Question from Th. Mons: When I ride my road bike up an incline and go from a sitting position to a pedalling position, I can only keep it up for about three to four turns of the cranks. Then I immediately feel a burning sensation in my thighs and feel as if I have no strength left. It can't be due to a lack of mileage, I cycle 60 to 100 kilometres twice a week. What could be the cause?
Expert advice: You are probably doing your training kilometres in the GA1 range. This means that your muscles and metabolism are used to long, low-intensity efforts. If you then start pedalling in a cradle position, the load on the front thigh muscles in particular will change, as they will be subjected to more strain due to the changed biomechanics in the cradle position. On the other hand, other muscle groups are spared. If, on top of this, you favour the cradle pedal on steep sections where the power output has to be greater, this means a double increase in load for the quadriceps. If this load is not specifically trained, the muscle starts to "burn" relatively quickly. This is caused by lactate, which is produced in the muscle and collects there. To remedy the problem, I recommend strength endurance intervals (so-called K3 training): 30 to 45 minutes of warm-up in the GA1 range, then three times six minutes at 40 to 60 rpm in the GA2 range, three to six minutes break between the loads, then 30 to 45 minutes of relaxed training). Gradually, your muscles and personal sensations will become accustomed to this workload.
