RMoudatir

I just started getting into cycling the beginning of this month and after 3 weeks I feel like I feel like I have no energy to do my daily tasks. Now walking up a few stairs is so difficult, causes my heart to pound quickly. I thought cycling or other exercises would help you feel way better but instead it is making me feel like crap like I want to lay in bed all day. All I did last week was ride 70 miles in total which is not really much compared what others do. Im not out of shape or anything, I eat well, I sleep well.

Any ideas to help this?

jimincalif

3 weeks is not very long to get in cycling shape. I went back to my early rides, I did not get up to 70 miles/week until my 8th week. So I'd say back way off on the riding and take a rest.

That said, if your heart races just going up a few stairs, get to your doctor. There may be something going on other than cycling.

BobbyG

Ditto on the doctor. I had commuted for years. Then an injury took me away from cycling, and pretty much any activity. After 7 or 8 months I started on the treadmill to rebuild cardio. That was really tough. (I was in my late 40s.) After 3 or 4 more months I returned to riding and out took months to get back to where it wasn't a struggle.

Jean3n16

I am more tired since riding but thats because im using muscles I wasnt before.

I second going to the dr about your heart- thats not normal.

jade408

How many miles were you riding before you started riding 70 miles per week? If you had cycled in the past, how long was the break in between then and now.

One important tip, never use someone else's load to determine your own load: speed, distance, rides per week etc.

It sounds like you are seriously fatigued, and that should get looked at by a doctor.

Just like with everything else you should build up slowly and not rush into anything. Make sure you take rest days and do not increase your speed or mileage too quickly.

velosapiens

htfu

wolfchild

You're out of shape and you're not eating enough and you're riding too hard...Without good nutrition your body won't recover from exercise and you will always be sore and have no energy and feel like crap...Take some easy days and just do an easy ride without pushing too hard, you can't push at maximum intensity all the time because you will burn yourself out.

idiotekniQues

that sounds a little odd and not the kind of normal fatigue i feel from exercise. do you have a primary care physician you can visit?

FBinNY 

This isn't right, but may not be far wrong either.

Cycling, or even strenuous exercise shouldn't take such a toll of your general energy level, and a new inability to climb stairs that weren't a challenge before is not a good sign.

However, there may be more at work, such as some dehydration, or depletion of blood sugar reserves. In your shoes, I'd stop riding for a few days and see what shakes out. If you come back to normal (pre-cycling) levels, then you can explore other possibilities, if you don't rebound then most definitely see a doctor because something has changed that can't be accounted for.

BTW- if you rebound when you stop riding, then start and have the same effects and cannot account for or address them by, for example, drinking more water, then that too would call for a medical review.

bobwysiwyg

Quite the response.

velosapiens

Just the truth.

RMoudatir

The reason I am saying I am new to cycling is because I have never really been on rides farther than 2 miles in the past as I only commute 1.5 miles from my home. This past year I have been having a very sedentary lifestyle since I quit my soccer team. I have been looked at by my doctor several times before for the same reason and my blood tests were excellent, no abnormal signs. I am also in a rush to condition myself because I have a tryouts for a soccer team I am trying to make a comeback by this winter and I prefer cycling since it is the only way I can push myself and while running I cant seem to have motivation to push myself in it.

BlazingPedals

You're not on statins, are you? If you are, exercise can cause side-effects to show up, that you didn't notice before. Otherwise, at a guess you're just going too hard, and not allowing enough recovery time.

jade408

Way too much too fast. The old adage is you shouldn't increase more than 10% a week. If the max you have ridden is 2 miles at once, jumping into 10-20-25 miles is way too much in 3 weeks.

Scooty Puff Jr

I agree, it took me 6 months to go from 5 to 10 mile rides to 40 to 60 mile rides, and I was in pretty good shape when I started.

Take it slow, and take a day off or two in between rides, it may not take you 6 months like me, but I'd say at least give yourself a couple months to slowly get in "good biking shape".

rubiksoval

Well, actually, it sounds like that's precisely what you are. Cycling is an aerobic endurance sport. You don't just get in shape in a few weeks.

But don't worry, it'll come.

P.S., I've always thought I was "in shape" riding 10,000+ miles a year. Then I tried running... and couldn't make it a mile. Took me a long time to be able to run pretty far pretty fast. Specificity!!!

NYMXer

I don't think the number of miles is the issue as long as the level of intensity is within his limits.
Taking a day or two off allows the body to recover and up the intensity on the next ride

trail_monkey

Sometimes when I go up my stairs my heart is pounding and I am breathing harder than usual BUT I have a tendancy to not breathe when I do things. I hold my breath and don't realize I do it. I actually am not in bad shape. But to the topic at hand........OP it takes time. I started cycling 2 1/2 years ago and maybe ride once or twice a week. I am still a strong rider but it took time. Be patient.

TimothyH

OP needs to take an easy recovery week.

Reduce duration and intensity of each ride and the volume of riding during the week. This will allow the body to recover.

DeceptivelySlow

Although I have enjoyed cycling my entire life, I initially got into road riding for fitness because I was over stressing my heart when mountain biking. My heart rate would stay elevated for a significant time after a strenuous mtn bike ride. By road riding at lower intensity to improve fitness corrected the problem.

I see the OP lists his bike as being fixed gear.

gregf83 

Sounds abnormal unless you are significantly overweight. First thing I would do is get a stress test and have your heart checked.

indyfabz

In the beginning of June you wrote that you were riding, so how is that you now say you started getting into cycling at the beginning of this month?


https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...und-300-a.html

jefnvk

Up to 70 miles a week in three weeks after just starting? Probably too much, unless you are already a fit individual just transferring to cycling. I didn't do that three weeks after sitting out after five months for a winter off.

But yeah, anonymous folks on the internet are not your best source for medical concerns.

trail_monkey

I will agree with what you're saying. When I first started riding a five or six mile ride just seemed like a hundred miles it was hard it was tough I thought I was really making an accomplishment LOL. Now I did my first century this summer after two-and-a-half years. It's amazing how you look back at what you used to consider a really long ride and now you realize that is just a trip around the block LOL.

RMoudatir

Im not sure if riding less than 2 miles to school equates
To having alot of experience. I have not ridden a bicycle during that time for months and was just researching to buy a new bike since the old one was an anchor and gave me problems.