leg burn

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by zaskar
what causes legs to burn, some days they burn quicker then other days and even @ low hear rate 130s. they seem to only
burn when i stand up and only after secounds. also a few times when i was riding longer rides when i would stop then go again
my legs burned pretty bad, then it would go away as i pedaled any suggestions thanks.

Almost sounds like Lactic Acid - a natural phenomenon in the human body...and as far as I know you do not get rid off it. You only build up a resistance to it the fitter you get.

Previous post is correct that the burning is probably lactic acid. You build this up when you use the anerobic capacity in your legs. You can however do things to avoid it causing you problems.

I live on a very high street. I have to climb a few big hills to get home. This can be a pain because a long hard climb is good way to build up lactic acid. At the end of a ride, particularly one where you use anerobic capacity, it is best to finish easy, and allow your body the chance to remove the acid from your muscles via the circulatory system. This is commonly known as a warm down!! It is an essential part of any athletes training sessions!!

The warm up is critical too. Go out and hammer 5km as hard as you can, starting from your front gate. You' ll get a big burn going pretty quickly, but if you do the same with a 20 minute warm-up you will last a lot longer, and probably recover quicker after your ride.

The third solution to leg burn of course is more training. Intervals are great for this short hard intervals with short rest I find help in this department, but at the end a long warm down is critical.

With more training you increase your latic acid threshold, in other words you can go harder for longer before the lactic acid starts to build up in your legs, reducing their effectiveness!!

When you have burning legs on an easy ride, its probably lactic acid which is still there from a previous ride where you didnt warm down, or conversely your fitness is such that you built up a lot of lactate which your body found hard to get rid of.

The burn can sometimes just be fatigue too. Sometimes your legs might ache if you have simply overtrained, but this is probably a different feeling to the burning I think you are talking about.

One other thing you can do is seasonal training which many elite athletes use. For example in the off season its good to do lots of long easy rides, burning fat and resting hurt muscles. Then as you move closer towards races or other primary goals you can increase the volume of high intensity training you do. BUT, beware - many peoples minds are stronger than their obdies and they tend to overtrain by doing to much at high intensity. If you are starting out, lots of consistent, but long easy work would be very useful. This is known as 'building a base'!!

Base training will hold you in good stead for the future, whereas intense training at the begining risks injury, tiredness, fatigue and lack of progress!!
Hope this helps!!😎

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Nicko71
Previous post is correct that the burning is probably lactic acid. You build this up when you use the anerobic capacity in your legs. You can however do things to avoid it causing you problems.

I live on a very high street. I have to climb a few big hills to get home. This can be a pain because a long hard climb is good way to build up lactic acid. At the end of a ride, particularly one where you use anerobic capacity, it is best to finish easy, and allow your body the chance to remove the acid from your muscles via the circulatory system. This is commonly known as a warm down!! It is an essential part of any athletes training sessions!!

The warm up is critical too. Go out and hammer 5km as hard as you can, starting from your front gate. You' ll get a big burn going pretty quickly, but if you do the same with a 20 minute warm-up you will last a lot longer, and probably recover quicker after your ride.

The third solution to leg burn of course is more training. Intervals are great for this short hard intervals with short rest I find help in this department, but at the end a long warm down is critical.

With more training you increase your latic acid threshold, in other words you can go harder for longer before the lactic acid starts to build up in your legs, reducing their effectiveness!!

When you have burning legs on an easy ride, its probably lactic acid which is still there from a previous ride where you didnt warm down, or conversely your fitness is such that you built up a lot of lactate which your body found hard to get rid of.

The burn can sometimes just be fatigue too. Sometimes your legs might ache if you have simply overtrained, but this is probably a different feeling to the burning I think you are talking about.

One other thing you can do is seasonal training which many elite athletes use. For example in the off season its good to do lots of long easy rides, burning fat and resting hurt muscles. Then as you move closer towards races or other primary goals you can increase the volume of high intensity training you do. BUT, beware - many peoples minds are stronger than their obdies and they tend to overtrain by doing to much at high intensity. If you are starting out, lots of consistent, but long easy work would be very useful. This is known as 'building a base'!!

Base training will hold you in good stead for the future, whereas intense training at the begining risks injury, tiredness, fatigue and lack of progress!!
Hope this helps!!😎

thanks alot for the info, i thought the acid was only present
when doing high intensity, i warm up but i dont cool
down i didnt think that mattered much ill do so now.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by zaskar
what causes legs to burn, some days they burn quicker then other days and even @ low hear rate 130s. they seem to only
burn when i stand up and only after secounds. also a few times when i was riding longer rides when i would stop then go again
my legs burned pretty bad, then it would go away as i pedaled any suggestions thanks.

Lactic acid threshold training is the key. You can research this more thuroughly but the basic method it to train at 85% of your maximum heart rate for intervals depending on your current level of fitness. This training is very taxing so allow adequate recovery time between bouts. A good book to look at is the Lance A. book written with Chris Carmicheal, can't think of the name right now. He outlines several routines. After about 8 weeks of training you will appreciate a significant increase in your overall fitness and Lactic acid tolerance. Good luck.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by zaskar
what causes legs to burn, some days they burn quicker then other days and even @ low hear rate 130s. they seem to only
burn when i stand up and only after secounds. also a few times when i was riding longer rides when i would stop then go again
my legs burned pretty bad, then it would go away as i pedaled any suggestions thanks.

Try drinking Cytomax during your ride. Take in 2-3 oz. every 15 min. It helps alleviate the burn. I never race or train without it.

Best Wishes,
Vector7

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Vector7
Try drinking Cytomax during your ride. Take in 2-3 oz. every 15 min. It helps alleviate the burn. I never race or train without it.

Best Wishes,
Vector7

Would really love to, but it is very Expensive here in SA. 😠

Bit above my price range.

definately the lactic acid buildup and as some of the previous posts have said the more you expose your body to it the better your body gets at exercising in that state.

however... a great cool down or even take a short ride and just do nothing but low intensity work. massages are great as well and also cold water dips... all these things work great for help rid your body of the lactic acid.

Mikey

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by RalleighOke
Would really love to, but it is very Expensive here in SA. 😠

Bit above my price range.

Maybe I can buy it for you here in the USA and ship it off to you using DHL or Fed-Ex. It may be cheaper for you. Cytomax is a great tool to use when training. I wouldn't mind helping another fellow cyclist. Let me know if I can be of help.

Best Wishes,
Vector7

thanks for tips you guys, cooling down about 30 min after hard ride has helped alot! i also do recovery rides the next day
after a hard ride, and im finaly getting improvements.
cycling for 4 yrs always rode hard every ride 70 - 80% of max and didnt seem
to get faster, and didnt believe in easy days im glad i found this place! it also keeps me motovated coming here🙂

cool good to hear the recovery rides are working... your body just literally cannot keep up hard workouts all of the time... it needs to recover... in fact when i found this next fact out it freaked me.

maybe others can confirm this but I have heard it from very good sources, that you actually gain your fitness from a training ride after the actual training routine, so the actual fitness benefits you achieve come after the training is finished, so it is extremely important what you do afterwards or your next training session is and what you eat, i.e hard sessions should be at least 24 hours apart and if you want to do something just make it an easy work.. working well below your working or lactic threshold.

i imagine this is how blocks and tapers come into effect, to have the fitness gained tapered to the maximum right when you need it come race day.

I also find the recovery sessions are great for working on technique .. or involving other people .. lower intensity you can talk, or just admire the scenery which you usually just dont notice.

cheers
Mikey