achoo

About three weeks ago I decided to try and improve my hill climbing because I stink at it, so I've been doing hill repeats. All was good until this week - I was definitely getting faster even in just a couple of weeks, and the speed was showing up in all aspects of my cycling.

Until this week, anyway.

My hill-climbing routine has been to cycle about 16-17 miles to a little-trafficked road that has about 3/4 of a mile of a grade that averages about 10%, for about a 400-ft gain in altitude. I'd cycle out, repeat the hill until I had to unclip or turn around to prevent falling over, then cycle home.

I started out on my first ride laboring up the climb twice, but by last Friday I was able to do it 4 1/2 times and was even able to keep my speed and cadence pretty high on my first couple of runs up the hill. Even after the repeats I managed to crest the top of a climb on my ride home at over 20 mph that I used to struggle to clear at 15. I felt so good I even sprinted the last 1/2 mile home and hit over 30 mph on level ground even after all that work.

Woo hoo. I was feeling great.

Then Saturday morning I did a light squat workout in the gym and was really weak - no surprise given my ride on Friday afternoon/evening, and didn't think much about it.

I didn't ride on Sunday, and on Monday I went back to the hill, but was slow and only managed two repeats before my legs started giving out. I didn't bonk, my legs quit on me. Once again, not really surpising coming just two days after Friday's ride and Saturday's leg workout.

I figured I needed some time off the bike, so I took Tuesday off, did a 15-mile slow roll on Wednesday just to get out of the house but never got over 15 mph, and then took Thursday - yesterday - off, too.

Went back at the hill today, figuring four days off would be enough.

Nope - on my ride out, my quads were hurting almost immediately and I had no power - I could spin, and could even maintain decent speeds - for me anyway - on level ground, but going up the slightest hill was slow and downright painful. I kept going anyway, and managed to make it up the hill once, but I suffered some pretty painful cramps in my quads and calf muscles at the top of the first climb, so that was it and I turned for home.

My quads and calves HURT the entire ride home, I could feel my hammies twitching, and I could barely maintain 10 mph up any grade at all.

My lungs felt fine the whole time. Where I was going anaerobic for periods up the hill last week I was barely breathing today. I don't think I could have gone anaerobic today at all, my legs were so weak.

Diet's been OK, and I've even gotten plenty of sleep this week, wonder of wonders. And I sure would have thought four days recovery would be more than enough to at least go up that hill at least as well as I could when I started going at it three weeks ago.

What'd I do? I figure it was some kind of overtraining, but four days off not fixing it?

cshell

Need some cliffs notes.

calamarichris

Mannn, I hate taking tests when I haven't really read the material but B is usually the most logical choice.

a. His legs are weak
b. His legs are tired
c. His legs are actually arms
d. His legs have gangrene and should be amputated soon
e. All of the above

ultraman6970

overtraining in my opinion... you felt so good that you continued overdoing it, at the end u simply died. If i was you I would hang that road bike and I would rest doing some light fix gear for short times (45 mins max) 3 times per week to keep the legs moving only, and no bike during the weekend but thats my opinion, lets see what the other guys say. Too much miles kill the rider big time also sometimes. Hope all goes better...

Val23708

are you eating well?

have you tried massage?

Justleaning

Sounds like you may have over trained a bit.

pandabear

i'm gonna disagree with everyone on this one. i just don't think you tried hard enough.

mrvile

Nice. I would've gone with C

CyciumX

Take more than a week off, but less than 2 and you will feel great, spiritually and physically...reborn.

Pilsley

Your not overtraining,

Or eating wrong, or mixing in bad cross training.

Your sights are just set too short.

Keep at it.

bWurtz

Time for a legs transplant, methinks.

fogrider

the hill is too steep. most roads are not that steep. sure, you need leg strength, but you should be able to build it by riding lower grades fast. I think to improve on hills, you need to work on increasing your aerobic capacity. I get in two weekday rides during the week, its 15 mies and 1,200 feet of climbing. the first 500 feet the grade is not very steep, about 5 degrees, then its steeper to 1,200 feet. when I started training I only rode the lower part and did repeats. once you've maxed out and gone anaerobic, you will be able to do it for a short time, then you are only suffering without improving much. lactic acid will build up in your muscles and they will not work well. you need to train just under your anaerobic threshold. this will condition you to be able to put out a high effort for a long time.

recon455

I don't think it's over training since you took a week of rest and still sucking.
Where do you live anyway that 3/4mi is good climbing?

pdedes

you are using your hill workout as strength training.

1. don't bother with squats, especially the day after.
2. the day after, and maybe the day after that, easy twiddle
3. try different gearing (lower i'm thinking)

MajorMantra

Flip it.

Macster

awithey

Odds are it is over training. This happens a lot with weight lifting if you don't incorporate enough rest days. You eventually keep working out while your still tired/sore and begin to lose progress. It sounds like you just trained to hard and didn't give yourself enough consecutive rest days.

ridethecliche

It's not farking over training. You don't over train by doing 3 workouts in a bloody week.

You people throw that word around way too often when you have no idea what it means.

achoo

That's why I'm wondering what I did. I figure someone out there probably has a better idea, hence the post's details. Sorry if that strained anyone's attention span.

FWIW, I used to compete as a powerlifter, so I'm quite familiar with overtraining. This kinda feels like it, but no matter how hard I'd train in my competitive lifting days, three or four days off and I'd be fine. Every week I had one day where I used to do a 4-5 hour leg workout where I'd barf half the time and I couldn't walk down stairs for a day afterwards without supporting myself on a handrail (and not at all for about an hour or two afterwards...), but just two days later I'd be almost back to 100%. It's now been nine days since my last good ride, and my quads are still a bit sore in spots.

There's something different, and I can't figure it out. Diet doesn't seem bad - it could be better, but I've been eating a pretty balanced diet, and if anything I've overdone the eating the past two weeks or so as I'm up about 3-4 pounds. I've been getting plenty of protein so it's not that. I've been sleeping well, and don't have any symptoms of any bug - no cough, runny nose, or anything like that.

Other than the sore quads and the complete lack of power on the bike, I feel fine.

As for 3/4 mile hills - the very first line I posted in this thread said I stink at climbing.

Uni-Vibe

Maybe not enough calcium.

Maybe not enough potassium.

The Weak Link

Why don't you just HTFU?





Sorry.

ridethecliche

If the OP was a powerlifter doing 4 hr leg workouts, I don't think he's new to the feeling. Your comment is just being smartassy in a place where you have no reason to be doing so. Ever seen a competitive powerlifter or bodybuilder lift?

Doing a 4 hr leg workout would leave you unable to walk for 2 weeks, let alone 2 days.

JaceK

As a former power lifter, now turned cyclist...

I switch my training regime with the seasons, meaning winter I strength train, and just spin on a trainer to keep somewhat aerobic. When I train during this period I do heavy leg workouts, squats, hacks, presses, intensely to make as big gains in strength as I can. Once the outdoor riding season starts I drop off to doing high rep maintenance training. If I try to do squats or hacks my legs turn to rubber for several days, I become slow, frustrated and burn out. It typically takes 3 to 4 weeks to get back, and I can not do leg workouts during that time. The main reason I believe is that the to forms of training are complementary, you use entirely different muscle fibers, and response for each, thus burning the candle at every end.

achoo

Sounds exactly like what I'm going through.

I sure hope it doesn't take 3-4 weeks to get over it.

Caad 8

Its not over-training. Unless you've seen a decline in performance FOR A FEW MONTHS, then its not over-training.