Aching Body / Muscles

[Greetings]

In about a weeks time i'm going up into the mountains for 10 days to ride rocks. Planning to ride non stop if the weather will be ok but there's one problem. Usually after a day of proper riding I need at least 2 days of rest due to my arms aching very badly and having almost no strength at all. So out of 10 days I'll be up there, I'll only get about 3 days of proper riding.

Is there anything I can do to keep me going for a few days non stop? I usually stretch before riding... will probably be eating sausages pizzas and chocolate. Dunno what else might be important. Post away!

[MadManMike]

Hmm, I don't think there is any way really, constant riding will make it better but there's no quick fix - well as far as I know anyway.

Not physically possible for someone to ride 10 days and not ache Well, I doubt it anyway.

[Brian Bleech]

In about a weeks time i'm going up into the mountains for 10 days to ride rocks. Planning to ride non stop if the weather will be ok but there's one problem. Usually after a day of proper riding I need at least 2 days of rest due to my arms aching very badly and having almost no strength at all. So out of 10 days I'll be up there, I'll only get about 3 days of proper riding.

Is there anything I can do to keep me going for a few days non stop? I usually stretch before riding... will probably be eating sausages pizzas and chocolate. Dunno what else might be important. Post away!

Eating better will help and I would make time to rest, a couple afternoons & evenings. Just relax and chill for a bit

[spode@thinkbikes]

Eating better will help and I would make time to rest, a couple afternoons & evenings. Just relax and chill for a bit

I find a long day ride will knock me out for a couple of days. But if I'm only riding gently for 2-3 hours in the evening, I can keep that up for days on end.

[Simpson]

When i read Kelly Holmes book she said that when doing the oylmpics she used to have ICE cold baths in the evening

[Orgun_Donor]

Eating lots of carbohydrates will give you the energy to ride, but as said, no real quick for for riding with out aching. I tend to ride through the ache, and have ridden for about 5 or 6 days(long rides as well, starting at like 10am and finishing at 7 or 8 in the eve, but then i was dead for a few days. Try pushing through the aching, you may find once you warm up you start to get in the swing of things again the aching goes.

[ben_travis]

i have a HUGE staying power.

At least thats what she tells me.........suppose that doesnt help you though.

Edited August 1, 2007 by ben_travis

[Barbra]

After leaving school and giving it a while before i got a job. First day today lol! I was riding about 9 hours a day every day, aside from the odd day of seeing the missus!

Basically the only thing i think you can really do is just ride through it...Eat protein, and drink plenty of water

[kid creole]

you can use creatine monohydrate supplement

[Luke Drewery]

As people have said it will be impossible to avoid ache, but you just have to ride through it, once you have been riding consistently for say 10 mins, the adrenaline gets going and the pain goes. I find the worst part is my hands get so sore, even when i wear gloves, I dont seem to ache too much but Im probably just lucky.

[Token]

you can use creatine monohydrate supplement

Aye this'll do the trick, although creatine ethyl ester is apparently alot more absorbant. Because its a ester you won't need to "load up" on it aswell. But basically I'm told it increases your ATP and you'll be able to exercise for longer, maybe do abit of research yourself on it I'm not totally clued up on it but I think it's naturally occuring in the body so there's no side affects from taking it.

[Gavyn.]

just don't rest obviously you've got to sleep but don't sit down and relax in the evenings keep active and you'll be reet

[Tommy d]

Take a day off after every 2 or 3 days and just enjoy the mountains?

[BONGO]

Creatine WILL help if you start asap and your body takes to it quickly enough. It normally takes me a bit over a week to notice any stamina increase and muslce repair speed increase.

Pasta is a good long term energy source as it has slow releasing complex carbs, so 24hours in advance and then keep that up.

[Greetings]

Thanks for the replies. Some good ideas here

Will look the creatine thing up first thing tomorrow.

Would stretching after riding help in any way?

[chrishayton]

i eat an average diet, not crap all the time but not overly healthy but i find i can ride all day everyday for at least a week without getting completely knackered. remember to warm down, i think thats how i get away with it. i usually have to ride a mile back from the station so that warms me down, and stretch when u get home. thats all I do and i rarely get too tired to ride and my muscles rarely ache. maybe have alook at your bike. the set up can cause bad posture resulting in aches. low stems and long bikes are bad.

[abtrials]

Eating eating eating mate, if you’re going to be doing 10 days of intense exercise you need to eat so so much and like every 2-3 hours and not crap, carbs from stuff like pasta, potato, cuss cuss etc... Also take a protein supplement with you because you need to get loads in your body to try and repair it, plus as suggested creatine is ok but you might not notice too much difference?? as it takes a week or so to start working, Also if there is a massage pallor about spend the money and get a full body half way through, again as much water as possible, and if you want to go full hog glucosamine tabs will help your joints. And last but not least sleep sleep and sleep.

All that together it might just work.

Edited August 2, 2007 by rwiley

[1a2bcio8]

I'd emphasis stretching after the ride. I find this tends to be more important regarding aching muscles (especially the next day) whereas stretching before tends to help with not straining/damaging muscles that aren't ready for certain activity. Additionally, if you make sure you muscles are loose for that night's sleep you should sleep better. This is a well proven thing, sleeping with tension results in poor sleep and good sleep obviously correlates with good recovery regarding both muscles and energy. I think perhaps it also makes sense to build up and build down the intensity of your activity. Be gentle in your transitions from rest-to-activity, activity-to-rest.

And as everyone else says, eat that which aids recovery and maintenance of energy. I'd avoid chocolate and pizza if you're after longevity

Good luck though, that sounds like a very intense activity you're attempting.

Edited August 2, 2007 by rowly

[Bearded Midget]

lots of red bull

i used to drink lots of it so i had energy to ride but now im so used to riding everyday i dont drink alot of it, i now have a good stamina