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My legs often go a bit wooden after a day of work and feel a little tired and thus any thoughts of a week ride are harder. I am guessing it's latic acid build up and just tired legs. I have heard cold shower's can reduce latic acid and try to have a post ride cold , followed by hot shower. Is there anything else I can do at all? Maybe in a morning shower? Don't like cold showers in the morning. Maybe a quick simple massage or something similar? . I haven't done a web search yet. Thought I'd ask here first.
Cheers
MTFU. Go ride. You will get used to it. Forgetting about work, and just thinking of the upcoming bike ride helps too.
It won't be lactic acid; you get lactic acid build up after shorter (less than an hour) high intensity periods of exercise. A day at work wont cause this.
The problem is more likely to do with vascular return and blood pooling. If you're standing up a lot, or generally dont get a chance rest your legs at work, it will cause more blood to stay in your legs, slowing down the rate at which waste products can be removed, and in turn, how quickly freshly oxygenated blood will be pumped to them.
Although your body will sort this out in the first 20-30 minutes of steady exercise, it will still make you feel slow and terrible for the beginning of the ride.
You should try RICE: rest, ice, compression, elevation. Although more generally applied to injuries, it will help vascular return too. Resting is obvious. Ice will stimulate blood flow to your muscles, bringing oxygen and other essentials. Compression will aid blood flow by preventing blood vessels and muscles from expanding to accommodate excess blood, and therefore causing greater venous return. Elevation will give your veins an easier job of returning de oxygenated blood back to your chest.
Or it could be that you just need to man up and ride more!
as realman says, force yourself to get dressed and out on the bike. The rest comes naturally
thanks that's brilliant! Actual work is not strenuous. Commute tires legs. walking , going up loads of stairs etc.MTFU'd tonight and legs feel better now after a cold shower. Legs always feel stiff going up train station stairs. Good to know this is a temporary phase and will lessen during a ride. RICE sounds ace too. MTFU too. Will have a think about these with this advice.
Cheers all That's brilliant!
Was a bit worried if I MTFU'd too much they would seize.
Might I recommend the Verde (pre ride) and Rosso (post ride) massage oils from La Gazzetta della Bici. Really good stuff. Using the Verde makes my legs feel as if I had done a warm up ride before I have left home!
http://www.lagazzettadellabici.com/
ok.