Question about recovery/leg muscle
 

Does anyone here actually do something specific AFTER a ride to help recovery and muscle building in the legs? I have never paid any attention to this. I ride. I shower. I drink some Gatorade. I eat a sandwich and some fruit and off to work I go.

I have read that the actual buildup of leg muscle comes AFTER the use on the bike during recovery.

Right now I am, for me, very out of riding shape. It's just barely the start of the new season in the snow climates now. Yesterday I went out on a neighborhood ride with some hills and only did 17 miles averaging 14.5 mph in the cloudy, cold and wind. Nothing pretty, but outside at least.

Last night I felt like I had ridden 40 miles averaging 17 mph. My legs were aching, I was tired, everything just seemed off. Now today, a day of rest, my legs feel great. It seems I recovered naturally OK. But my point is this....do you guys actually do anything post ride to enhance this recovery time? Is this something I should think about in the coming season?

I'm basically new to this road biking stuff, but I'm gonna test a theory I have regarding diet and muscle recovery/building. EAT MEAT --- peferably the lean stuff, that'll give your muscles the protein needed to rebuild. Then there's always the obvious stuff: hydration, sleep, a bit of rest after a particularly hard day, and maybe some stretching (?). Oh yeah, steak tastes good.

After a ride, I don’t really do much other than eat and sleep.
After a race and more muscular work out, you might be in need for some extra proteins and then glutamine in specific.
Glutamine is not essential, but your body might ask for more than you produce right now.
A recovery ride or another sort of active rest is also very good when it comes to keeping the restitution time to a minimum.
Careful with stretching after a hard ride.

I use a protein shake for all PWO meals. Myoplex + glutamine with a banana after long runs or rides. But I'm also trying to lose weight.

The shake has the protein for fast absorbsion, along with vitamins and some carbs. Banana's are awesome after a workout. Simple carbs, little bit of fat, potasium (sp?) and the glutamine, IME, helps with muscle soreness.

After a tough ride, usually very hilly I take: 1 banana + peaches (love peaches), 2 scoops of Whey Protein, 1 scoop of Endurox, 5 mgs. Creatine and 1,000 mgs. of Glutamine, all blended in water. That helps me recover fast, usually the next I'm doing recovery rides with a lots of spinning and no hills.
At the end of the day what count is the total amount of calories.
Corsaire :)

Stretching is key to recovery and injury prevention. Also, I agree with the extra protein within 30 to 60 minutes of the workout for best effect.

It also helps a lot to drink Gatorade or whatever "recovery" drink during the ride. If it's a long ride I usually take a banana or energy bar in my back pocket. Stretching is a MUST, in my book anyway.

Corsaire

I second this. Don't underestimate the importance of stretching for recovery and prevention of injury.

Eh?! How are you going to get into shape sucking down calories right after you burn them? You have more than enough protein available for use, in your upper body and brain tissues!

Although I guess it comes down to how hilly your rides are, whether it is a good thing to pack more muscle into your legs or not. But I think there is a general obsession, that may or may not be characteristic of our country, that there is always a need to build more muscle. Personally I can't justify purchasing special protein products, especially because regular food tastes better.

My current weight is 160 lbs (72 kg.), still going down and spite of all the "extra" calories. My target is 155 lbs., I'm planning to become a climbing machine by June.

Corsaire ;)

I easily burn 3,000 cals on a hard ride. suckingdown 600 of uber-nutrient rich liquid will help me for the next days workout.

And regardless of how much muscle mass you want or have, exercising breaks down muscle fibers. Protein helps repair them, and liquid whey is the best way to get it there fast.

:eek:

Does that give you gas, by any chance? :D

Want to be a climbing machine full of creatine? Good luck.
Creatine and bicycling is not exactly a perfect match.
(And a chest filet of chicken is way better then a 5kg box of whey protein,
but there again much more expensive to produce)

Whoa......Whey protein has a ton of legitimate researched health benefits. No reason to forgo a balanced diet though (eat the chicken too)

Creatine is really only useful during sprints.

Cut through the BS with this http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi? (type in whey protein and exercise)

If you aren't using PubMed you're just full of hot air.

Science rears its ugly head again....

Current elite training methods endorse "a carbohydrate rich meal within 30mins of a strenuous workout... to assist with the replenishment of muscle glycogen stores during the recovery phase"

Refer to these revocery based articles from the AIS http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/ResPost.asp#7 and
http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/Th...post_event.asp

top priority, replace fluids
Then carbo rich foods within 15 minutes to 1/2 hour of your workout. Protein is good too, but not in the excess that we have a tendency to do in American thinking. A good ratio is 3g of carbo to every 1g of protein.

On average a 150lb person needs about 75g of carbohydrates and 25g of protein in a post exercise meal.

This is of course based on a longer ride, not just tooling around for an hour.
This comes from my wife the Registered Dietitian.

That's the formula I've always read about and used.(good advice)

Shouldn't this thread be in the Nutrition section of the Forums.

I moved the thread. You might get even more responses in training and nutrition.

Maelstrom
MOD

If you were wondering how to work out the quantity of fluids you need to drink after an effort just weigh yourself. Here's how it works:

Weigh yourself before you ride and record your weight for later.
When you get back from your ride weigh yourself again BEFORE you take a toilet break.
Now do the math:

Net loss=Starting weight - Finishing weight

eg.

Net loss= 77kg - 76kg = 1kg or about 1.3 bidons
or
Net loss= 170lb - 167.5lb = 2.5lb or about 34 fluid oz (1 bidon=25 fluid oz)

Make sure you drink your standard volume of water each hour after that (0.5 to 0.75 cups per hour, depending on body weight).

Creatine is to develop lean muscle mass and recovery. That shake is only after a tough workout. Of course, that's not the only thing I eat, we were talking recovery here remember?. My diet includes salmon and chicken breast as well as turkey breast ham, plus the usual stuff in a sound diet: veggies, grains, water, fruits,Kashi Go-Lean, etc, etc.
Corsaire

Hasn't been mentioned yet, so I will.

I have a electric massager from Brookstone that use on my legs after most rides. I find it helps quite a bit with soreness and tightness. I also stretch.

Chris Carmichael recommends a 4 to 1 balance of carbohydrate to protein after a training ride. Nothing I have ever read (not that I'm very well-read in the subject, but I've read a little bit) about recovery suggests any need to stretch before or after a ride. I usually just take my first five and last four miles slowly as a warm-down period, hop off the bike, and go eat a meal of tuna and pasta or chicken and rice, etc. "The Ultimate Ride" and "Food for Fitness" are both great resources for questions like these.

After I shower I fill the tub with hot water and soak for about half an hour. I did 102 miles yesterday and feel fine today. Works for me. :)

Almost everything I've read on the subject of recovery stresses the importance of stretching. You might be able to get away without it if you're say under 25, but as you get older it'll get really important. Yesterday I rode my mountain-bike to and from the shop, a distance of a couple of miles, didn't bother to stretch right afterwards, and on my ride today my calves were noticeably tight. I tried to stretch them out last night, when I realised how tight they were getting, but by then it was too late.

Stretching before a ride has less point, because your muscles should be limber enough anyway. But i find it does make me feel better to stretch after a few miles. According to Bob Anderson's book (I think), a well-stretched muscle is about 10% more powerful than a tight one.

On the subject of recovery, does anyone else do cold-water leg showers after a ride?

Not to highjack the thread but, wasn't there a study published recently that questioned the actual benefit of stretching. I didn't read it and quite frankly would find it hard to believe.