Heavy legs between rides

Hello all I am trying to improve my endurance, but at the moment I have very heavy legs all day long between the WE rides. Am I over doing it? Should I couple my long rides with shorter but more intense ones? Any suggestions?

you may find that some ‘recovery’ rides would help – low intensity rather than high.

Do you stretch after a ride? I started doing just 5 mins of stretching after a 3/4 hour ride every Sunday and it’s made a big difference to how much my legs hurt the next day.

Heavy legs?

A uniquely French condition…… surely?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7779126.stm
“Correct me if I am wrong, but have you ever heard a British person complain they are suffering from “heavy legs”? Fascinated by a malady to which British people appear immune, I went to my local pharmacy and asked the smiling young chemist if she could advise me on remedies for heavy legs. “

“Curiously though, he has noticed that since the French health insurance companies stopped paying for heavy legs remedies a couple of years ago, consumption of these products is now one-tenth what it used to be. “

How heavy are your legs?

How heavy are your legs?

that’s one of those ‘how do you weigh your head’ type questions isn’t it?

You may be doing too much and that takes time to recover from. But you are stretching, eating, drinking well?

Foam roller will help.

Are you eating too much meat or bread/gluten/cereal or dairy? Try cutting these out one at a time to see if it makes a difference.

Also consider your post ride recovery regime. Are you getting enough nutrition to mend the muscle micro-tears that you get through heavy exercise, and which are the key to developing strength?

You drunk again John ?

“meat or bread/gluten/cereal or dairy”

Ok what do you eat instead then?

I’d say its a mixture of a big amount of stretching after a ride, and then gentle exercise in between the hard stuff.

Am I over doing it? Should I couple my long rides with shorter but more intense ones? Any suggestions?

How would we know if you’re over doing it if you haven’t said what you’re doing?

Long rides – how long is a long ride?

Do you do any riding during the week or is it Saturday/Sunday and that’s your lot.

Are these ‘heavy legs’ preventing you riding? If I commute three days in a row my legs can feel a bit heavy for the last ride home but once I’m on the bike they’re fine.

It could be a symptom that you are working hard enough to get a training effect. Or it could be over training. If you are just getting this between a Saturday and a Sunday but not during the rest of the week then ignore it. It will go away as you get fitter. Just don’t increase the miles or duration much until the legs are starting to cope better with the current training load.

If you are feeling the legs tired/heavy every day either cut riding back to 4/5 days a week, have more easy/short rides or increase calorie intake if you are losing weight too fast.

stretching and hydration imo.
Or ,maybe have a weekend off?
Do you ride through the week as well? – if so , cut out the midweek ride & rest.

try drinking milk after a ride

http://www.thalasso-line.com/EN/thalassotherapy/france/brittany/saint-malo/heavy-legs-spa-brittany.htm

Thanks for the info everyone. I am not riding during the week at the moment. I shall start very soon though. Going for a mid length ride tomorrow morning (probably around 45kms) with a rather high intensity and a more leisure/easy ride on sunday. I’ll start to stretch again indeed as i did forgot last week end. It is stopping me to ride as I don’t want to make the matter worst. I’ll keep you updated. Anyway thanks for the info

After the ride try to sit with your legs straight but without “locking out” the knees, a foot stool or floor cushion can be used.
Even better lay down and put a cushion under your legs so they are slightly raised, again keep a slight bend at the knees.
If the heaviness is in your thighs rather than calves, lay down and bend the knees to about 45 degrees, place hands either side of thigh (about 1/2 way towards hip), fingers towards knee and gently “wobble” the muscles by moving your hands about 6-8cm alternately (ie one hand goes clockwise while other goes anticlockwise, then reverse)

That sounds a bad explanation, I’ll try and find a link with some pics.

http://www.selfmassageforathletes.com/Cycling.html

Full self massage is obviously the best approach, but be really careful as it’s easy to do more harm than good.
Might also be worth trying some compression tights ?

mmmmm… I like to massage myself, but not in public 😯