I am new and have just started sweet spot part 1…My question is I am an older cyclist 53…But have made good gains over the winter (Ftp went from 190 to 258), But I struggle with leg soreness, my legs are almost always sore(muscle soreness) and lately I find it hard to complete the prescribed workouts and recover so I can continue the training plan…Also training peaks has been saying “your body may need extra rest because of your form” does that mean I take an unprescribed rest day? or 2?
I have been training pretty hard for the past year…
I would like to race some cx this fall, and very soon try a road or criterium, but am frustrated with my legs…Any help?
Any chance you can take a screen shot of your Performance Manager Chart in TrainingPeaks. Say for last 180 days, or year to date as the range?
Do you know what your lowest TSB has been? Do you get above 0 on your regeneration weeks? Have you tried foam rolling, stretching, yoga? Are you off days off? Do you stand for work?
Legs shouldn’t always be sore but there could other factors and reason for it. Being your first year it can be a lot of stress on your body that you are not use to. Make sure you easy days are easy, recovery days are off your feet, that you get 8 or more hours of sleep, stretch and etc.
But let’s get a look at the performance manager chart. If you are not getting sufficient time at or above 0 you may need to add some rest or make sure that you are getting proper regeneration weeks in.
That chart speaks volumes to what could possibly be going on with your legs.
Another thing that comes to mind is how you arrived at your FTP from 190 > 258? That’s awesome but if you have your FTP set too high taht may be the root cause.
Finally see our training tip and listen to our RECOVERY podcast - some helpful nuggets to get the most out of your body for training and racing: https://fascatcoaching.com/tips/recovery/
We do expect to see big gains gong from noodling around to training consistently and proper. So it’s possible.
But also you will produce higher power outdoors than indoors. So setting a higher FTP outdoors but having most of your workouts indoors might make things more challenging as well. Sometimes we see a 5% decrease in power indoors compared to outdoors. So having an indoor FTP and outdoor FTP isn’t a terrible idea.
But if you are hitting all your targets, workouts and intervals you are probably just fine. Maybe look at diet as well. #winninginthekitchen
Things should get better with better recovery, eating, stretching and mostly getting use to a training cycling. Being that new after this offseason, a little offseason break you should be better moving forward into your second year of following a plan.
Thank you for answering that seems to be the case with me I try and do them Outdoors but sometimes in time-limited and when I do them indoors find that they are much harder I think I just have to face the fact that my legs get sore and deal with it even though they are sore I still seem to put out good power guess I ask too many questions cuz the guys I ride with never seem to get sore they just get tired but I have made huge gains in the past six months and can’t wait to continue with the plan… thank you for the suggestions and The Help…
This forum is all about asking questions and getting more information. Any time. Never hesitate to ask. If it makes you feel better my legs are real sore right now.
