Recovery Rides

Ste_S

Can someone explain the thinking behind recovery rides to me ?

I went out last night for an hour for a gentle spin after a hard night on Wednesday. Felt rubbish on the bike last night, and feel rubbish this morning

bahzob

Training gets you fitter by putting your body under stress. It reacts to this through positive adaption but this takes time. This time is called recovery. This should be planned into training schedules, as a general rule the more intense (in terms of how close to max you get rather than time taken) a session the more the need for this. Typical training plans will recommend one or two recovery days a week, with every third or fourth week being a lighter load full recovery week. (See a book like Friel Training Bible for more on all this.)

One way to recover is to rest completely and this is advised for people new to training. However for more experienced riders recovering via light training sessions may be more beneficial, apparently because it stimulates blood flow which helps muscles recover.

Thats the theory. Putting it into practice takes time as different people will react very differently to training. Some can do several days of hard sessions consecutively and then recover with a club run. Others will need to take a full day of rest then a second very light day after just one hard day. Even for a same rider things will differ during the course of a season. General advice is listen to what your body is telling you. If you feel like crap take it easy/day off.

Some other comments/suggestions:
> Need for recovery increases with the intensity of sessions. Generally around this time of year I would not be planning sessions so tough that I would need a lot of recovery the day after.
> Having a measure of how tough sessions are helps recovery. This is why HR or better still power monitors help. Apart from measuring work sessions they can help check recovery sessions are in the right zone as well.

Ste_S

Thanks Bahzob

One way to recover is to rest completely and this is advised for people new to training

That'll be me then. I've only be doing structured training for the past 4-5months (road bike sessions on the local track)

General advice is listen to what your body is telling you. If you feel like crap take it easy/day off

Probably the best advice I guess, I'm not very good at turning around after a couple of miles if I feel rubbish.

Need for recovery increases with the intensity of sessions. Generally around this time of year I would not be planning sessions so tough that I would need a lot of recovery the day after.

I haven't used a heart rate monitor, but by feel I guess the Wednesday night sessions can see me into level 3 and possibly 4 at times. I haven't raced during this year, and most of my miles have been long and steady. Is a winter lay off as essential for someone in my case ?

bahzob

General advice for winter is to build a base which is not a lay off.

In hours terms it means quite a lot of time is spent riding, but at lower levels (2/3 assuming 5 levels of training). Typically this may take 3 months or so.

Later on there is usually a build phase when intensity increases, then a peak when you cut down hours but keep intensity high. (Disclaimer: this is received wisdom. As ever there will be others that disagree and may well be right in some cases as what suits one person may not suit another)

If you are new to this I would recommend a book like Joe Friel's Cyclists Training Bible or similar. It hasn't got all the answers but has enough to put together a plan. Its worth doing this as even if you find you make changes it helps decide what works and what doesnt)

FYI a thread earlier has an Excel spreadsheet based on this that gives a quick way to set up a training plan. May be worth taking a look,
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12541279

Also would definitely recommend getting a HR monitor. I know from experience that when you start training going by guesswork can be hit and miss. You will gain experience as you do more but this will take time. A cheap HR only costs £30 or so.

J2R2

I find it helps to loosen up the legs a bit, in other words it aids recovery.

I do mine on the turbo as it's very difficult to stay in the recovery zone (about 100-110 bpm for me) on the road. Plus you can find yourself getting overtaken by the paper boy or guys on old mountain bikes which is embarrassing :oops: .

nottscobb

If you're struggling to keep the speed down during recovery rides try commuting to work in rush hour. It works for me because the traffic means I can't get up to full speed but the legs are still turning enough to get some blood to the muscles.

Mike Willcox

My tip is go out and ride in low gears. free wheel a lot and enjoy looking at the countryside as a tourist might. Recovery is for mental as well as physical conditioning.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Or ride with a significant other or the kids.