Why do my thighs hurt after cycling?

When you are riding constantly, you may experience a burning sensation in your thighs and sometimes your hamstrings. That burning sensation can be extremely painful and it also can mess with the way that you walk the day after your ride.

If you are getting this burning sensation, then it’s generally a pretty easy problem to solve. It is because of the lactic acid build-up in your body. Lactic acid is the body’s response to generating energy at high output.

When you leave the aerobic zone (endurance and fat burning) where your heart is burning at a certain level and enter into the anaerobic level, you’re telling your body that it needs to produce energy at a much higher rate than before.

When this happens your body then begins to produce energy in the anaerobic zone. However, lactic acid is a biproduct of the energy production. There is an entire guide here on how to deal with lactic acid buildup and anaerobic training.

In this post you will learn about your thighs pain after cycling. You will learn how to decrease that pain and also make sure that your body is excited to ride another day. By the end of this post you should have an understanding of everything you need to know relating to your legs, thighs hurting, and cycling.

Why do my thighs hurt after cycling?

Your thighs hurt after cycling because of lactic acid. It is better to ride slower than you think, and shift to lower gears where you will cycle faster with a higher cadence to keep your thighs from hurting after cycling.

Cycling thankfully for the most part is training and working the aerobic system. If you are riding and you can not breathe comfortably out of your nose, then you are riding outside of your aerobic system and your thighs will hurt after cycling.

Is it normal for thighs to hurt after cycling?

Yes, it is normal to be slightly sore after cycling if you are training anaerobically. What is more important is distinguishing good pain versus bad pain.

Bad pain could be your body’s way of telling you that you are about to lead to injury. Good pain let’s you know that your body is repairing itself and becoming stronger.

If your legs are sore with good pain, follow this guide here to alleviate the pain.

When we would run quarter miles in high school and college, the entire purpose of the race was to activate the anaerobic system, and ignore the pain away of the lactic acid that would build up in the legs during the final stretch of the race.

This was entirely because we were working the anaerobic system. We spent a lot of time icing, stretching and warming up to alleviate this pain.

What muscles should be sore after start cycling?

If you are new to cycling, typically your entire body will be sore. This does include your back, neck, arms and shoulders as the body gets used to the positioning.

In the legs, your calves, arches of the feet, the hamstrings, the thighs, and the glutes will be sore. The soreness will go away after you start riding more consistently, and eventually you will get large rushes of endorphins and no soreness from fun long rides.

Will my legs stop hurting from cycling?

Yes, your legs will stop hurting from cycling. If your legs are constantly in pain, it means that you are riding too fast, with too high resistance or you have set your gears too high.

If you slow down, your legs will not hurt. You will ultimately get faster if you ride slower as well.

Conclusion: Why do my thighs hurt after cycling?

Your thighs hurt after cycling because of your lactic acid build up. It is important to know that the slower that you ride, the more aerobic muscle and strength your body will build.

You will be amazed at how fast you can go based off of aerobic power alone after it has had time to develop itself. The easiest way to get faster is rather than riding very fast on high gears, try riding slower, over long periods of time on low gears multiple times a week. When you ride multiple times a week and slower, much of the leg soreness that you experience in your thighs will go away. If not, that is a great excuse to give yourself a shea butter massage.