Jlomb436

So I'm not in the best shape I admit, but athletic and play a variety of sports. My cardio has never been good (even in high school that i remember), but it seems that my legs are going out well beyond I feel I get a good workout. My heart and lungs feel like they are barely working, even when I push hard.

But I'm new to the sport of cycling, and I'm just assuming this is common for most of you when you started? If that is indeed true, is there any specific things I can do to focus on my legs so I can continue to push harder? Maybe particular exercises or ride a certain way, or simply climb lots of hills?

Thanks for the help, -Jeff

10 Wheels

Ride much, rest when you need to take some days off.
Took me 10,000 miles to reach a top level.

pinoy92231

You just need to ride more and be consistent to get your legs used to road cycling. I switch around from running, mountain biking and road cycling to keep from getting bored and I find that even though my cardio is real good ,my legs dont feel as strong when I finally get back on my road bike.

Jlomb436

I'll just keep at it, but it feels like my workouts are not greta because of it. Maybe it's time for the gym...

Bob Dopolina 

You've got it backwards; The gym won't help you on the bike.

Most new riders push gears that are WAY to big because they don't understand that it is an aerobic workout, not squats.

What you're describing is typical of new riders who feel they need to be pushing big gears and grunting the whole time when, in fact, all you are doing is filling your legs full of acid and ending your workout before it has even begun.

A good cycling workout takes time and the fatigue comes a different way. At the end of a hard ride you should have gotten your heart and lungs a good workout and your legs will be tired as well.

I suggest you look at cadence (spinning) and what gears you are pushing and for how long and post it here. With this info there will be a deluge of advice.

Velo Vol 

Correct, use smaller gear.

ilovecycling

What Bob said.

If you don't already have a cycling computer, you should probably get one to monitor your cadence until you get used to the motion. 90-100 rpm is typically a good place to be at. Maybe a little lower on sustained climbing efforts.

Jlomb436

Thanks folks, I wasn't really sure how important cadence was, but I'll throw a computer on my Christmas list.

Machka 

A computer is a good idea to see how far you're going, but you can count your cadence without one.

85 rmp is about as low as I would go (on relatively flat ground).

pbd

If your legs hurt first, shift down and spin faster. If you run out of breath first, shift up and push harder.

A cadence monitor did help me, but isn't strictly necessary.

Either way, it can take a while to get used to spinning, and to improve/perfect your pedal stroke. You'll eventually find the cadence that works best for you, and that may change over time as well. But in general, I think most beginners mash gears that are too high out of inexperience, I know that was true for me. Heck, I'm still a beginner, but my performance improved noticeably when I started paying more attention to keeping my cadence up. The fact that your legs tire before your lungs/heart lends credence that generalization.

ChucklesKY

Like many have said, "Don't be a pedal masher."

AEO

spin more.

Stealthammer

^^^^^ +1

Spin, Spin, Spin, Spin, do lots of miles.... then Spin, Spin, Spin.

X-LinkedRider

There are a few things that can contribute to leg fatigue. As everybody else has already mentioned, just keep riding. Many of us do many thousands of miles a year and would still like stronger legs and cardio.

While climbing, utilize your gearing more efficiently. Only power up the the hills that are small enough that you KNOW you can recover from. The rest of the hills you should be spinning lots and powering little. Keep it in a lower gear and keep your cadence as high as it would be if you were pedaling on a straight and level.

Saddle position can GREATLY affect your leg fatigue as your legs will wear out MUCH faster the lower your saddle is next to optimal position. Obviously keeping a bit of a bend in full stretch, your saddle should be up high enough that you can't stand on the ground from your saddle. (Maybe on your tippy toes) But try raising your seat if you have room to play.

Lastly, nutrition and energy play a huge factor as well. Keep electrolytes and energy types of foods with you. Make sure you are hydrating often enough and that your body has enough salts/sugars/proteins to allow your body to hydrate as efficiently as possible.

In time you will look back on this thread and smile at how far you have come since.

merlinextraligh

The old saying is: Lungs hurt, go to a higher gear; legs hurt, go to a lower gear.

There are some things you can do in training, particularly now in the base phase time of year.

Fast pedals would be good to work on to raise your cadence. Start out doing 2 minutes at 120 rpm in an easy gear, set of 5. Work up until you can do them for 10 minutes, and steady.

And if the problem isn't too low of cadence, and you need to develop cycling specific muscles, muscle tension intervals may help. These are done climbing in a big gear and low cadence, such as 6-8% grade, 53/14 ( or so) and cadence 50-55rpm. Work up to 10 minutes, 6 repeats. Note, I'm not saying you normally want to climb this way, but it will develop your legs in a sport specific movement.

EdIsMe

For me, winter has provided a great opportunity to work on things like super low or high cadence. Last Sunday I went along with the local "long route" group for a 25 mile group ride (just over 50 total for me since I ride to the ride and back home). The trip there I rode a solo warmup pace of 19-20 mph at around 95 rpm. In the group I rode at 21-23 mph at 85-90 rpm while drafting and 95-105 rpm while in the lead. Did a couple minutes of high rpm spinning at 110-120 rpm also. Then, on the way home I rode about 10 miles of 23-26mph at 70-75 rpm with short bursts of 85-95 rpm mixed in and then about another 5 miles at a very casual 17mph at 85-90 rpm to cool down.

The ride to the meeting point and during the group ride I was riding against a North wind. The trip back home was almost entirely with the wind at my back.

banerjek

If only 10K miles would yield that kind of benefit for me. But most of my miles are junk miles, those being the best kind.

I generally agree with the advice that most newer riders mash gears. But it's still easy to torch your legs while never letting the cadence drop below 100. Burning your legs up is a function of how much force is on the pedals, and you can definitely produce decent force at higher cadences.

catmandew52

Started riding almost daily, again, in June of this year. Took me all summer on a 12 or 16 mile loop to push my average speed from 8mph to 14mph. My knees are really messed up, so pushing the top gears was out of the question, until late summer. For Me, spin faster, spin longer, and slowly increase distance and speed.

2ndGen

Hey Jeff.

I'm the complete opposite. I have much more legs than lungs. I developed my endurance by first curbing my own personal pride and the need to feel like I had to be at some level at all when I started. I toned it down a lot and focused a lot on my breathing and on seeing where along my loop I needed help and where I coasted. I would save my energy for where I needed help (progressively long mild uphill climbs of non-stop pedaling for a couple of miles in my case).

I'd say listening to your body is key. It knows what it needs. Pay attention to yourself and also, take note of your little accomplishments (like being able to push past a certain point that you couldn't before) then work to make that your minimum standard of measurement. And focus also on learning how to gear your bike for the situation at hand.

There'll be times when you are feeling much more confident and you'll have stronger days. Take advantage of them. Don't come home "rested". Come home exhausted. Try to ride at least every other day and it will all get easier to the point that you won't want to miss a day.

The legs will catch up with the lungs eventually.

Jlomb436

Hey! Thanks everyone for the feedback. I came one day late as I was out all night shopping, so coming back here to see the responses is great. I'll try a smaller gear and go from there, it seems that's probably my issue at this point. I guess I'm so focused on seeing an increase in MPH, I felt the need to push harder to cover my distance. But my real goal is improvement, so I'll try the smaller gear and see how much better I'm doing in a few weeks.

on the path

Maybe I didn't understand, but to me this means no less than 120 rpm for no less than 10 minutes? Who can do that??

I'm not saying it can't be done. There may be a fair amount of cyclists who can spin @ 120 rpm for 10 minutes at a time. I would guess that the vast majority of those that can are currently racing or are training to race. I would guess that they are not recreational riders.

merlinextraligh

Note that I said work up to it. 2 minutes at 120 rpm in an easy gear is doable for most anybody. First time you try it, you'll likely bounce around a bit, and be winded. Gradually increasing the length anybody can get to set of 10 x 5.

Fast pedals are a standard part of the base phase training in the Carmichael Training System, and while most people who use that program to train for racing, a number of recreational riders who just want to get stronger for hard centuries and stuff, also use Carmichael's approach, either through CTS, or his books.

And once you can do 120rpm for 10 minutes, maintaining a cadence in the 90's will be very easy.

BobLoblaw

Another thing to consider is how much you ride. Your cardiovascular system will recover more quickly than your legs if you really fatigue them, so you might be overdoing it a bit. Vary your mileage and intensity from ride to ride. Take some short super hard rides, some medium intensity middle distance rides, and some easy long rides. If you go out and kill yourself to the limits of your endurance every time, you won't improve as quickly and you won't have much fun.

BL

contango 

I agree with this. If your legs are working too hard, drop a gear. Repeat as necessary. If you feel like you're spinning furiously, gulping air and your legs are barely ticking over, go up a gear. Repeat as necessary. Experiment to find the right balance for you.

Personally I find I'm usually most comfortable at what I'd estimate to be 60-80rpm or so. I've never felt the need for a cadence meter.

When I first got my bike I always thought the idea was to use the highest gear you could manage. When my quads started getting bigger and I was steadily using higher gears but still struggling to get up hills I figured something wasn't right, and so came across the idea of using a lower gear and spinning the pedals faster. Now I'm very conscious of the times I see people climbing a hill in a gear way too high when it's obvious that every single pedal stroke is a huge effort for them. There was a time when I thought that was how you were supposed to climb hills, and that the lower gears were for people too weak to manage it that way.

Bob Dopolina 

^^^ You raise a good point.

Most newbs assume that going out and hammering their brains out every ride will make them faster when, in fact, this isn't the case.

You body has three different energy systems and 3 components to each that, ideally, must be trained separately. In short, even in the very general sense, it means you need to vary the duration and intensity of training to get the best overall results.

We can now debate the specifics of this ad infinitum.