Training & Nutrition - My First Ride - What Was Goin On With My Hands?

ok this was just weird today. I went on my first bike ride in like 3 or more years and I first have to say and I know this is bad but I didnt really eat anything at all today. At about 4pm I went for a 30 minute ride. I really went hard on it. I was feeling very tired but good at the same time. My legs were hurting and my A$$ but thats expected. The part I didnt understand was right near the end of the ride my hands (both) started getting all tingly and weird and then I got off my bike and they really got tingly and then my legs felt like they weighed 4000 lbs. Is this normal at first? I was fine after about 5 minutes and a nice cold shower but i think Im really out of shape or somthing. Im 19m and weight about 170

What do you guys think?

Joe

Oh, I remember that feeling... :)

did you hands do that? Is the blood going through all the muscles that havnt been used or somthing ? LOL or what cuz my hands wouldnt stop tingling for like 5 minutes LOL

Crazy stuff

Joe

Originally posted by Joe_jk
did you hands do that? Is the blood going through all the muscles that havnt been used or somthing ? LOL or what cuz my hands wouldnt stop tingling for like 5 minutes LOL

Sounds like you weren't getting enough blood flow to your hands during the ride. That can happen sometimes. Did you use any cycling gloves?

No I didnt. Ive noticed before though when I really work out really hard I get that so I dont know if its cuz of no gloves. I could try that though

Joe

Im 19m and weight about 170

According to my calculations, you are about 60 feet tall (19 meters times 3.1) but only 170 lbs.

Perhaps that is part of your problem?? The blood simply can not get to your hands - just too far to go!! :D

sorry, dude, if you really are 60 ft. tall. seems like it would be hard to find a bike that fits.

on a serious note, the fact that you didn't really eat anything all day and rode for the first time probably had something to do with it. human's bodies can handle some abuse, but they need a reasonable amount of fuel and vitamins to work correctly. your body can do the excersise, but if you shock it with new excercise and no fuel, you will see weird effects like hands and legs tingling.

Originally posted by Joe_jk
No I didnt. Ive noticed before though when I really work out really hard I get that so I dont know if its cuz of no gloves. I could try that though

I'd suggest that you do. Even if it didn't cause this particular problem, the gloves would dramatically minimise the harm done to your hands caused by bumps in the road and so on. Also read gonesh9's post above.

Gloves will help but also change hand and arm positions freqeuntly during your ride to avoid numbness. You do not have to make drastic changes but do not stay cemented in the same rigid position constantly.

Originally posted by DnvrFox
According to my calculations, you are about 60 feet tall (19 meters times 3.1) but only 170 lbs.

Perhaps that is part of your problem?? The blood simply can not get to your hands - just too far to go!! :D Darn. How I wish I'd got to this post before you did. I read the initial post and was thinking about how to respond to the 19m bit when I saw your response. I had the same general thought but the way you put it had me laughing out loud big time.

HAHAHAHA

Common people

I meant Im a 19m as in 19 year old male. i guess that did look kinda funny lol. Anyways thanks for all the suggesions but has anyone here ha dthat before? or am i the only one lol

Joe

Hey Big Man
Tingling feeling is because you are compressing a nerve in your hands. Use some cycling gloves, and make sure you are riding in a comfortable position.
If you havent been on a bike in a couple of years, I would suggest some "familiarity rides" before you go flat out. Try some 30 min rides at a steady pace, rather than burning yourself up.
Serious riders use a mixture of long steady rides (for aerobic fitness base) and speed training.

Hey...
I used to get the tingling/numb hands a lot and it seemed to be that my tandem was worse than my mtb or roadie.
I found the grips on the tandem which are thicker on the ends seemed to cause a stress on the outside (weaker area) of my hands. Changing position often, (slightly raising bar height, slight tilt back for the seat can ease pressure a little) but be careful that you don't create other problems.
Make sure you have a slight bend your arms... this stops the rigid death grip.

Originally posted by Joe_jk
HAHAHAHA

Common people

I meant Im a 19m as in 19 year old male. i guess that did look kinda funny lol. Anyways thanks for all the suggesions but has anyone here ha dthat before? or am i the only one lol

Joe

Okay. What I really thought was that you were 1.9 meters tall, and you had forgotten the decimal point. That would have put you at just about 6 feet.

In regards to your question, I think each of us has to find our own solution. I have very large and "meaty" hands (I can barely get on an XLarge glove). My hands are naturally padded. If I wear padded gloves, I get tremendous pain in my muscle area just just below my thumb. The padding actually greatly increases the pressure. Therefore, I wear a thin Specialized glove with no padding.

Also, it is extremely important to grip the bar lightly and loosely, and keep your elbows slightly flexed, and to change your hand position frequently - the 3-4 positions on a road bike and with bar ends on a mtn bike. Whenever I get any tingling I change position. My wife, who has thin and delicate hands, shakes her hands quite frequently to keep her circulation going, and wears much more padded gloves than I.

Solutions are pretty unique for each of us to this common problem. I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced it from time to time.

Well I know that bike riding has always been known to be the best thing for the good ol' heart. If so, thyat means that the heart is pumpin a lot....could that increase blood flow into the heart and muscles and other parts of the body and less to the hands? Just a thought

Joe

I suffered from numb hands a while back. Using gloves and relaxing my arms/hands frequently , helped , but the problem still persisted.
I bought a slightly wider set of handle bars and this seems to have done the trick , 100% improvement.

I had the exact same "symptom"

I bought a bike a few days ago after not owning/riding for about 5 years. I took it out for a pretty long ride on the second day I had it. I noticed that my hands were tingling about 5 minutes after i got home. day 4: my ass and hands are killing me.

anyhow.. now we know why..

I have carpal tunnel syndrome, which pinches the nerves at my wrist, making my hands numb. This is more pronounced when my wrists are cocked while in the lower drops. This problem was recently solved by adding aero bars, which allows your wrists to be straight and puts most of the weight on your forearms. I didn't think I'd like aero bars, but after getting used to them, I spend 75% of each ride in the aero bar position. They are very comfortable. My aeros are Profile Air Strykes. They are well made and very comfortable.