Recovery in Work

Azhar

Hey peeps,

hope you're all well. It's been a while since I posted on Bike radar

I commute to work 3 days out of the 5 day's im in, travelling 16.5miles each way. Im wondering what your routine is for recovery etc and what you normally eat to help you recover and then have enough energy to go back on the bike to travel home. I feel like at the end of the day i'm eating in to my reserves and im absolutely shattered when i get home that i just have to sleep quite early, sacrificing my time with wifey and kids. My fitness is reasonable. It takes me an hour to get to work but its just the end of the day where I feel...cr*p.

any hints and tips will be great!

The Rookie

If you get muscle aches, a protein shake (whey poweder in milk) is great.

My commute is 7 miles (which I don't take easy), I make usre I have fluids and some reasonable energy before I leave (fruit juice, cuppa and cereals with milk), when I get in I have another cuppa (yes not the best hydration I know) and a small snack (slow release energy, no sugars, for longer rides a Protein shake before hand is great at holding the aches at bay and a small one after to make sure protein levels are high.

dee4life2005

I do similar distance - 20 miles each way - three or four times a week. I'm usually fine, unless I've been trying for some of the Strava segments on my route, but I have some energy gels, energy drink sachets and some bananas in my desk so that if come the end of the day I feel I need an energy boost then I have stuff available.

I also find that taking it a bit easier in the morning helps, and allows for a harder or longer ride home.

Bustacapp

I hear ya. I have a 21 mile round trip each day and then go to the gym to pump iron. I really don't feel like pumping iron when I get home.

moarspeed

Food, food and more food..... Oh and water

Really lunch comes at the wrong time of day if your looking to cycle 16 miles home at 5pm, try a small lunch and then two snacks or mini lunches between say 1pm and 5pm. Don't eat less than an hour before leaving for home, consume a high energy snack half way home if needed (don't need expensive energy bars, a Snickers is fine).

Azhar

Thanks for the replies. I have been using the little but often method with food and I think it may be more of a fitness thing in terms of how quick I can recover before I can ride again.

Thanks again

nixoncreative

Hi Azhar

I think it comes down to getting the mileage in, I turned 40 this year and because I couldn't afford a sports car I bought a bike! My commute is 17 miles each way and I started a commuting a couple of months ago, at first my legs felt drained and by about day 4 it really was a struggle getting on the bike. Now I'm commuting 5 days a week and even take a 30-40 mile detour on the way home (some days) and my legs feel OK, yesterday I did Tour De Broads Sportive (70 miles) and managed to commute in to work today. By the end of week 2 I was noticing a big difference so just keep at it and have fun. Ian

Azhar

Hi Ian. My target is to be able to cycle to work everyday and you've managed it in a short space of time. Kudos to u sir. I'm trying my best to increase my fitness and lose weight. I'm a big guys so losing the weight at the mo is slow and hard.

nixoncreative

Hi Mate, I don't have enough posts so I couldn't PM you I'm afraid.
I started off at 85kg which I must admit I was feeling rather portly and rather unhealty! Now down to 82kg so heading in the right direction. I bought a cheap second hand road bike from gumtree as my mountain bike (20 years old) wasn't up to the job. Part of my pleasure is overtaking fellow cyclists on their £10k exotica :twisted:

I don't have breakfast at home but then have porridge when I get into work with a little bit of honey and some dried fruit on it, I feel much fuller for longer on this and it is so much more healthy than say fruit n fibre etc.

Rather than eating sweets/biscuits etc. I make my own fruit n nut selection to snack on throughout the day (in moderation).

When riding if I feel a bit sluggish I will take a sports drink with me to sip on the ride which I find helps.

If you are taking around an hour to get in and back 16.5mph is fantastic, do you use Strava? I have found this great for tracking progress and motivation. I also save the best part of £200 a month in fuel and it only take me 10-15mins longer to get into work.

Maybe if you don't cycle on Thursday and Friday but go for a longer than your commute bike ride on the weekend this will help your commute seem shorter come monday, another option could be to drive halfway and cycle in and out for a month or so to get used to getting in the saddle 5 days a week.

For the first time since I started commuting the weather this week has been dreadful... absolutely chucking it down and 30mph gusts, I have pedalled on (with the correct gear importantly) as I know when the better days come back again they will feel so much easier :-) I have set myself a goal (agreement wit her indoors) to ride all through the winter then I can treat myself to a carbon road bike next summer.... here's hoping

Azhar

Ah cheers buddy. I appreciate you getting back to me. I been doing some reading in the mean time and I think due to my weight I'm putting in a lot more effort in to getting to work and back compared to someone who may weigh 80kg. So my recovery is longer and energy gone a lot quicker. I'm slowly losing the weight though. Slowly.

To be honest, I do what you do in terms of nutrition it's jst my damn weight letting me down. Another 10-15kg lost will help me get to the magic 5 days a week.

I am on strava and yea I'm always using it to track my progress, as long as I have battery left to use it. Thanks for the advice you given though

Have A nice evening

fatsmoker

Big respect to Nixon Creative. That's some going!
To the OPs question - I don't eat breakfast at home, drink about a pint of squash on the way into work (16 miles) and while I'm locking up / changing clothes, have a sandwich and multiple coffees when I get to work. I eat little and often throughout the day saving a banana and a choccy bar til about an hour before I leave. After a few weeks you get used to it and sleep so much better.

Initialised

For me the hardest part of the day is the hour or two after my lunch time ride (8-15 miles, upto 1200ft climbing). I eat my lunch on the bike to maximise riding time usually or if it's a short one I'll eat when I get back. I usually feel really sluggish then but by 5:30 I'm raring to go and get some intervals in on the way home.

I'll probably skip tomorrows lunch ride as I'm racing in the Tyne Tunnel in the evening so I'll carb load instead.

CiB

Accepting that we're all different and have different ways & means, but when I started doing this commute a few years ago I did the same thing, looking on here for advice about it and how best to have enough energy, and I - for want of a better term - fell for it. Energy drinks, healthy breakfast in the office, energy bars during the day, jelly babies etc. After a while I gave it all up - your body adapts to the new normal and it stops being a major event, biking 21 miles to work. You just do it, and you're used to doing it.

Routine now is up early enough with everything ready to go - keys, wallet, phone etc. Breakfast is what it is whether cycling or driving in - a couple of Weetabix with milk and a splash of sugar, and a coffee. Get to work - bike or car, with half a bottle of squash if I'm on the bike to get there & back on - and have a coffee on arrival, a bit of fruit through the morning, lunch is generally a couple of sandwiches, yoghurt & a bit more fruit & a tea or coffee, and that's it till I go home. Some days I feel less energetic than others and buy something out of the machine like a small pack of biscuits or a bag of jelly babies etc but that happens for bike or car days. Then I go home the same way as I got here.

It doesn't take long to adjust; it wasn't difficult - it just became apparent that I was doing the extra food intake on bike days without feeling that I needed to, so just stopped. Reality is that an hour & a quarter's good exercise in the morning doesn't take that much out of you and doesn't burn a million calories that need replacing. I'm a bit overweight, past the first flush (and well past halfway in reality, I'm only ever going to get slower) and don't worry too much about what I eat or drink as long as it's not McD or similar. This routine does me fine for riding reasonable distances at reasonable speeds without having to make it into a big performance to get everything in place to do it. YMMV

dilemna

16.5 miles each way to work is nothing. You don't need to eat shed loads of food nor fad energy foods/drinks. Just eat healthy food, normal size portions and keep hydrated. You will soon notice the benefits.

Totem

I do 20 miles each way - well I'm working up to doing 5 days a week. I found that after a while I only drank about 300ml on the way in and 500ml on the way back compared to draining 750ml each way when I first started. I eat breakfast once I get to work and had a shower. Lunch is just a ham sandwich banana, apple and a harvest type nut bar . The third day is harder but if I want to get to 5 days then it has to be done!