It's the other side of the coin, one of the emblems of cycling: sore legs. Often we fight with this element more than with our opponents and many times if we beat it we also win. Recently it has been Van Aert He himself recalls it: "I can suffer a lot, I can beat leg pain." But is it always the same? Are there different types?
Federico “Fred” Morini, A national team masseur and osteopath, he helps us answer these questions. It's with him, in a way. We had already started talking about it this spring, when he told us about the pain that a Paris-Roubaix leaves in a rider's body.
Fred, let's start right where we left off, with the sore legs of a Roubaix. How does it differ from what a long stage in the Dolomites might leave?
If we start from a Roubaix it must be said that the first classified have little leg pain, but the others can have a lot! A race like this generates trauma, it's not just fatigue. These jolts create muscle trauma that often lasts over time.
What happens in muscle fibers? Are there any differences—can you feel them in your fingertips, especially when you put your hands there?
Yup, they are many small contractures because the fibers themselves are stressed due to the effort and the many vibrations. In my hands I feel as if the athlete has taken a few blows on the thigh, the calf... I feel a real traumatic pain, due to the vibrations that create more external but also internal trauma. And the muscle obviously needs more time to drain, but above all to recover. It's different from a Dolomite stage, because that's a sore leg caused by a combination of factors.
Which?
Acid buildup that I may not have been able to eliminate properly because my condition isn't optimal. In that case, it occurs after the race or even during the night afterward., this leg pain can give a sensation of almost extreme heat, of burning… and that is real fatigue. A large striation of the muscle fiber is felt.
Streaking…
Yup, lactic acid creates a sort of streak, a "stripe". There is a very "rubbed" fiber, That's what it's called technically, meaning it's highly stressed and simultaneously dehydrated, because the muscle is loaded with acid. In that case, there are multiple factors: acid buildup, dehydration, prolonged contractions, suboptimal physical condition... and those who aren't climbers theoretically suffer more. A bit like non-specialists in Roubaix. Whereas those who are in great condition might feel a little stiff the next morning, meaning they've lost that elasticity, but after the first few kilometers, they're back in good condition.
Professionals recover first…
Having accumulated less lactic acid and being in better condition, and therefore with more oxygenated and more hydrated fiber, they recover faster. The heart rate is also better, so the transport of oxygen to the muscles and the consequent evacuation of acid occurs more quickly. compared to a rider who perhaps is part of the so-called small group or is holding onto his positions by his teeth.
Fred, we talked about the traumatic leg pain of Roubaix, the one caused by fatigue and dehydration during a long mountain stage… What other types of leg pain could there be?
I'm thinking of track and field riders, because it's a different type of effort. Effort concentrated in a very short time in a physical phase called anaerobic. That leg pain is caused by the set of contractures that form within the muscle. Track cyclists feel their legs are stiffer than a “standard road racer”. Although, without naming names, I can say that immediately after the Tour of Italy an athlete came to the office and had this type of leg pain.
And he hadn't been on the track…
Exactly, he had a significant burning sensation. And by his own admission, he probably felt it even a little before Sunday. "Maybe because after the last tough stage, I relaxed a little," he told me. "When I go to bed, I feel a burning sensation." That's it. It is a classic pain caused by repeated accumulation of fatigue. A lot of lactic acid buildup and lower blood pressure... the muscles become overburdened with fatigue and stress. In the case of track athletes, however, the pain can be caused by contractures, especially for pure sprinters.
Why?
Because they're used to working with very important relationships. They experience pinpoint pain. They themselves feel a contracture. Like a blade pointed at that spot. And if you don't treat them, you don't massage them, you don't do specific stretches, this doesn't go away so easily.
Another type of leg pain?
The last of the pains can be radiating pain. What does it mean? In our body, areas of pain form… in the thigh rather than in the calf. Those are pains that are generated by the so-called “trigger point”.
What is this?
They are areas of high tissue density. The muscle "densifies" both on the surface and deep within the muscle fibers. If you treat it with acupressure, the rider himself will tell you, "I feel discomfort in that spot, but if you touch it, the pain expands." This is because there's a lot of tension concentrated in that spot (trigger point, ed.), and this draws all the fibers together. So, as a massage therapist, I have to try to loosen it with acupressure techniques.
