Training & Nutrition - Leg recovery

I've started riding pretty hard this season but I have noticed that my legs are not returning to full strength even after an ample amount of rest between hard rides. I've been experiencing this problem for almost 2 months and I would have thought my legs would have gotten stronger by now.

I’m curious about starting up some supplement regimens. I have weight lifted in the past and I know that supplements can help with speeding up recovery. However, I don't want to bulk up unnecessarily.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks

How much protein are you getting? Are you getting it in bits over the course of the day?

Post a couple weeks of training and diet log and let's see what the problem may be:

1. overtraining, you're not getting sufficient rest in between workouts
2. not enough diversity in training programme, too much distance constantly, or too much intensity constantly
3. not enough intensity in training, back off on miles and do more sprints & intervals
4. not enough carbs during ride and in recovery drink. This causes your body to disassemble good muscle-tissue to replenish glycogen-supply (ingesting protein will NOT prevent this if you're low on carbs). The inter-cellular amino-acid pool is only used to rebuild muscle-tissue after it's been catabolized; best not to have the break-down to begin with by not letting glycogen-supply get too low.

Recovery means a lot more than rest! I'll add to What Danno says by telling you to go buy a foam roller and use it! Lactic acid can sit in muscles for days unless you deal with it, After your hard rides, ice down the quads for 20 minutes, then foam roll. Repeat a couple times. You'll be amazed at the difference the next day.

Wow...thanks for the advice. i'm getting the feeling that i may be going about things completely wrong as I've not been keeping track of any of this stuff. I've just been riding my bike lots. i need to do a bit more research. thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Lactic acid can sit in muscles for days unless you deal with it,

Not true

Not true


Yes, but I like to oversimplify things for people. Soreness can linger.

I've started riding pretty hard this season but I have noticed that my legs are not returning to full strength even after an ample amount of rest between hard rides. I've been experiencing this problem for almost 2 months and I would have thought my legs would have gotten stronger by now.

I’m curious about starting up some supplement regimens. I have weight lifted in the past and I know that supplements can help with speeding up recovery. However, I don't want to bulk up unnecessarily.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Recovery nutrition makes a huge difference in leg recovery. You need the right food as soon after the ride as possible (and good nutrition during the ride helps as well).

I use Endurox.

drink more water and stretch!! a simple massage can work also.

take an entire week off the bike, with short recovery rides at the most. You may even need a couple weeks. Its happened to me before, took over a month.