Hi. I have a fitness-nutrition-related problem concerning my road bike rides. After my workouts (which last between 35 minutes and 1 1/2 hours, 10 - 20 miles) everyu muscle in my body feels strange. Stiff, "
floating," not right. I feel as if I need to rub them, massage them very hard for a long time to feel better, or to jump up and down to feel more "grounded." Hot baths do not work. I drink gatorade during and after, Endurox as well. I eat soon after riding. Nothing helps. I become depressed and angry, feel terrible discomfort and cannot sleep.
I also notice that I cannot seem to absorb the water I drink. I drink a lot the night after the ride. And it seems to go right through me. My insides feel water-deprived, even though I drink plenty.

The only thing that has helped, was getting an awesome hour -long zen-shiatsu massage the day after. I felt much better that next night.

Does anyone know what I am doing wrong. Is there a vitamin I need, or a technique I need to avoid this? I do not ride too hard. Maybe Avg speed 14-16 mph. I consciously take it easy. I warm up. I stretch. IO warm down for 5 minutes at the end by going at an easier pace. I stretch after. I stretch again several hours later, and again before bedding.

I suppose this has to do with lactic buildup. But please note, my muscles do not "burn." They are not necesarily "sore." It's that they "float." My whole body very subtly "buzzes." They are in a locked, fixed state of stiffness and are thirsty. I cannot seem to feed them their required water.

If you have advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you.

Gabe in San Diego

Potassium and sodium are also very important nutrients when exercising a lot. Have you tried eating bananas and/or other fruits during or after your ride? It sounds to me like it may be more than just lactic buildup.

Hmmm very interesting, my body sort of buzzes after a hard workout but I rather think it is a pleasent feeling. How long have you been riding and how many miles have you got under your belt.

As a med student i'd encourage you to go and consult a qualified doctor about this. Don't ignore it simply because it only comes out after cycling - it could be indicative of a more serious problem.

I'd hesitate to say it was simply a problem of the body's inability to deal with Lactic acid, as you say there is no burning nor defined pain in the muscles.

I could speculate and give theories, but they won't do any constructive good. Again, like i said above, consult a doctor - put your mind (and muscles) at ease

Effin' doctors...always wanting to suck you dry even before they've graduated.

thats a bit harsh...

I am not too fond of the medical field. In the least. It may have been good intentions, but the other 99 of them, ahh they love that moneyyyyyy. The whole "referral system" is probably about as lame as it gets. You pay to go to the dentist....and they say "your wisdom teeth are coming in, let's get you a specialist". So you setup an appointment with your new specialist and pay your regular dentist. Then you go to your specialist who says "your wisdom teeth are coming in, let's schedule a time to remove them" So you pay them...and leave again only to come back. So you just paid twice for the same friggin' answer.

Ahhh... i forgot. Doctors cost money over there.

To an extent i agree with you PWRD, there's a lot of money grabbing in any profession. When it's doctors it's just made that bit worse, because it's making money out of people's ill health. It's like supermarkets who pump up the price of basic foodstuffs - we all need to eat, and it's unfair to capitalise on that.

But I'm in Britain, it's free to go for a check up or if you have a query, it's all paid for on the NHS (national health service).


If you like Gabriel - i'll go the doctors, describe your symptoms, and post the diagnosis...

bahahahahaha. I mean don't get me wrong. I got the hook up here too. I'm 20 have my full insurance plan and a 401K. I just hate to see how things costs so much. Esp when people who work for a company 10 years, get injured and then come to find out their insurance doesn't cover something whatever it may be (seems mostly to be in home health care stuff) and ends up costing these k's upon k's of money, yet some stupid street but MUST get health service and be taken care of. I just don't think it's fair that someone who can't afford it can lay a 60k burden on a hospital which all of the PAYING customers have to catch the slack on.

I hope you made all that out, I made a few typos...43hours of work in 49 hours I'm ready to go home.

on that i disagree.

I think everybody in a country has a right to health, and that it shouldn't be charged for.

I pay taxes for the NHS in Britain, and... ooh i think i've been to the hospital maybe twice in my life. But i don't mind - because it makes me happy knowing that i live in a society that cares about everybody having a right to health - regardless of status or wealth.

As for the work - sounds like you've earned yourself some SERIOUS rest time.

but my problem is. I BUST MY ASS to be where I am. I buy my own stuff. I don't mooch off anyone. It pisses me off to see me, or even worse my father have to GIVE 1/2 his paycheck to the government b/c some low class, unmotivated ass clown can't get a job and pay for his friggin' health insurance but he can buy his rock to get f'd up on and then go to the ER

I'm gonna stop here...this belongs in politics and I don't wanna drag it out here...sorry.

Hey, no, don't worry about it.

The whole world is getting dragged into politics at the moment.

I see where you're coming from, but it's something i've just realised people frequently fundamentally disagree on. There are always slackers who mooch of society, but they're in a minority.

If you think about it though - it really works both ways. There are multi-millionaires who pay the majority of the tax to provide the public services that the middle and lower classes enjoy. So it's tough to complain about giving benefits to unemployed layabouts when a large proportion of the tax is paid for my multi millionaires (although they're being given a extreme hefty tax break by dubya)

Ok, yeah, on second thoughts... this does belong in a politics thread somewhere.

<thread re-routine>

Gabriel - hope your legs get better buddy!

bahahah oh goshes! 4 hours and I get to go home I R so happpppy

wow, you're quite the hypocrit. You give doctor's crap for busting their ass in school and working a few years for peanuts to make the money they do and then say the above. Bet you need a powerful toothpaste to deal with the crap that comes out of your mouth.

While doctors are in school and then residency, they make little to nothing... I do agree that healthcare is entirely too expensive, but I also believe that it's something that every single person, whether rich or poor, has a right to. My only beef is keeping the 80 year old person alive with organ transplants left and right when that money could have easily been spent on the 9 year old burn victim who almost died in a house fire but doesn't have the money to pay for proper treatment.

Back on topic, the OP hasn't posted anything back on whether or not he feels he's getting enough other nutrients besides the obvious. A lot of people seem to overlook sodium and potassium and I've known a shortage of potassium to cause some odd muscular effects (most notably the quakes or "sewing machine legs" as I call it).

Back on topic here... (that was probably the worst threadjack ever). Lactic acid will work its way out of your muscles in a couple hours' time after your workout. Sounds much more like an electrolyte thing to me. Try some energy gels or Cytomax next time you go out.

Gabriel --

Like everyone else said go to the doctor but is it possible that this may be a sign of poor circulation?

CLancy

This is why you come to Canada. Free health-care.

we were trying to get this back on topic... bpoh and I seem to agree that sodium/postassium (electrolytes) and possibly even other vitamins may be the issue here. I'd suggest also trying to eat a banana or two before/during/after your ride as they're very high in potassium.

I think you are all making the mistake of assuming this is just a dietary shortfall of some sort. While this is probably the case it could also be indicative of something more serious (as has already been suggested by our med student) and he should get to a doctor about his symptoms

If your electrolytes are out of wack then drinking a lot of water won't help. Usually low potassium gives you muscle cramps and low sodium makes you feel sick. You need both to better utilize the water. At least that's the way I've heard. Next time you ride eat 'junk' food after. I has a lot of sodium. My guess is you are low in sodium. Charlie

I think that you need to cool down after you do a hard workout. I remeber during cross country (running), when we would do a "VH" workout (very hard...clever, eh?) we would have to do an extra-long cool-down, like 3 miles or 20-25 minutes of running to get the lactic acid. I remeber being tempted once, and skipped the cool-down...didn't recover that well.

I've applied this to hard rides, taking the last 15 minutes easy, just spinning, without much pressure on the pedals.

also, you do need electrolytes. they are important so that water stays in you...

You do need electrolytes, but I wouldn't reccommend filling up on junk food after your rides. Bananas or a good sports drink will do much more for you, with less crap that you don't want in it, like trans fats. I would echo that drinking water won't help when you're low on electrolytes. That could actually lead to water intoxication. Give Cytomax or Power Bar Endurance drink a try.