Muscle fatigue during training.

[EvilGoodGuy]

I thought I'd start off with alittle background. I started cycle training in Nov. and put in 6 hours per week on the trainer until March. In March, I started out on the road riding roughly 200km per week and I have increased steadily until now to 450 per week. In addition I run roughly 30miles per week. Anyway to the question...

I noticed recently that my muscles fatigue far quicker than I "get out of breath." Often on hills I feel like I'm barely working (i.e., I could carrying on a conversation) but my muscles are crying to stop. The last group ride I did I was climbing alongside another group member talking away while others were breathless but my muscles were screaming.

I first thought perhaps I am not spinning effectively. So I bought a cycle computer capable of monitoring cadence and my average comfortable cadence is between 100 and 110, anything below 90 is tough.

Clearly my cardio system is far superior to my muscle endurance. How can I solve this problem? Specific workouts I can use would be great.

Is this common to new cyclists?

 

[Aaberg]

In March, I started out on the road riding roughly 200km per week and I have increased steadily until now to 450 per week. In addition I run roughly 30miles per week. Anyway to the question...

Sounds like you have increased your number of training hours per week *a lot* the last few months. Maybe you just need some rest to recover from all this effort?

I noticed recently that my muscles fatigue far quicker than I "get out of breath." Often on hills I feel like I'm barely working (i.e., I could carrying on a conversation) but my muscles are crying to stop. The last group ride I did I was climbing alongside another group member talking away while others were breathless but my muscles were screaming.

My guess is that there could be a number of reasons for this. One is recovery as mentioned above. Another reason could be your diet. Do you eat enough carbohydrates and drink enought water? If I train a lot for a few days (e.g. 3 or 4 long rides) and not watch my intake of carbyhydrates and water, I start feeling like you describe. I get a burning sensation in my legs at almost no effort, I feel ("chronically") fatigued, and I can even get a little depressed.

For the last few months I have eaten more carbohydrates than I have ever done before, and I drink lots of water. I have found that my recovery has never been better than now. I can train longer and harder than ever before, provided an adequate intake of carbs and water.

Clearly my cardio system is far superior to my muscle endurance. How can I solve this problem? Specific workouts I can use would be great.

Is this common to new cyclists?

To me it is not clear at all that your cardio system is far superior to your muscle endurance, and I do not think targeting your workouts will solve your problem. I think it's common to new cyclists not to realize how much your diet and recovery matters. I also think it's common for new cyclists to think that in lack of progress more training is needed, and not more recovery.

*If* your body could take the number of hours you must be putting in and recover from them, you should be in great shape by now. Quite possibly you're on a downward spiral wearing out your body a little bit more for each ride.

Take a week of with just a few (2-3) 30-60min rides at recovery/low intensity pace, don't hold back on the carbs - eat lots of pasta, drink water.

You haven't said much about how well trained you are from other sports, and how many hours a week you have been accustomed to from such sports, but I would take a serious look at the number of hours you put in every week and possibly decrease your total number of workouts, intensity and duration of rides. Eat! Drink! Rest! That's what makes you stronger!

 

[EvilGoodGuy]

Hmm... Good suggestions. I hadn't thought that I may need some more rest. I'll drop the intensity of my rides and looks for routes with less climbing. On the bright side, I've only got 4 weeks left at my present volume before I cut everything and focus on speed.

I think you're right about drinking water. I simply don't drink enough. I've been weighing myself before and after rides and ussually come out 3lbs lighter. So I need to figure this out too. How much should I be drinking during my training rides? I'll also focus on drinking more after my rides.

I've also been relying on gel shots during my rides which are fine for 40k but my longer ones I think I'll need to bring solid food. I try to keep up with my diet but I find I nearly need to eat all the time.