# Legs feeling fatigue, train more? or less?



## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

I've been mountain biking for about 1.5 years. I mtb about 2-4 times/wk. 

Lately, I've gotten into road riding to increase my leg stamina. Now I ride 5-6 days wk, but my legs are always feeling tired and fatigue. After a weekend's ride, going up a flight of stairs on Monday will have my legs burning! Am I overtraining and need to back off a bit? Or should I continue to just ride but ride in a low gear and spin like crazy on the flat in order to work up the long fibers in the legs.

Btw, on weekend (Sat & Sun), I usually do 2 rides each day. Morning ride I'd mountain, about 15-30 miles with 2000-5000' climbing, then go home, eat, nap, and do a 15-30 mile road ride (on relatively flat terrain). On weekdays, I road ride 20-40 miles each time after work, Monday - Thurs. Friday is my only rest day.

Monday morning, I usually feel like crap coming into work, upper body & sholders are aching (from long descents on mtb), legs are usually shot. So am I over training? Should I back it off a bit by doing more high-cadence (spin fast) on flat road?


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

Why on Earth do you think you should ride more? Take a week off and chill. Listen to your body...


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## Rollo Tommassi (Feb 5, 2004)

*Rest, recover!*

Don't need to stop riding, but for your own sake, and _*I say this in good natur*_e: get a life!

Yes you're expending more energy than you can handle. Unless you are training for some sort of ultra endurance event? 
Cut out the two-a-days. That is for football weenies. 
Commuting is fine, but don't make your rides to and from work hard efforts. That is your low gear/spin time.

Not sure what you mean by "long fibres in the legs", but you are interested in increasing 'stamina'? Curious to know how long it takes you to ride your 15-30mile mtb rides versus your 15-30mile road rides.

Get a massage
Eat more and better (you don't mention any recent weight loss or shift in body fat)


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

hey all,
sorry Ieft out so much details, but i'm new at this road cycling thing so it'll take me some time to know to ask the right questions and give relevant details.

@woody, I meant to ride more in low gear & spinning it, not necessarily more milage.

@rollo, I'm 5'7, 128 lbs. I used to be around 132 lbs until recently (3-4 weeks) that I pick up road riding, probably lost weight in the upper body plus most likely some muscle too (bad!) because of overtraining? But then again, I have a big upper body compared to lower (for now) because used to lift weight a lot (which is about to be changed!). I imagine if I lost most of my upperbody, I prolly will drop down closer to 125 lbs in a few months if I keep this up.

On the 30-mile mtb ride with 5000 ft, it usually takes 4 hr ride time (3+hr climb + about 1 hr descent), then throw in some rest stops, then time on the trail is close to 5 hrs. The 15-mile mtb ride is usually a little less than 2 hrs ride time.

On the road, 20-mile ride takes a little over 1 hr, 40-mile take about 2.5 - almost 3 hours, depending on how fatique I'm (usually am!).

by "long fiber" I mean stamina, yep. Basically, I want to get to the point where I can keep a high pace for a century. Right now I can only keep a high pace for 60 mile. After than, my legs are shot and it's low gear time. I would like to get to a point where I can pace at 17-18 mph for 100 miles.

Hmm I remember back in the college days I was training twice/day, 5 days/wk in track & field and while I felt fatigue but I remember I had lots of energy then. I guess living with mommy and not having to bring home the bacon is different huh? But you right, I need a life! But football is just a passing interest, and ever since broke up with the gf, I suddenly have lots of time (to train) and money (to spend on new bikes & with new bikes I feel like i have to ride to get my ROI lol).

BTW guys, is it considered "uncool" to sneak up to a rider much bigger than you and draft him but then you don't pull him? Here's the thing, I usually can outclimb most guys in our group, even the fast ones I can keep pace on the climb, but on the flat, the big guys leave me in the dust and unless I draft them, I have no chance to keep up with them! I reckon I have the weight advantage on the climb but they have the leg stamina on the flat.


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## S.ODon (Jul 23, 2010)

In regards to your first question, about feeling fatigued, just make sure you get enough rest that you don't run yourself into the ground by over training. I can't really tell you how much rest you should be getting and when, given that people are able to handle different ratios of training/rest time. But one thing you should remember is that it is during rest and recovery periods that you adapt to the training and get stronger, so if you are constantly fatigued, you are just punishing yourself without gain. And make sure to eat a lot. 

I don't know what you mean by sneaking up on people to draft off them, but if it is just a random person whom you are doing this too, then ya, it's bad form. If you're on a group ride (ie, you know these people) and you can't pull through because the pace is too high, I wouldn't worry about it. I know that when I go out for a hard group ride, I encourage people who can't hold the pace to just sit in and stay out of the wind so they don't get dropped after they tire themselves out during their pull.

Btw, I'm about your size/weight (5'7 118-125) and typically end up pulling people much bigger than me around, though there aren't very many riders in my area who spend too much time trying to get fast... Anyways, my point is, if you keep training to ride hard on the flats you will get stronger at riding on that sort of terrain, even if you're not a 'big' guy.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

I see...In that case I still say take some time completely off the bike unless you can be 100% sure you will actually spin so easily that you feel virtually no stress in your legs. If you choose to ride I'd recommend going solo and do not ride with anyone else as you will be tempted to ride at their pace which will probably be too fast.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

so it looks like I should get a couple days of rest then.

Also I need to lose this unproportionately big upper body that I have spent years developing in the gym. Arggh it's gonna sadden me to do this but I'm slowly coming to the realization that if you want to go fast on a bicycle then legs power & leg stamina trump chest, arm & shoulder muscles.


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

aclinjury said:


> BTW guys, is it considered "uncool" to sneak up to a rider much bigger than you and draft him but then you don't pull him? Here's the thing, I usually can outclimb most guys in our group, even the fast ones I can keep pace on the climb, but on the flat, the big guys leave me in the dust and unless I draft them, I have no chance to keep up with them! I reckon I have the weight advantage on the climb but they have the leg stamina on the flat.


You are tired and beat after the weekend and you're asking if you should train more? 

Doesn't that sound dumb when I summarize it that way? 


If you're on a group ride then it's cool to draft whoever you want whenever you want. Random strangers you meet on the road, probably not. Although on a group ride if the group is doing a paceline you should pull through or sit on the back, so you won't mess up the rotation. And if it's a small group that is being cooperative then you should do some short pulls so you're doing some of the work.

The big guys are faster on the flat because there speed is determined not by power/weight but by power/aerodynamic drag, and the drag of a large rider is not that much more than the drag of a small rider.


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## psycleridr (Jul 21, 2005)

First off whay are you riding so much? are you training for something? I love riding and am all about just riding for the fun of it but everyone needs a break now and then to recover. Find a book (tons out there) and look at the training plans. You don't need to be training but there are some sound principles in there that can help. You really shouldn't do 2 hard workouts in a row. Follow up the hard ride with something easy if not take it off. 
Lastly, not to be mean but if you are 5'7" and 128 I am not sure how much upper muscle mass you can carry. Seems really small to me unless it was all upper and nothing in the legs. those sound like most pro cylcist measurments


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## glorth2 (Oct 7, 2009)

aclinjury said:


> so it looks like I should get a couple days of rest then.
> 
> Also I need to lose this unproportionately big upper body that I have spent years developing in the gym. Arggh it's gonna sadden me to do this but I'm slowly coming to the realization that if you want to go fast on a bicycle then legs power & leg stamina trump chest, arm & shoulder muscles.


I have a mesomorph body type which means my body wants to look more like a hockey player or outside linebacker. Bottom line, every lb you are is another lb you have to push around on the bike (within reason). Call it the thrust/weight ratio. Stop working on the upper body and ride. In my experience riding, esp mt biking, will keep your upper body toned enough as it is. Good luck.


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