Suggestions for post ride recovery for old guys

I’ll 2nd that.  62 and have been doing 1 mil + meters/yr for the last few Concept 2 seasons (May-April).  Got about 250k to go this season.  I like cycling but this takes less time per workout and I don’t have to worry about getting hit by a teenage girl doing her hair while texting and driving.  Also a great stress reliever.  The more you move when you’re not riding, the better you’ll feel after you ride.  To help keep hydrated, my son turned me on to DrinkLMNT.com.  It’s loaded with electrolytes but doesn’t have the bad stuff the G-ade has.  Other great suggestions already given here too.  Experiment and find what works best for your body and time constraints.  Bottom line, get up and get moving as much as you can.

You say you go to the gym 2-3 times a week, but what do you do while your there?

i messed up my knee badly & have only started riding again after a year & half off the bike. Before the injury i focused 100% on cardio with a few circuit training classes thrown in. I was in good shape but every day after motos id feel like id been driven over by a bus. Going up & down stairs were especially sore.

as part of my rehab i took up Crossfit to rebuild the strength in my leg. I have gained way more strength than i ever had before. Im just back to riding & after a day sand riding i was really surprised i felt so good. I felt like i could go riding the next day.

im no Crossfit RX athlete but the squats & wall balls & deadlifts & all the rest have 100% helped.

i also bought myself a stretch trainer machine & iv seen big improvement in flexibility. As i get older iv realised more then ever, i need to ‘train smarter not harder’

Best reply so far, how you exercise or work out during the week in the gym is crucial. Also, MTB as much as you can. Plus, you could do full body stretching 3 times a day and it's still never enough. No matter the age.

This will Sound stupid, but diet is probably as important for recovery if not more. Having a good clean dinner of meat, veggies and a Good carb is so helpful the night before a long day at the track. Then a breakfast of eggs, a good carb and plenty of electrolytes to help recovery after you ride. Stretch!!!! Once you are done riding and hopefully you drank so much water and electrolytes during the day you are pissing completely clear urine. Take a good complex Amino Acid caps/tablet supplement with some water then have a Muscle Milk. Do a good leg/glute stretching routine and do a few pushups to get the back and core circulated with blood and relax. Trust me this will help with recovery but also improve your body for not just the next day but also the next ride. 

I think you may be overdoing it on the Gym bit to be honest. 

Do you know what's worse than hurting after a days riding. 

Not hurting after not riding. 

Monday morning pain is God's way of telling you that you are living . 

But i feel your pain, next weekend i am having my first ride of the season, and i know its going to hurt like hell Monday , but like they say, no pain , no gain. 

Check out "yoga with Adriene" on youtube, this is the best way to get a good stretch, more strength and more balance. Yoga is no joke

The soreness is coming from muscle fiber tears so invest in a rower or spin bike for the house and warm up before heading out and stretch as well.  When you get to the track and get done unloading, stretch a little bit before hitting the track.

As Phil mentioned, you may be spending too much time at the gym. Our bodies don't recover as fast the older we get ( I am 53), especially if you are doing a heavy day a couple days before riding may not be giving your body enough time to rebuild the torn muscle fibers from those exercises.  Take into consideration that riding is going to be one of your workouts for the week, so do some HR zone 1 training on the rower, bike or supersets with weights with less weight and more reps.

After riding, a lite stretch when you get home and if you had the rower or spin bike an easy 5 to 10 min on it. 

Your choice in bike can make a difference. My 300SX is easier on me than my mod'd 200SX w/KYB forks. 200 has my arms aching for days, but it's too much fun.

Maybe try Recoverite. I've never been the guy that could ride or race two days in a row and every ride I'm close to worthless for probably three days if I had to do anything really physical. Recoverite doesn't somehow create the magic scenario where you're a champ the next day, but for me it was the difference between "I have zero interest in riding tomorrow" to "maybe I could handle a chill ride tomorrow". It's a small difference, but also a big one. And if tomorrow is work, it made work a lot less miserable. If you do decide to try it, bring the powder and mix it at the track with water and drink it on your way home. 

Mix 3-4 kinds of epson salt & take a 1 hr hot bath. Save the water & dump ice in the tub. Do a few of those. I do that when I get time off from trucking. I don’t work out at all & never get sore from riding . Well maybe my inner thighs. Track is square holes concrete hard with clay powder on top.  My bones hurt tho after riding.  Whirlpool, pool & sauna feel great but epson salt bath is a lot better. 

You think maybe you guys should slow down on ride days, lower intensity and / or less sessions so it isn’t a week long recovery until you get closer to the right fitness?

electrolye supplements help me a ton mix with water and sip on it all day.

The best way to ease recovery isn’t after the ride. It’s before it. Put in the time and work during the week.  Also stretch before you ride. Very important for us OG’s. How many times do we roll outta bed, load up, get to the track and shoot the shit with our buddies, gear up and go?  If you’re about to attempt one of the most physically demanding sports on the planet, may want to take 10 minutes to loosen up. 

Do a warm-down routine to dispose of the excess lactic acid in your muscles. I like a walk or short jog around the pits once I'm out of my gear if I have enough energy left. Stretching helps, but I think motion is better. The times I feel the worst are when I just jump in the truck and sit for an hour on the way home. 

I've also realized that I drink far too little water. Recently I started over-hydrating, just to see what happens. Now I have to pee a lot, but man, I feel good! 

I really recommend "Endurox - R4" as an immediate post ride recovery, it is a protein based recovery drink (does not resemble a protein shake at all). I would also stay away from anything with high sugar the 12 hours following a ride. I found my general inflammation went way down by simply cutting out 90% of my sugar intake following a ride.

It is the only thing that keeps me moving the day after and reduces my deep muscle tissue soreness by what feels like 50% (On the butt dyno of course)

This is of course in addition to all of the great methods discussed above. (Ice/Heat/Stretching/Exercise) 

*Not affiliated with any brand or sponsored in any way.

https://www.pacifichealthlabs.com/products/enduroxr4

Motion or Motrin? Just clarifying. 😂 

Couldn’t agree more on the post riding movement. I used to tighten up big time if I just loaded up and drove home (90 minutes most hauls).

Could be anything. Jumping jacks. A jog in your gear. Light stretching. 
 

Movement!

Totally agree.  After a 4 hr enduro and before the 7 hour drive home, I found that if I ride my MTB round the pits/town, etc.... just an easy ride... it helped A LOT.  I might take 2 ibuprofen at bed time but not before or it'll put me to sleep.  Re-hydrate with something- I like Ryno Power recovery- and eat a protein filled food.  During a 2 day enduro, if I do the above after the 1st day, I'm almost 100% for Day 2.  

62 years old.  

Make your workouts harder than your rides. 

Epsom salt bath followed by ice bath. Drink LOTS of water. 

It certainly illustrates the point 😂. I am more of a shorts, flip flops and a few beers at the track joking with my buddies when it’s all said and done 

Sounds like my kinda guys. 

Agreed. BTW, I just searched her and did a quick chair yoga while at my desk. Surprisingly effective

51 year old weekend warrior with a desk job here. I would recommend two things- first, do a good warmup on your ride day if you have been off a long time. Even if it’s walking the track quickly to get the blood going, throw in some light pushups, neck rotation, arm rotation, squats, stuff like that. And on that ride day, listen to your body and scale back your track time as necessary. We all want to get that “one more moto” in but as I get older I find that the price for that can be pretty high.  Depending on the facility, maybe substitute out some low intensity trail time or corner drills so that you still get seat time without thrashing yourself. Bottom line - don’t overdo it.
The day after, try to make yourself move and do something. A walk, a low intensity bike ride, just something to start getting that soreness out. 
Hope this helps, getting old is no joke!!

For immediate recovery, 1) hydrate well (always good to pre-hydrate before the ride too) 2) Foam rolling is great and lots of stretching 3) Get a heating pad with an auto-shut off after 2 hours and go take a nap on the heating pad for 2 hours after doing #1 and #2.  If I had a hot tub, I'd definitely be in it after a ride.  

For preparation of not being as sore in the future, I take 2 days off a week from exercise and the other 5 days I'm doing something to keep the body moving.  Usually ride MX 1 day a week.  Then the other 4 days I get in my workouts.  I've had a full gym in our house for 25 years, but not I rarely use the equipment anymore.  Since I hit 50 a few years ago, now I use light free weights and body weight exercises - better for your joints.  I do 150 push ups (chest, shoulders, triceps), 300 body weight squats (quads), 150 stiff legged dead lifts with 25 lb dumbbells (lower back and hammys), 50 pull ups (back and shoulders), light dumbbell lateral raises combined with dumbbell military presses - I use 25 or 35 lb dumbbells (shoulders), and then light weight shoulder shrugs (~25 lb dumbbells).  I break it up into 3 or 4 sets, super set each exercise during the set until all of the reps are completed, with about a 5 minute break between sets.  That total body workout only takes about 30 minutes.  I then do 15 minutes on the rowing machine, then 30 minutes on the spin bike.  

I have no issue knocking out 30 minute motos except for when its +100F, then I only run 20 min motos just for safety reasons.  

My nemesis is diet.  I've been eating better lately, but I still eat too much sweets.  I've started eating a lot more fresh fruit and that's helped a ton.  No sugary drinks.  

Ice bath.  Game changer for me.  Not just body soreness but mental strength and mood.  

Thera canes and other products like it are good for giving yourself, especially your back good deep massages.