with water intake is to always have a bottle with you and take regular sips. Even if you only do this before and after having a cuppa, you'll increase your water intake, which should help. I find sipping regularly far better than trying to glug a glass regularly.

Monty Dog

Once you hit the wall or 'bonk' it's almost impossible to fully recover without rest - you'll be running on empty all the way home which can be pretty unpleasant. The important thing is to keeping topping-up your fluid and glycogen supplies through regular intake of food and drink from the start of your ride i.e. every 20 minutes, not when you feel hungry or thirsty, otherwise you will run-out as there is a time lag from when you digest to when it reaches your blood supply. Adaptive training allows you to develop a fuel-efficient system such that in theory as long as you keep replenishing it, you could in theory go on for ever - but it does mean that 6-8 rides are easily achieveable instead of grovelling home after 2. It can come on very suddenly - once I had to stop 2 miles from home after a 5 hour ride as there was simply nothing left...

thefd

sigorman85 wrote:

Is this when your completely fooked no energy left and lose the will to go on?
I get this about. 45 mins to 1 hour in to a ride then I'm ok about. 5 mins later and can carry on to do 30+ or so.so could someone explain to me !bit of a noob question

I like your punctuation.

Or I could say "I like. your !punctuation."

diy

iPad or similar I bet