A bicycling question.

[Flyingcursor]

This isn't a medical question. It's about exercise.

I started biking last week. I got the bike on Wednesday and rode for about 45 minutes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Since I'm so out of shape I got tired quickly but still no real problem.

Sunday I took a break and didn't ride. Today I went out and after 5 minutes thought my legs would fall off. After 35 minutes I finally met my Waterloo and quit. My legs didn't hurt or anything like that, they just didn't want to cooperate. They told me they'd run away from home if I didn't let them rest.

Is it normal for out of shape muscles to rebel?
How long should I let my muscles rest between bouts?

Everything else is fine, heart rate, breathing etc. I think my leg muscles aren't used to it and need a little extra persuasion to keep moving.

[djm]

There's this thing called stretching. You didn't mention it, so I'm guessing you are not aware of it. A good warm-up routine should last at least 20 minutes before you go out for your main slog. It should include lots of stretching and limbering exercises.

A cool-down of at least 20 minutes after your main exercise is also important. When you have finished your main exercise, tired muscles want to contract (i.e. they roll up in a ball and ask what they ever did to diserve that). Its important to stretch out cooling muscles so they don't stay contracted. Trying to break up cramped, contracted muscles is most of the pain you are experiencing on your following day.

You did not mention how long or hard you are working out for. Usually you would give a muscle group a hard workout followed by a day of rest/light exercise to keep it loose.

Everybody starts off an exercise program by trying to kill themselves in the first week. Try to experiment to see how much you can handle without distress. Work at that level for a few weeks, then slightly increase over time. You will see some results after a month, but won't see real changes until 6 months. Give yourself time.

djm

[Flyingcursor]

There's this thing called stretching. You didn't mention it, so I'm guessing you are not aware of it. A good warm-up routine should last at least 20 minutes before you go out for your main slog. It should include lots of stretching and limbering exercises.

A cool-down of at least 20 minutes after your main exercise is also important. When you have finished your main exercise, tired muscles want to contract (i.e. they roll up in a ball and ask what they ever did to diserve that). Its important to stretch out cooling muscles so they don't stay contracted. Trying to break up cramped, contracted muscles is most of the pain you are experiencing on your following day.

You did not mention how long or hard you are working out for. Usually you would give a muscle group a hard workout followed by a day of rest/light exercise to keep it loose.

Everybody starts off an exercise program by trying to kill themselves in the first week. Try to experiment to see how much you can handle without distress. Work at that level for a few weeks, then slightly increase over time. You will see some results after a month, but won't see real changes until 6 months. Give yourself time.

djm

Thanks djm. No I don't stretch. I'll try it. I'll look up some stretching exercises.

I mentioned how long (45 min) but not how hard. How hard is measured by my built in agony meter. For example, one of the trails I've ridden has a hill. Right now it makes me feel "x cubed" to climb the hill. In a few weeks it will only make me feel "x" to climb the hill. Today however it felt like "x to the google" to climb that hill.


SIX MONTHS????!!!????

I will lose 20 lbs by the end of June or my name isn't Flyingcursor!
My goal is 180 lbs. I weight 210. I'm rather stocky anyway so for my height (5' 11") 180 is as low as I want to get. If I hit 180 by the end of August I'll be happy.

I also like long walks on the beach and romantic movies.

[gonzo914]

The downside to a bicycle is that you can end up 15 miles from home and thoroughly and painfully crapped out. And whoever you call to come get you will never let you forget it.

Better is a stationary bike or a treadmill. You still can get all crapped out, but you're never more than a few feet from the fridge when it happens. Plus you can deal with the hills when you want to (if at all).

Not to mention getting to watch old Friends re-runs in the process.

[Flyingcursor]

The downside to a bicycle is that you can end up 15 miles from home and thoroughly and painfully crapped out. And whoever you call to come get you will never let you forget it.

Better is a stationary bike or a treadmill. You still can get all crapped out, but you're never more than a few feet from the fridge when it happens. Plus you can deal with the hills when you want to (if at all).

Not to mention getting to watch old Friends re-runs in the process.

If I can watch Seinfeld, you're on!

[bradhurley]

A good warm-up routine should last at least 20 minutes before you go out for your main slog. It should include lots of stretching and limbering exercises.

That's the conventional wisdom, but there have been experiments that found no difference in the effects of exercise with and without stretching beforehand. Warming up before exercise makes sense and virtually every trainer recommends it, but I personally find that stretching afterwards has a better effect for me. I have never in my life stretched before exercise (I exercise about an hour a day, biking in summer and using a rowing machine in winter). I do stretch after working out, but only for 10 minutes or so. I'm 47, so it's not like I can get away with this because I'm in my 20s.

For a lot of people, an hour a day is the most they can spare for exercise, and that includes changing into gym clothes and taking a shower afterwards. If they spent 20 minutes warming up and 20 minutes cooling down, they'd barely have 15 minutes to do something more vigorous. I would think cutting the warmup and cooldown to 10 minutes each should be safe unless you're seriously out of shape.

[The Weekenders]

I have been mountain biking for about 17 years or so and yesterday took my first ride of the new year since last November because of all the rain, so I can sympathize.

Yeah, your body and legs should be warmed up and a few stretches certainly aren't going to hurt. With mountain biking particularly, you can be very prone to cramping on hard rides so I don't buy the not stretching argument. I bet if you only ride on flat surfaces it's much less of an issue.

I remember getting used to riding very well because the ride I was taking was very strenuous from the very beginning. I would suggest you go every other day to allow your legs to recoup. You will find that within 5 rides, that you are infinitely better at it than the first time. There was one hill, that I called "heart attack hill" that for the first three times, I had to get off and push. I barely made it up the next five or six times, but have never had to get off since. You get used to it really fast but you have to be patient.

Good luck.

[fel bautista]

Here's how I do it
If you can talk and ride , level 4
if you are riding and breathing hard, level 6
if you are riding and your heart is going through your chest, level 9

Depending on your level of fitness, you should be at level 4 or less until you get comfortable on the bike. This is un scientific term since comfort for most is variable-- my legs heart, my sadle hurts, my hands hurt. Once you get comfy, you can start trading intensity for time on bike, but you first have to get comfy.

You should get FITTED on your bike by someone who knows what they are doing!!! I've seen too many people who set their bike up like Lance Armstrong's time trial bike. Your leg should be 90% extended at the bottom of the stroke or so, the handle bars about 2 cm below the saddle or there abouts; your back should be reasonablely straight with most of your weight on the bars. Bike fit is really important, much more than componetry. If you can't feel comfy, then you won't ride so what good is it?

Most of this is through trial and error, making small single adjustments and seeing what happens. It took me 3 frame sizes to get comfy, 2 handle bar stems to get the right extension of my upper body to the bars. Fortunately I have used the same style saddle for the last 30 years.

Cycling is fun-I've done the indoor route and find it boring as heck. I'd much rather be outside, even in a headwind, riding than on a stationary. I've ridden on the road, mtn biked and even on the velodrome.

I'm in my late 50s and have been cycling for 30+ years and hopefully will continue to do so.

[bradhurley]

With mountain biking particularly, you can be very prone to cramping on hard rides so I don't buy the not stretching argument. I bet if you only ride on flat surfaces it's much less of an issue.

Well yeah, if you don't stretch beforehand you definitely don't want to start your ride by humping up a big hill. When I lived in Vermont, my cottage was near the top of a mile-long hill that was so steep that pickup trucks carrying lumber routinely lost their loads on the way up. But for my daily bike ride I hit that hill at the END, on the way home. I started the ride on a relatively flat stretch of road and rode for nearly a mile before hitting the first serious hill. Starting out riding on the flats is a good way to warm up in lieu of stretching.

[Jennie]

Definitely stress the stretching after exercise as opposed to before. If you try too hard to stretch before your muscles are warmed up, you can hurt yourself (at least if you're somewhere past forty, like me). Just take it easy at first and work up to the big stuff.

I think I'd go crazy on a treadmill! I don't have the discipline for it. Getting out in the weather is the whole point of exercising, isn't it?

Jennie

[fel bautista]

I warm up by doing some quick sprints out of the saddle, level 7 ish by my standards, get my heart rate up a bit-I like somewhere around 140 bpm, level 9 is around 180.

I hate the "kids" that go quick out of the block on a ride; I need about 20 minutes to get my breathing dialed in, and legs warmed up. Nothing worse looking for air at the start of a ride as the bunch looks like a receeding star system.

[SteveShaw]

The downside to a bicycle is that you can end up 15 miles from home and thoroughly and painfully crapped out. And whoever you call to come get you will never let you forget it.

Better is a stationary bike or a treadmill. You still can get all crapped out, but you're never more than a few feet from the fridge when it happens. Plus you can deal with the hills when you want to (if at all).

Not to mention getting to watch old Friends re-runs in the process.

I sincerely hope you're not speaking ex cathedra here, Il Papa. A treadmill is no substitute for getting out in the fresh air and hearing the birds and bees as you pedal along. For years I cycled over 4000 miles a year, to work and back every day (22 miles) and also for pleasure with my family. It's very hilly around here, too: my daily commute involved more than 1200 feet of climbing. But I loved it, rain or shine. So I feel qualified to advise. Get to know your bike. Get a good saddle and position it correctly. Get the height right. Keep your bike maintained: "bikus non lubrium bustibus." Learn how to fix a flat and carry the wherewithal with you. Buy a good bike book which will tell you how to maintain and set it up just for you. Practise pedalling at the same rate at all times (your cadence). 80 revs per minute is good for a start. Use your gears to the full to achieve this. Do not suffer out-of-adjustment gears - get 'em adjusted so that they all work, or learn to do it yourself. Go out every day without fail. Do a five-mile run in week one, a seven-mile run in week two, and so on until you're at the limit of your available time/comfort zone. Do not obsess about hills. Cyclists who worry about hills are failed cyclists. Hills are just no problem. Just keep pedalling at 80 per min. and you'll be up it in a shot.

[chas]

I haven't done much cycling in 5 years, but I do run. For me the legs giving out is as much a function of sleep as anything else. If I'm tired, possibly mildly dehydrated, I can often only go 25-30 minutes instead of the normal 45-60.

I'm 45, and I'd also suggest stretching before bed. I've had a lot of knee and foot problems, and I stretch before and after running, before bed, and if I can get 10-15 minutes in in the evening, I do that, too.

[Loren]

Stretching smeching: I've been an athlete all my life - I get on the bike and ride, period. Ditto with running. I've run the mile in under 5 minutes, and 10k in under 30 minutes - no stretching whatsoever involved.

Loren

[fel bautista]

Gotta chime in one more time-- easy cadence 60-80 rpm means you have to use the gears. Don't put it in the bigh chain ring when you don't need to.