Tindo

Hello everyone. I didn't know where to post this so i thought this would be a good place. After years of a sedentary lifestyle i took a long look at myself in a mirror one day and i didn't like what i saw, so i decided to go on a diet. I have been dieting for the last 4 months and have lost around 100lbs so i could get in good enough condition to start to exercise and really start to get into some kind of shape other then round. One day while driving home i saw someone selling a bicycle at a garage sale and thought that it would be a good form of exercise, so after buying it and taking it to a bike shop to get new tires, brakes, tube, etc i began to ride it. The first day i was on it i rode it for almost 7 minutes and went less then a mile before i couldn't take it any longer but the next day i felt great for doing it so every day after that i have been going a little further for longer periods of time. I'm currently up to 8 miles and that takes about 55 minutes to do. I eventually want to get up to about 20 miles a day but as things stand now i don't know how I'm going to do that since my legs fell like jello all day after my ride and they never fully recover for the next days ride. I've been reading a lot on these forums about how you should take a few rest days off during the week but since i am not going any great distance I'm wondering if i should do this as well. I'm really new at this and haven't really ridden a bicycle since i was a teenager (I'm currently 46) but i find myself loving it but its getting harder and harder to ride every day since my legs feel so week just a few minutes into my ride. Any suggestions on diet, and training would be more then helpful.

chasm54

You've lost 100 lbs in four months? That's nearly a pound a day. Congratulations, but that is a rate of weight loss that is extremely hard to sustain and it's quite likely, I would have thought, that you are losing muscle mass as well as fat. So it's not surprising that you feel a bit weak and take a while to recover, and it is certainly important that you take the exercise, because you'll want to maintain the muscle mass while losing the fat.

A number of things occur to me. First, have a look at your diet. I assume you are counting calories. If so, factor in the fact that cycling for an hour will burn a few hundred calories (I can't say how many without knowing how heavy you are, but there are bike calculators on-line that will give an approximation). If you replace those calories immediately after riding with a mixture of protein and carbs you will recover quicker. So if you were on 1500 Calories per day and are now riding for an hour or so, it may be sensible to go up to 1800 per day, for example.

Second, don't be surprised that it is taking you a while to get used to it. If you are 46 and have done no exercise for many years then getting fitter is going to be a gradual process. You're up to 55 minutes from seven. That's good. If you're struggling to do the 55 minutes every day, then I'd suggest that rather than take days off, you alternate easy days with harder ones. So, one day just ride for 15 or 20 minutes, then the next day do 50 minutes or an hour. Experiment with the timings and with how hard you are pushing. You should find that the easier days allow you to recover better for the longer ones. And as you get fitter, the longer rides will get longer.

Third, I assume the bike has gears? If so, try riding at the speed you usually ride at, but in a lower gear, so that you are pedalling faster but having to exert less force for every pedal stroke. The sensation should be that you are pressing only quite lightly on the pedals. You may find this makes you get out of breath more quickly, because you are pedalling faster, but it will also be easier on the leg muscles because they are pushing less hard. So you'll get a better cardio workout and your legs should recover easier.

Finally, drop by the Clydesdales and Athenas forum. There are lots of heavier riders there who have lost big amounts of weight and got back into cycling. You'll find them to be a great source of advice and support.

chandltp

This sentence caught my attention. I've felt that way before and I found that if I kept going in 10 or 15 minutes they felt better as long as I kept going easy.

Second, you might need to take a few days off and eat enough to recover (i.e. not see any downward movement on the scale).

You might also want to try to eat at a maintenance caloric intake for a week or so in order to allow your body to build up / repair some muscle. It's very hard to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time. It can be done if the weight loss is slow enough, but yours doesn't appear to be.

Triode

you're going to have to balance diet and exercise.

You cannot readily combine a severe weight loss diet with an increased physical activity program.

It can be done.

Suggest if you are not already doing so - Paleo diet or similar that is high in protein.

Further, I suggest focusing more on the exercise - because that will lead to lower weight.

You are probably hitting a plateau where you cannot easily see increased performance - but will see more with continued effort.

Just keep doing what you are doing and make sure you pay attention to the nutrition you need.

ericm979

I disagree about the Paleo diet. Instead, a balanced diet that includes complex carbs. If you do significant endurance exercise you need carbs.

You are probably using too high (hard) a gear when you ride. That will make your legs tired more quickly. Try using a lower gear and pedaling faster to get the same speed. It takes time to get good at that so don't worry if it feels funny at first.

If your legs are too tired, take a day or two off. It takes a long time to get fit after being sedentary for so long. I raced in my 20s, quit and got fat. When I came back to cycling, already knowing how to ride but just being out of shape, it took a couple years to get reasonably fit to where I could ride a century again.

Chaco

This is simply not true, at least the way most people would interpret this. The typical American is taking in over 300 carbs a day. But there are plenty of athletes who are consuming less than 100 carbs a day. [See the Paleo Diet for Athletes] And for anyone who has blood sugar problems, it is doubly untrue. And if the OP was 100 lbs. overweight, he is a prime candidate for T2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

Also, 20 miles, which is what the OP wants to get up to, is not "significant endurance exercise." This is something he ought to be able to do with the glucose that is already in his system.

I do agree with you that he probably needs more rest, especially since he is losing almost a pound a day. With that large a calorie deficit, he is very likely cannibalizing his lean muscle. Now that the weight is off, a program of cycling every other day, with some cross-training thrown in on the "off" days, might get him to the next step in his fitness program.

Tindo

Thank you all for the wonderful advice. I will let you guys know how things turn out.

chandltp

Agreed. I do 17 miles almost every morning before eating anything.

gregf83 

I think you may have misread that book. For anyone doing a significant amount of training they modify the Paleo diet by adding carbohydrates before during and after exercise. Trying to maintain a decent training load of 10+ hrs/wk isn't possible on 100 Cals/day of carbohydrates unless all your training is at a low intensity level.

Chaco

Yes, I am aware of that, and in fact I do up my carb intake on longer days. I also use a version of the protein shake they recommend after 2+ hour rides. But even with that, my average per day is less than 100 grams of carbs (not 100 C of carbs, btw.) And for rides of around 2 hours or less, a very low carb regimen works just fine, even if it is at high intensity.

Granted, I'm not talking about people who are racing all the time. But then I don't think the OP was, either. I assume he just wants to be like so many of us here -- able to exercise for a few hours at a time at a high level of intensity.

nkfrench 

Make sure your bike saddle is at the right height. Too low and it will rob you of power and hurt your kneecaps. Too high and the back of your legs will hurt.
Focus first on time on the bike before you track speed, distance, intensity. Start with easy terrain easy gears and work on pedal more / coast less.
Expect to continue making improvements for the next 3-5 YEARS. Even people who start cycling with decent physical fitness find that their "bike" muscles need improvement, especially if hills are involved.
Get enough water before/during/after rides. Dehydration saps your energy.

squatchy

You should listen to your body and rest more. Every other day resting would be a good place to start. Part of getting healthy is recovering. Burning your self out only leads to poor performance, and possibly can/will cause you to quit because your not making gains. You will burn more calories in the 24 hours after a workout because of your increased metabolizim than you burn while riding. Lastly, make sure to eat immediately after you finish your ride. Your body is wide open and looking for protien to heal your stress of riding. I think most everyone would tell you your losing way to fast to be healthy and you need to lose weight a little slower to maintain your muscle mass.