Rest period between hard rides

nickcuk

What are everybody's thoughts on the minimum period between hard rides as part of a training schedule ?

I've covered nearly 500 miles so far this year with a personal objective of general improvement in fitness, keep weight down, etc. Target is 2500 miles for the year and I log all rides. I've got to the point where I'm setting an objective for each ride - intervals, recovery, miles, etc - and had a great 15 miler late yesterday afternoon with some long stretches at 20mph, which is good for me. I'm sat here now at lunchtime with a sunny day outside, itching to get out and wondering what to do - a short fast blast, a repeat of yesterday, or a long recovery ride. It matters because I head in different directions according to what I'm going.

So any guidance from fellow members of this great forum ?

Blonde

In my experience short fast rides are easier to recover from than long steady ones. I cycle about 200-250 miles a week at present, but that includes a 26 mile commute ecah day and a once or twice a week, two hour track session, so it's spread out through the week, with a 60-130 miler at weekends and also one rest day each week. A few years ago my monthly mileage was twice what it is now, but was nearly all done at the weekend with only an 8 mile ride, 5 days a week and often no rest day at all. One year my mileage was over 10,000 miles. I got overtrained, stressed, and ended up ill for nearly 2 years, so I feel have have anough experience to say; build up slowly and make sure that you get a weekend off a month. After the very long rides (400-600km) I should have had a month off and just done the commute, with no other riding, but i didn't. I carried on doing long rides nearly every weekend and had hardly any rest days for months at a time. The length of time it takes to recover from each ride will depend on how far you ride (and only to some extent the intensity) as well as what percentage raise this is for you. Don't increase your weekly mileage or training time more than about 2-3 percent each week and have a rest weekend each month, where you either have a total rest or have a swim or a brisk walk instead.

There is no secret formula that works for all though - it really depends on the individual. If you have been cycling 20+ years your body wil be more adapted to it so you may find you need less rest and recover more quickly from the same ride than someone who has only been cycling 2 years or less. You really need to pay close attention to how you feel and don't ride if you are ill or very tired. Keep a log of mileage and training. Keep a log of illness - if you start getting viral infections, cold sores, throat iunfections, mouth ulcers etc. more frequently, then you need to have more rest days or do less cycling. Remember that any added stress in your life, such as new job, house move, splitting up with a partner, parents death etc will effect your cycling performance and you will need more rest (and a highly nutritious diet) whilst the stress hormones do their stuff.

oldwelshman

To be honest with the mileage you mention I would not worry about rest days.
In fact you should be lloing to increase the length of your rides to get fitter, with some longer rideas even at high intensity.
Once you get up top the miles Blonde mentions then you can consider doing recovery rides in between but no real need for rest day unless you want to.
You should be able to get to 200 to 250 miles in a week within a 10 week period if you are determined. Just increase about 10% per week as a rough guide.

Bhima

Depends on:

Intensity/Conditions of ride
Length of ride
Nutrition (or lack of)
Time of day
Number of rides you've done that week
Ammount of sleep
Other stresses in your life/etc....

To answer your question, the more I get into cycling, the more I realize that there's no minimum/maximum anything. There is no perfect formula to which someone can work, because the above factors are always changing. Your fitness changes too, so the recovery time needed for a ride this week will be different from the recovery time needed for the same ride 1 month down the line. I just listen to my body and judge things by how I feel.

Recently, i've really been wanting to go out and ride simply because I always go out on that particular day but i've been more flexible recently which seems to have paid off big time. I no longer have a time-based training schedule (weekly, monthly, etc) and it's effects are actually pretty incredible. I've ditched "recovery rides" too - what a joke they are - I always get tempted into TT mode on my favourite stretches of road so the extra fatigue gained is too counter-productive.

Just go out and ride whenever your body feels up for it. Everyone's different. I've not been out in the past 2 days because I know my body is pretty mashed (and the weather's been crap) but it means I can go out tomorrow (sunny weather, too!) and push a bit harder as I wont be so tired.

brownbosh

I dont think you could over train or burn out on 15 mile rides so push as hard as you feel you want to!

reppohkcor

The two most important things which will help recovery for an athlete are a healthy diet taking caloric loss into account and healthy sleep.

If you're doingaround 20-30 miles then you shouldn't need more than a few rest days a week unless there is a muscle strain.

If you have a HRM then check your resting rate on a regular basis - this will be a good guage for 'over training' - which is actually harder to do than it sounds!

nickcuk

Now I feel embarassed about originally asking - not really

A hard ride for me may not mean the same distance or speed as somebody else, but I imagined the principle would be the same - if you've pushed it a bit faster for longer, and can feel the twinge the next day, it's not clear whether to have a day off, have an easy ride or get out again. I've been going out again anyway, and my performance is slowly improving, but I don't know if it's improving as well as it should because my legs can be aching for days on end because I push it day after day

brownbosh

An occasional rest day would be sensible but i cannot see how you could suffer from over training with your mileage. Make sure you hydrate fully, use a recovery drink and stretch as it may actually be a nutritional reaction.

Blonde

Is the leg ache new? Have you changed anything on your bikes, or even in your seating position at work? The leg ache might be to do with cycling position or your cleats, or even something to do with work or other activity, rather than from the cycling itself. If you notice any hard painful (feel like bruises) lumps in your legs, they could be varicose veins and they can be quite painful. You should certainly get a rest day a week though - even if your mileage is lower than some other people's. Everyone is different and will have a different capacity to ride and recover than someone else, but we all need some rest! I personally find that cycling to/from work day in, day out, on top of a full days work, is pretty tiring and it gradually wears me down, so I end up with zero left by the weekend, if I don't get a day off the bike each week.