"Bruised" Muscle Pain

JPT

I am currently on a program where I ride hard on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. However lately I feel that my muscles have not recovered sufficiently to do the next hard ride.

My heart rate shows that I have recovered, and I have no trouble sleeping which normally tells me I am overtrained. But then when I start my warm-up for my hard ride, even riding over a bridge my legs feel sore, while my heart rate is low.

I have recently cut out dairy products from my diet, but are using calcium, magnesium, iron & multi vit. as supplements. My hard rides as usually followed with a high carbo drink and then within 30-40min a meal with lots of carbo and a large percentage protein.

Any ideas of what can help speed up my recovery as it seems my legs are not getting stronger.

JPT

Could eating a large bowl of Muesli each morning cause any problems?

2LAP

Sounds like you are over trained, depite quite low training frequency; have you had a week off?

Also what is a 'hard ride' for you?

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2LAP

Unlikely, but how much time elapses between eating any food and riding?

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JPT

thanks for your reply, could possibly be overtraining but I have found in the past that when I am overtrained, my mental state shows that my mood is down, more miserable, and that I dream when I sleep. This is however not the case, as I feel ready for a cycle.

My hard rides consist of doing hard climbs, at or above AT, intervals, speed (standing start in large gear for 10s), normally a duration of 2 hours. Yesterday was a hard ride with intervals and a tough climb, however after 1h15 I felt as if I had been riding for 4 hours. This is after my last hard ride was on Sunday, so 4 days rest.

Why I ask if Muesli can cause my discomfort, is because I eat a bowl of Muesli dry! Without milk, yogurt or water. I wondered if this can inhibit some absorbtion of essential minerals. This morning I have decided to stop eating it, and will report back if I can feel a change. Need to do a race on Sunday, and hoping I will feel stronger by then.

cheers