3 weeks on, 1 rest week?

birdy247

I have been doing well with the long rides/SST rides over the last 3 weekends.

I have upped the intensity of my rides (and thus more distance) over the last 3 weeks including some midweek training (which i don't normally do). I can feel a few small tight muscles coming on, so thought I should let my body adapt. I am now thinking of taking this weekend completely off.

Is this a good idea or should I at least go out for a quick spin?

Bronzie

Don't think you are riding enough (3 times a week?) to *NEED* a weekend off completely. But ultimately it's up to you - if you feel you are so trashed that you need a rest then fine, but I doubt you will gain fitness by doing nothing.

Team Banana Spokesman

dont worry about it. just ride mate. tell the inner whimp to get lost.

ive been trying to overtrain myself on purpose this week after reading a certain trhread on here... bit of a experiment because I want to push myself

i feel like death and legs collapse on the stairs but i cant believe im still going and the power is there once i've had a 5 minute warmup on the bike. you feel a lot different when you actually get out there on the road.! nowhere to hide!

its better to just ride. i think overtraining is quitte hard to achieve unless you are a fkucin nutter! I went mental yesterday but i'm already preparing for todays ride. cant really top yesterdays pain so im going to repeat it and see what happens.

Alinshearah

I thought that this post was about my wife's hormones. Lol

Gav888

Rather than taking the weekend off just got for an easy ride of less distance, unless you really feel knackered?

amaferanga

Given how much cycling you seem to be doing I wouldn't have thought that one rest week in three was necessary.

However, if you have muscle pain or tight muscles then you should maybe take it easy for a few days until it sorts itself out.

birdy247

I guess its all relative..

Up until 3 weeks ago I was just doing long rides at the w/e. I'm now doing long rides + tempo/SST/FTP work, so % stress wise its a lot for me.

I think I am going to tweak my bike position to lower my front end/make me more aero this weekend and test that out. Nothing strenuous though.

Alex_Simmons/RST

If you are training in a manner such that you really need to rest/recover after 3 weeks, then you are probably trying to do too much in those 3 weeks.

Common mistake made by many - trying to do more than they ready for.

jacster

The coach Ric Stern - Alex Simmons' boss I believe - says: "Recovery is generally misunderstood, but is a crucial aspect to improved performance."
And, importantly, he adds: "It's important to schedule a 'recovery' week every so often, say, every three or four week, whereby you reduce training volume by around 50 %."

doyler78

jacster wrote:

The coach Ric Stern - Alex Simmons' boss I believe - says: "Recovery is generally misunderstood, but is a crucial aspect to improved performance."
And, importantly, he adds: "It's important to schedule a 'recovery' week every so often, say, every three or four week, whereby you reduce training volume by around 50 %."

In a world where the average club cyclist doesn't pay nearly enough attention to recovery and their focus is all on what they do do then it is hardly surprising that recovery is emphasised as it is by coaches when providing general guidance on websites.

By adopting a 3 or 4 on and 1 off then a coach giving general advice minimises the risks that an over eager reader may overtrain. It is simply a safeguard and doesn't necessarily reflect how the coach would actually approach training protocols for a particular athelete.

And as dismissive as you are of Alex I should point out that Ric is actually Alex's coach if I reacall correctly therefore I would say that Alex understands exactly what Ric expects of him but I guess you know more :roll:

chrisw12

jacster wrote:

The coach Ric Stern - Alex Simmons' boss I believe - says: "Recovery is generally misunderstood, but is a crucial aspect to improved performance."
And, importantly, he adds: "It's important to schedule a 'recovery' week every so often, say, every three or four week, whereby you reduce training volume by around 50 %."

So what constructive advice are YOU giving the op here?

By quoting Ric's advice are YOU suggesting that the op carries on with a rest week every fourth week?

Or are you just having a cheap dig?

Alex_Simmons/RST

For the benefit of the OP, here is the full article that jacster quotes from:
http://www.cyclecoach.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=111

If you ask Ric directly, he will give exactly the same answer as me: i.e. rest/recovery when it's needed and based on training with a progressive increase in workload in a sustainable manner, not based on an arbitrary cycle.

However, if you are unsure about how to do that or are uncertain about how to know when you need a recovery period (as opposed to normal regular easy/off days), then allowing for recovery week is not a bad thing, it just may not be optimal for rate of fitness gains.

For the record, Ric is my coach and he is the owner of RST. Together we are the Performance Directors of RST and work in partnership, along with our other RST Associate Coaches.

I think Ric does a superb job as my coach. I have attained my all-time best ever race power to mass ratio under his guidance and perform better than ever. The fact that we've achieved that after I had a leg amputation also says something about how RST manages training for its clients.

jacster

Guidance is guidance.
If there are any anomalies in that guidance it's important to point it out.

Alex_Simmons/RST

jacster wrote:

Guidance is guidance.
If there are any anomalies in that guidance it's important to point it out.

And quoting information out of context or without providing the complete reference is deceptive and disingenuous.

And you are so especially full of good advice. :roll:

Ever contributed anything of note or actually contributed anything of value?
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<sound of crickets chirping>

jacster

http://www.cyclecoach.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=111

http://www.cyclecoach.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=108

The quotes are all in there.

Advising one thing then saying another is confusing.

AlexSimmons wrote: "If you are training in a manner such that you really need to rest/recover after 3 weeks, then you are probably trying to do too much in those 3 weeks.

Common mistake made by many - trying to do more than they ready for."

This doesn't tie in with the advice of Ric..but, as I've said before, there are renegades in every business.

Alex_Simmons/RST

yawn

Alex_Simmons/RST

can still hear those crickets