Thigh Mucles hurt, how do I?
 

Good evening everyone,

I started riding about two months ago and I love it. I don't ride everyday but try to most days. I also try and ride at least 12 miles, mostly flat. My thigh muscles kill me though, even just starting out now. It wasn't so bad when I first started but lately, I have to really push myself to keep going. How can I get those muscles in better shape? I am out of shape and over weight but I would have thought my now my muscles would be getting stronger.

Thanks
Kris

Make sure your not overtraining. I know from my days in bodybuilding (13 years) that overtraining a muscle will make it hurt as you described. Other feelings come from that too so you may or may not be. If you use a muscle hard everyday without giving it time to recover you will loose strength, size and stamina. Everyones different, just my thoughts.

Things to check...

- If your saddle is too low, you can't get full leg extension on the downstroke, which makes leg muscles fatigue and ache much faster. Newcomers tend to want to set their seats too low-- If your seat is set at the proper height, your feet should NOT be able reach the ground when sitting on your saddle.

- If your tires are underinflated, you have to pedal harder, which fatigues your leg muscles. Properly-inflated tires for normal pavement riding should be quite hard... You shouldn't be able depress the tires with your fingers when you squeeze them.

- Practice your gear shifting. Lots of newcomers tend to "grind it out" on high gear (takes a lot of effort to get going) and consequently fatigue sets in quick. Remember to shift to lower gears before you decelerate and stop, so when you need to start up again you won't have to pedal so hard.

- Make sure you are well-hydrated. Leg cramps can result from electrolyte imbalance and dehydration. If you don't already have them, mount water bottle cages on your bike and carry a bottle of gatorade or two.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your responses. I will try changing the saddle height, it does feel like I'm a little cramped peddling. I need to also check the tire pressure.

Thanks again
Kris

Stretch in the morning, stretch at lunch, stretch before your ride, stretch after your ride and stretch before you go to bed.

If your muscles hurt, they are getting stronger. Just make sure to take a long-enough break between rides for the pain to heal up before you jump back on the bike.

You might wanna try riding every other day for a bit. When you let your muscles recover for a day, you'll enjoy your rides more, plus you'll work harder on the days you do ride. It's gotta be fun too, right?

Thanks very much to everyone who responded. I did raise my seat and that helped a great deal. I also stretched before I got on the bike.

I appreciate the help :)

Thanks again
Kris

Glad my suggestion helped your situation. If you got a bike that is "dialed in" so that it fits you to a T, you should be able to ride it every day recreationally without much discomfort.

Good luck on your future rides!

That's good. You should also get into the routine of warm-down stretching after you ride. You might also need to adjust your nutrition...to help with muscle recovery.

Stretching before a ride should be light - you can damage muscles by stretching them when cold. It's much better to do heavy stretching after a ride, when they're warm.

The seat-post height suggestion is the best one I've seen so far. Your seat post should be high enough that when your pedal is at the very bottom of the stroke, your leg should be nearly fully extended, just a slight bend to the knee.

Seat height is key, as you have discovered - for knees, too, not just for thighs. I'd stress what one other poster mentioned: cadence. The short of it is: keep your pedal revolutions high and your gearing low. As a practical matter, that means that, on the flat, you probably want to maintain a pedal cadence of somewhere between 70 and 95 revs per minute, shifting gears so that you can comfortably maintain it. (Where in that range you fit is a matter of personal preference, which comes from trial-and-error.) Going uphill, your cadence will almost certainly go down - on a downhill, your cadence (assuming you keep pedaling) will almost certainly be over 90 and maybe over 100.

The reason I mention this is that maintaining that kind of cadence will do a much better job of flushing out lactic acid that will cranking at 40rpm in a higher gear. (It's a lot easier to accellerate that way, too.) Not flushing out the lactic acid = hurtin' thighs, which I believe is where you came in.

Note this is not meant as an "instead of" for any of the other advice you have received - it all sounds good to me. But if you keep the cadence up in addition, I bet your thighs will thank you.

That's true too. I saw an article in one of my cycling mags a few months ago that was about muscle recovery. Getting some carbs and protein right after you ride can help. I think it was in Bicycling.

I learned that in my body building days. A good protein drink after a hard workout really helps but should only suppliment a good diet of quality balanced foods.

stretching can help. You'll be amazed how much pain is relieved when flexibility is increased. Static stretching before a ride can put you at a larger risk of pulling a muscle, start your ride slow to get the blood pumping and loosen the muscles that way