Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 47 total)
  • Fastest way to recover after a ride? (feeling knackered content)
  • cheez0
    Free Member

    Yo STW health pros!

    I enjoy a good ride, as do we all, but I find that for the few days after I have an overall tired/no energy/ a little bit grumpy thing going on.
    It’s not like I have any particular pains/ knees/ back or anything like that. I usually only ride at the weekends.. work, family n stuff prevent me from doing midweek riding.

    What can I do to stop this? I enjoy riding and like the immediate ‘legs tired’ feeling once i get home, but I could well do without it carrying on and buggering up my working week.

    I am currently trying a post ride choccy-whey-protein shake thing, is that a good thing? Is it supposed to help with the effects that I’m feeling? I’m going for a couple o scoops in about half a pint o lactose-free milk (I’m lactose intolerant), is that enough?

    Would be grateful for any tips?

    Cheers!

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    Eat some carbs, ride more.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Big tub of Pasta ‘n’ stuff to finish the ride, as per TSY says.

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    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Food water stretching rest.

    oldgit
    Free Member

    I use a whey protein mix, but only after a ride that’s been blindingly hard and it’s hard to stand afterwards, that sort of thing.
    Followed by good quality eating later. No alcohol or anti inflamitories either.

    vings
    Free Member

    Cheez0, some more info would be useful. Do you struggle to recover from all of your weekend rides, or is the lethargy you describe an occasional problem? How would you describe the level of intensity of these rides? What’s your feeding regime on the bike? do you eat/drink at regular intervals? Do you regularly feel totally wasted at the end of a ride?

    Without further info I would hazard a guess that the problem lies with your nutrition. As a guide, your body can utilise up to 1g of carbohydrate per kg/hr of exercise. This should be achieved with a combination of food and drink. I find the Torq products to be excellent, but there are MANY other options out there. Experiment, and find what works for you. You may also want to think about taking a post ride recovery drink, which will be most effective when taken immediately after at ride, or at least within the first 15 mins. Something like Torq Recovery (Again – many other products available!)

    Hope that helps!

    Alpha1653
    Full Member

    My job involves getting beasted three mornings a week (poo errr missus…) and the best way I’ve found for me to recover quickly is a pint of water, a protein shake thing, hot shower, stretch and then some decent food when I next can. Then stretch some more that evening. A decent night’s kip helps.

    Burls72
    Free Member

    Doesn’t whey contain lactose? Also the whey drink will more than likely contain skimmed milk powder as do nearly all recovery/protein type drinks.

    I know very little about lactose intolerance, isn’t one of the side effects tiredness?

    Edit: You could try soya protein as an alternative, if that doesn’t contain lactose?

    cheez0
    Free Member

    whey protein is protein only, lactose is sugar, so no problem with the whey. i’ve got the holland and barrett one, which is ‘low lactose’ and seems to be ok with me.. whooppee! i can drink milkshakes again after 20years!

    thanks for your tips guys, i guess that being a bit of a fat bastad i want to really burn some lard off, not pig out on carbs when i get home and undo any good work that i have done.. or am i getting it wrong?

    my understanding was to have a carb up before i go out, not when i get back?

    i take along high five zero in my backpack and if its going to be a long day out i’ll add some high five energy powder too.

    usually i do a 3hour xc type circuit on exmoor, some good climbs then back down again. i usually do 20ish km but have done 27 a couple of times, i suppose i get through 1000m of ascending each time.

    whats your pre/post ride fuelling routine?

    ojom
    Free Member

    3 B’s.

    Bath, Beer, Bed.

    Works every time.

    Alpha1653
    Full Member

    Doing it properly, before a ride, I make sure that I’ve had some decent scoff with plenty of carbs and plenty of fluids (this should start the day before, not just the 30 minutes before the ride!). Breakfast would be an hour or two before the start and include something like porridge or muesli with a decent mug of sweet tea. During the ride, eat and drink little and often – if you feel thirsty, you’re already on the way to being dehydrated. Things to eat include nuts, bananas, jelly babies. When I’ve done seriously long stuff, I’ve actually found peanut butter and jam sandwiches take some beating. Drink wise, I only use the zero stuff when it’s hot to ward of cramps but mostly use the carb stuff or straight water. When you’re back, don’t see starving your body of the nutrients it needs after a hard ride as a way of losing weight – all you’re doing is making it harder for your body to recover and get fitter/stronger. I reckon if you have a protein drink immediately when you get in and then follow it up with a normal healthy meal then that’s ideal. As mentioned in other posts, proper nutrition before, during and after will go a long way to improving your fitness, losing some lbs and getting rid of the lethargy you feel mid week. Hope that helps.

    colournoise
    Full Member

    TOTALLY not scientific from a ‘hobby’ biker on longer rides.

    Plenty of water during a ride.
    Whatever small snacks you can stomach during the ride (I like flapjack, malt loaf or Jordan’s Frusli bars).
    If a little shaky when I get home either full fat coke or lucozade energy (or similar).
    Warm bath.
    Nice protein & carb meal (pasta bol, steak & jackets, chicken & roasties, etc.).
    Relaxing beverage of choice, or two (cider for me).
    Bed.

    slainte ➡ rob

    emac65
    Free Member

    Only riding once a week is the reason it’s wearing you out so much matey,try doing at least one midweek ride.It only has to be for an hour & at a moderate pace for it to help…

    What emac65 said.^
    Three hours at weekends is probably a bit much if you’re not doing anything midweek.

    FieldMarshall
    Full Member

    I used to suffer from the same as you despite making sure I ate well before during and after exercise.

    After a long ride I was always starving, would be tired for days and be really grumpy.

    Turned out I was dairy and gluten intolerant. So not only was this putting extra load on my body, it meant I wasn’t digesting /processing food properly and suffered from poor blood sugar control, which can result in tiredness and low mood.

    Given your lactose intolerance, it would be worth looking at your overall diet for any intolerance issues.

    I was also advised to switch to a high protein diet and avoid too much processed carbs, ie pasta, bread etc. This made a massive difference to me. Really stabilised my blood sugar and sustained me for longer.

    If I need energy/recovery drinks, I now use Torq products as I find these are much better quality and less harsh on the stomach.

    Be worth looking at Ribose too to aid recovery. Although Torq recovery contains this.

    Taff
    Free Member

    I’m always grumpy after a ride if I haven’t eaten within an hour of getting back. I kind of agree with thebikechain though. Bath (i dont fit in mine so shower) will do your legs good but beer/Guinness is amazing as a recovery drink

    paddyanddre1978
    Free Member

    As mentioned above, get some carbs and protein in to you within half hour of ride end.
    Some suitable stretching and invest in a pair of recovery compression tights 😀
    If your good lady will let you wear them in bed you will be amazed at the results overnight!
    Failing that leave them on as long as poss post ride 😀

    neilsonwheels
    Free Member

    DON’T go straight out after a 60 mile road ride for 12 hour p!ssup without eating properly or rehydrating as this will result in really painful cramps at 4am… 😯

    fourbanger
    Free Member

    I find myself very lethargic and generally achy if I don’t get enough salts. I do cycle in a very hot country where I can drink my body-weight in a week, but I also got the effect after a few rainy days touring in Cornwall in December in a sweaty waterproof.
    Dioralyte usually sorts me out.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    2 slice of toast

    Grated cheese

    Tin of beans

    More grated cheese

    2 tins of tuna

    In that order washed down with a glass of coke always worked for me for quick recovery when i was training hard. 6 times a week sometimes twice a day ! ( and on a student budget)

    MadPierre
    Full Member

    I’m grumpy after a ride if I don’t have a pint!

    Protein shakes! Pah! Beer and nuts (protein) and talking sh*te in the pub is part of the whole biking thing.

    emac65
    Free Member

    trail_rat – Member
    2 slice of toast

    Grated cheese

    Tin of beans

    More grated cheese

    2 tins of tuna

    In that order washed down with a glass of coke always worked for me for quick recovery when i was training hard. 6 times a week sometimes twice a day !

    Hmmm,bet you play Flight of the Bumblebee” through your ar5e as well with all that…. 😀

    keavo
    Free Member

    your rides are too much for your current level of fitness. either tone them down a bit or do some training mid-week (anything really, but short intense bike rides would be best). nutrition rest etc. is relevant but i think taking a number of days to recover is down to lack of condition. i would only get like that after a very hard ride or race.

    bellys
    Free Member

    Glass of milk and a packet of choc hob nobs. Works for me

    bomba
    Free Member

    Firstly, I will second all the comments about concentrating your weekly exercise in to one 3 hour beasting session on a Sunday. It’s not an ideal way to operate and is one of the main contributary factors to your problems.

    Anyway, the reason that you’re feeling shattered is that you’ve completely run out of energy. That sounds kind of obvious, but let me expand a little.

    You are doing a fairly long endurance effort and you’re not fueling your body sufficiently either during the ride or afterwards. You admit that you’re out of shape and you’re going pretty hard. This means that your body is going to preferentially consume glycogen and readily available carbs for its fuel. Once you’ve blown through that, which you’re liable to have done over 3 hours, you’re going to be wasted and your body is screaming out for fuel. You’re then denying your body the fuel it wants in a misplaced attempt to accelerate fat loss.

    Without wishing to second-guess your lifestyle, I would suggest aiming to restrict calorie intake during the week and concentrate on taking them onboard whilst riding.

    Recovery starts before you’ve even gone out the door. A decent meal with a mix of simple and complex carbs about 3 hours before exercise will help fuel your ride. Keep eating and drinking during your ride and when you get in after a hard effort, make an effort to recover properly. That means taking on carbs and a little protein. This should be in a ratio of 3:1 (which is the constituent make up of all recovery shakes). Aim for things like pasta, potatoes, vegetables and a little lean meat, along with some fruit juice.

    Taking a protein shake only will help a little for your muscles to repair, but it won’t hit your main problem of restoring your glycogen stores and this is exacerbating your exhausted feeling.

    In addition to re-fueling, one of the best ways of recovering is good quality sleep. Try and get to bed early the night after a ride and avoid excessive alcohol.

    tron
    Free Member

    Single biggest factor I have with recovery from exercise is whether I have any alcohol or not afterwards. Even a small amount of alcohol results in feeling far far worse the next day.

    I’ve no problem with eating something proper afterwards as I’m normally ravenous.

    cheez0
    Free Member

    wow, guys thanks!

    lots of things for me to try here, a few of you have described my current habits/ routine quite well.

    With the mention of booze, these days I hardly have any, and certainly not after a day out on the bike. I understand the point about too much on one day for my level of fitness, but i dont have any other time to do it, so limiting myself to 20mins a sunday will do bugger all to increase my fitness and a waste of a car trip to wherever I choose to ride. There is absolutely no way I will go to a gym, for me it’s a hamster wheel and is boring as hell, I need something to occupy my mind while exercising.

    I suppose my main problem is my mindset, when I just left school I worked 60hours a week in a busy shop and couldn’t get enough food in me to keep me going (I was underweight, if anything). This lead to me feeling like shit all the time and it wasnt until I found a less active job in a factory that I started to put on a bit of weight and feel better, though I would still get the afternoon crash if I hadn’t eaten during the morning.

    Nowadays, I still dread the afternoon crash, and have an active job where I need to be on the ball all of the time. I know I am probably taking on too much fuel (for what i actually need) these days but its very hard for me to ‘see’ a different way of feeding myself so that i can lose weight but not feel like shit through lack of energy/strength.

    davesmate
    Free Member

    I know of people who swear by protein shakes, gels and all sorts of weird potions. If that’s what works then so so be it but IME it’s a load of ballcocks! The only thing they do well is relieve you of your hard earned dosh.

    I’m in a similar position, work and child care mean I’ve limited time for midweek riding. I try and get out at least once for an hour, it’s not easy at this time of year but I try and fit it in either early morning or late night. On longer, more demanding rides I find that as long as I keep on stuffing in fuel (doesn’t really matter what but I find sausage butties work well)and water I can keep going. I always finish with a pint and a good meal followed by a god night’s kip and wake up raring to go again

    MrSmith
    Free Member

    the thing about these recovery threads is you have no idea of the intensity or volume of the ride or the riders general fitness, a lot of mtb’ers i see carry a bit extra round the middle and do a lot of standing around. the kind of riding they do doesn’t need a recovery regime or any particular way of fueling that ‘exercise’.

    all athletes will use proven techniques/products to aid recovery, it’s not bollocks it’s just not relevant to a 2hr bimble in the woods with your I.T. sedentary middle management mates.

    if find a rego shake taken asap after finishing exercise and wearing compression tights will alleviate the dead legs feeling the next day but this is only needed after a 5hr pain-cave road ride.

    alcohol is just another thing for your liver to deal with when it should be metabolising more useful things and replenishing glycogen storage.

    keavo
    Free Member

    have you got time to go for a 20 minute run twice a week. not much time commitment for a very good fitness return.

    emac65
    Free Member

    Are you really sure you have no spare time for exercise in the week ? Only say this as I’ve worked silly long hours in the past,worked shifts(still do),had 3 small children & a wife that worked fulltime as well.Evenings were always busy so I found the only free time I had was before work,so getting up at 4.30am for a half hour run became the norm for me for a few years…….

    Also,Turbo trainers are made for people with very little time to ride in the week…. 😀

    Taff
    Free Member

    I’ve been having this the last few weeks after riding the road bike. Don’t know if it’s because I’m pushing myself on road rides [bloody strava] as don’t get anywhere near as bad on a mtb ride. Stretch before riding, eat plenty before, eat & drink during and stretch when I get back. Still got aching and tired legs. Riding loads these days so don’t know what’s going on. Came back last night and had the shakes but 3 jacket pots, beans, coleslaw and a shandy sorted me out!

    oneoneoneone
    Free Member

    cold bath helps me.

    charliedontsurf
    Full Member

    Something like a mars bar as soon as you finish. Your body can use this to start fixing you straight away.

    Then ale and fried chicken, or anything, just lots of it within two hours of finishing.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Sounds to me like you need carbs afterwards. Lots of snake oil in recovery stuff but carbs straight after might well help you

    dobo
    Free Member

    try eat and drink more regularly during a long ride.
    i eat half a cinnamon bagel every 45 mins or so or an energy gel and sip plenty of water.
    Make sure you drink plenty fluids pre and post ride too.

    glenh
    Free Member

    3 B’s.

    Bath, Beer, Bed.

    Works every time.

    😀

    Three hours at weekends is probably a bit much if you’re not doing anything midweek.

    Why? I often ride quite a lot more than that at the weekend without doing anything in the week.
    Doesn’t cause me to feel knackered (apart from immediately after the ride of course!).

    bigrich
    Full Member
    Taff
    Free Member

    12 hours on, legs still ache. Drank loads during the ride, didn’t eat much during yesterdays ride but ate loads before going so I didn’t have to on my 1.5hr trip and then ate within an hour of being back. On a mtb ride I will eat a gel every 30mins and don’t have this issue, perhaps because I’m not putting the effort in. Wondering if I’m straining myself. Tried a freezing cold shower after my last ride [can’t wait ages for the bath to fill and it’s only a 1500mm] and it took my breath away!

    randomjeremy
    Free Member

    cup of tea
    shower
    a whole chicken
    bed

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 47 total)

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