Muscle advice

[okgo]

Hi all,

following my thread a few weeks ago about doing the Milan-San remo in July I've been doing a fair bit more riding, usually around 35-50 miles a day. I've lost a stone and its all going ok.

However my legs never feel fresh, even after a two day rest, is there somethihg I should be doing after a ride to help with this? I was thinking beyond the normal stretching... Maybe extra protein intake?

Any ideas as its really annoying...

[NitroNick]

Take a week off.
Let your body catch up with all the training you have done.
You will be far stronger after a week off.

[okgo]

A lot of my miles are commuting, that's the issue.

If I took a week off, surely it wouldn't be long ebfore they felt tired etc, again?

[NitroNick]

Your legs will be stronger after a week off, then your training after that shouldn't take as much of a toll on them.
I train 3 weeks on 1 week off, (although the week off in my case just means as much training but at ~50% less wattage output)

[Roman]

NitroNick said:

Your legs will be stronger after a week off, then your training after that shouldn't take as much of a toll on them.
I train 3 weeks on 1 week off, (although the week off in my case just means as much training but at ~50% less wattage output)

+1

You will be stronger and able to train harder after a 4-7 day break to let your body recover. If you carry on with no break your performance will plateau and you will probably start to feel demotivated, tired, snappy and irritable.

And we don't want that..

[Digga]

I was ill the week before last which forced me to drop my long standing running and mtbing commitments.

When I came back to it, even though at first I was still shurgging off the last of the illness (had one of those horroendous flu/stomach bug type things), I felt much stronger.

I woudl also strongly recommend that you take some sort of recovery shake (try Zipvit or MyProtein) or, at the very least, ensure you feed yourself a dose of 'good carbs' ASAP you finish a ride. This is, apparently, scientifically proven to work - I certainly feel better.

HTH

[okgo]

Why carbs, what do they do post ride? surley protein is what repairs muscle...

thanks guys, I might well take a few days out then!

[HundredthIdiot]

okgo said:

Why carbs, what do they do post ride? surley protein is what repairs muscle...

thanks guys, I might well take a few days out then!

The priority after a ride is to replenish glycogen stores. For this you need lots of carbs.

Get adequate protein as well, but you're not bodybuilding so you don't need loads.

[HundredthIdiot]

There's some interesting stuff here:

http://www.pbkblog.com/?p=16394

Specifically, the bit about *not* eating loads of carbs before you ride is interesting, as that's exactly what most cyclists do.

[rhinochopig]

One thing you might be doing is covering the distance in progressivley less time, thus upping your training load subconciously - a symptom of which is you always feel tired. Your training needs to be intensity based so that you vary the metabolic load, to give your muscles time to heal - the point at which they become stronger.

[Digga]

HundredthIdiot said:

okgo said:

Why carbs, what do they do post ride? surley protein is what repairs muscle...

thanks guys, I might well take a few days out then!

The priority after a ride is to replenish glycogen stores. For this you need lots of carbs.

Get adequate protein as well, but you're not bodybuilding so you don't need loads.

Yes, I used to wonder that too, but as HundredthIdiot says, significant research point to the advantages of cramming a few carbs immediately after exercise.

FWIW I'd say 'good carbs' are best but any - even chocolate bars and donuts - are better than none at all.

This also help avoid the scenario where repairs for one muscle group are made at the detriment of another. So in other words a decent leg workout - running or on the bike - doesn't deplete upper body strength.

[HundredthIdiot]

Also, I'd avoid excessive whey protein.

I have no medical basis for this assertion, but I recently developed lactose intolerance (at age 37) and it coincides with a time when I started using whey supplements for post-ride recovery.

Keep it natural, your guts will thank you for it.

[okgo]

I'm just wary of a low protein diet, I'm more of a weightlifter than a cyclist and have always known to be eating lots of protein. But I have cut it back somewhat to lose weight

[HundredthIdiot]

okgo said:

I'm just wary of a low protein diet, I'm more of a weightlifter than a cyclist and have always known to be eating lots of protein. But I have cut it back somewhat to lose weight

You don't need a low protein diet, you need a normal protein diet. Muscle is metabolically active - it needs to be fed with protein and carbs or it will go, and you don't want that. At the same time you're not doing the same sort of muscle damage as a bodybuilder so you don't need to eat like one.

Losing weight and going faster at the same time is hard. If you get it wrong you won't recover properly and in the best case this will reduce the quality and quantity of training you can do. In the worst case you'll get slower.

I think you're best off concentrating on getting the quality and timing of your meals right.

[okgo]

I still do a fair amount of gym work hence the protein.

Meals are all fine, and the timing is fine too, it just would seem that I need something straight after the ride as opposed to just before.

[HundredthIdiot]

okgo said:

I still do a fair amount of gym work hence the protein.

Meals are all fine, and the timing is fine too, it just would seem that I need something straight after the ride as opposed to just before.

Ah, just read your Milan-San Remo thread. You only need enough arm strength to stop your chin hitting the stem. What are you doing in the gym? (I mean, what are you doing there at all?) I wouldn't be in the gym unless I was trying to fix some structural fitness issue (e.g. weak core). Otherwise you're just wasting precious recovery on training that won't make you lighter or faster.

Anyway, good luck with the training!

[okgo]

thanks.

Can't remember if I put the bit in there about not wanting to look like a cyclist?

[HundredthIdiot]

okgo said:

Can't remember if I put the bit in there about not wanting to look like a cyclist?

LOL. You need to get over that.

Behold teh sex.

[okgo]

[IroningMan]

1. Chocolate milk - recovery food of gods.
2. Proper sports massage; it may take a couple of sessions to get significant benefit, but does seem to really help the 'lead legs' syndrome.
3. Compression tights, either to ride in or in the evening.

None of which, I'm sure, are news to you, but all of which have helped me.