Topic: The Health, Fitness and Exercise Thread

@kyleforrester87 Hey buddy that’s great news, those kind of distances and stats are not to be sniffed at. Here’s to continued improvement, wishing you the best 👍

@AgentCooper thanks man, really appreciate that. I have been relying on cycling a lot these past few years and although I always seem to be carrying some sort of ache or pain it’s been particularly rough this year with the injuries, but feels like I am past the worst of it 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Been dealing with a pulled calf for months. Can't afford to take time off to let it heal and I pulled my groin on Friday. So that's nice.

@kyleforrester87 Impressive numbers my man! It's cool to do events/races every now and again to get a change of scenery but also that competitiveness/camaraderie too.

@Thrillho thanks mate. Yes, although cycling ones can be a little hit and miss as you get spread pretty thin on the longer courses. So you can sometimes feel like you’ve paid £40 to just ride on free public roads. I assume runners stay a little more grouped….

@kyleforrester87 Nice work! Interesting that you mention the hand going numb during the ride — When I dabbled in cycling a few years ago I had annoying pain in the outer elbows that I just couldn’t figure out how to get past. Which is weird because you’d think cyclists would mainly struggle with leg issues, but the arms are also given a heavy work out too. Largely due to the arm pain, I wasn’t able to go for longer than about 20-30 miles. So kudos for pushing through!
(Also, the saddle pain and discomfort is an obstacle… 😅)

@TabulaRasa Yeah, I find that whilst I’m nursing one injury then I’m more apt to strain something else because it throws off my biomechanics. Hang in there!

@Th3solution you can get over most aches and pains with bike adjustments and strengthening, but at the end of the day it’s not an arm chair and after so many miles you will fatigue and get sore. So core strength and arm strength are both pretty important, those weaknesses and imbalances all seem to come out in the wash the longer you cycle. I have some strength and conditioning to do for sure..! As for your butt, with a nice firm saddle with minimal padding complimented with some good quality shorts with padding you do build up a tolerance pretty quick. But certainly, the day after your first ride in a long while and your butt will HURT. I also use a product called butt shield all around my ass and man parts to stop chaffing

@kyleforrester87 I went to a bike shop to be sized for my height and arm length and so I guess you’re right about that elbow pain and it is just something normal to get past. It’s that strange isometric and static contraction of the outer arm muscles where you’re constantly pushing out, elbows extended, mile after mile. When I finally flex my elbow joint I can just feel the burn as my arm muscles scream out in confusion as to what I’ve just put them through. 😂

What’s your feeling on using a Peloton or stationary bike or doing spin classes?

@kyleforrester87 Most of main tend to be trail races so not such a problem with roads, occasionally crossing a smaller one.

And people can be quite spread out. Most events I’ve done have had multiple distances going on at the same time on slightly different courses as well. The last half marathon I did was the super hilly one in 2h30 with the fastest person in 2h6 and slowest in just over 5hrs!

@Th3solution yeah I have a smart trainer, I ride Zwift on it (basically an openworld multiplayer online cycling game) - it’s good for training, group rides, racing etc and adjusts the difficulty to simulate hills and inertia of the bike generally, it feels quite realistic really and definitely leads to improvement in real life. I have not used it in a while due to my knee though… it’s very hard to not go flat out all the time on that thing. Plus you get XP and level up and stuff so obviously appeals to the gamer in me 😁 Spin bikes in the gym, perhaps less so from what I have heard but I have never tried them.

@Thrillho how’s the old tendons?

@kyleforrester87 Still not great. Still quite tender and a bit sore if I've been sat down for too long. Going to be a while before I'm out there again I think.

Don't know whether it's worth seeing a physio or not as I can't tell that there's much that can be done other than rest. Maybe some stretches but perhaps some advice on helping prevent it again. Just weird that it's flared up now to be honest as I wasn't doing anything more than I have over the last 18 months.

@Thrillho sorry to hear that. Was it bad before you were running with the push chair? This is the one to fix it, for sure. Plenty of times a day, for a while. Should be a bit sore holding it for a bit but not really bad.