Really struggling with my legs..

dstev55

For the last 6 months I've been really suffering with fatigue in my legs. This can come on right from the start on my ride on some days and really hinders my progress. It's very frustrating as my heart rate stays low but my legs just say no.

I generally ride Tues, Thurs, Sun, about 120km-150km per week. I've been riding around 2 years but feel like I was in much better shape a year ago compared to what I am now, I feel like I've taken a step backwards over the last 6 months, although my legs feel stronger they just don't seem to be able to recover. I remember saying this time last year that my legs always recover quickly between rides but this now seems to be the complete opposite. I don't do a particularly physical job so my legs don't get worked too much when I'm not on the bike. I'm only 30 so age shouldn't be a factor.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong or what I can do to help reduce fatigue in my legs?

joe2008

You've most likely hit your aerobic ceiling and plateaued.

Are you doing all your rides at a moderately hard pace, i.e. constantly pushing yourself?

Try riding 80% low intensity and 20% moderate or hard, you'll feel better, ride faster when you want too, and recover well, whilst increasing your aerobic capacity.

dstev55

joe2008 wrote:

You've most likely hit your aerobic ceiling and plateaued.

Are you doing all your rides at a moderately hard pace, i.e. constantly pushing yourself?

Try riding 80% low intensity and 20% moderate or hard, you'll feel better, ride faster when you want too, and recover well, whilst increasing your aerobic capacity.

Most of my rides are hard to be fair. We have a certified nutter in our club who only knows how to ride at 110% so not much option! However this is only the same as last year. One thing that is different to last year is that I hardly go out in my own anymore, maybe I should try and do this and follow my own training plan?

Alex_Simmons/RST

Doing the same training for long periods will result in stagnation, and indeed fitness can drop. It's a principle of training that the training stimulus needs to be varied over time to enable further useful fitness adaptations.

If you are fatigued, which will be a result of all stresses (training ,work, rest of life etc), then you may well need a period of recovery and/or a change of routine and work loads. How long a recovery is needed depends on the nature of your fatigue (chronic/acute).

dstev55

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Doing the same training for long periods will result in stagnation, and indeed fitness can drop. It's a principle of training that the training stimulus needs to be varied over time to enable further useful fitness adaptations.

If you are fatigued, which will be a result of all stresses (training ,work, rest of life etc), then you may well need a period of recovery and/or a change of routine and work loads. How long a recovery is needed depends on the nature of your fatigue (chronic/acute).

It's just my legs to be fair. Although Ive got a different job than last year I wouldn't say it's any more stressful, physically or mentally than before. My legs feel fine on a day to day basis, then as soon as I start riding they just feel knackered. It's very frustrating!

joe2008

dstev55 wrote:

It's just my legs to be fair. Although Ive got a different job than last year I wouldn't say it's any more stressful, physically or mentally than before. My legs feel fine on a day to day basis, then as soon as I start riding they just feel knackered. It's very frustrating!

Unless you have a medical problem causing weakness in your legs, it's not 'just your legs' - it's your aerobic system that's failing you.

I'd say you're more than likely doing aerobic exercise at too high of an intensity for your current fitness level, therefore, performing what is perceived as 'aerobic' exercise in an anaerobic state.

Alex_Simmons/RST

joe2008 wrote:

dstev55 wrote:

It's just my legs to be fair. Although Ive got a different job than last year I wouldn't say it's any more stressful, physically or mentally than before. My legs feel fine on a day to day basis, then as soon as I start riding they just feel knackered. It's very frustrating!

Unless you have a medical problem causing weakness in your legs, it's not 'just your legs' - it's your aerobic system that's failing you.

I'd say you're more than likely doing aerobic exercise at too high of an intensity for your current fitness level, therefore, performing what is perceived as 'aerobic' exercise in an anaerobic state.

You are correct in saying that it's likely aerobic fitness is the issue but it could still be a number of things that are beyond the scope of general interwebs forum advice.

However It's pretty hard to do any more than a handful of minutes worth of exercise in an "anaerobic state" in any one session.

The vast majority of our energy demand is met via aerobic metabolism. When we go harder than what can be met entirely via aerobic metabolism then we draw upon our anaerobic reserves which are pretty limited, e.g. typically in the range of 8-20kJ. This can be entirely "burned through" in as little as a minute, or over a period of minutes. e.g. an elite track kilo rider is fuelled roughly 50% aerobically for the 60 or so seconds of this maximal eye bleeding sprint event.

Once those reserves are depleted we are no longer capable of sustaining such level of effort and we are forced to ease back to lower effort level so that energy demand can be wholly met via aerobic metabolism, and indeed we'll need to go under the maximal sustainable aerobic level as the anaerobic energy reserves need to be (at least partially) replenished, and that is itself a wholly aerobic process.