Rest Days.......

Kaise

Morning all

I have been following a detailed training programme for the past 10 weeks and for the past 3 days i have been on "active rest" which means i basically do nothing except ride the 5 flat, dull miles to work.

Is it just me or when your training do rest days make you feel Lathargic, Unfit, Restless that kind of thing?

i feel more tired now than i usually do and i am dreading tonights strength training session in the gym!

Thoughts on rest days please

rock_hopper

Morning,

I think sometimes when you take a few rest days your body finally has chance to relax and fully recover from the training you have been doing. Where as when your in a training block you might only rest 2 days a week so your body is quickly trying to repair and get ready for the next session.

When I first started 'training' properly rest days really helped me to recover but I find the more years you train for cycling the more 'active recovery' really helps. Complete days off now make my legs feel tight, I need to spin them out, even if only for 10-15 minutes.

How long have you trained for cycling? You may need to take some days completely off rather than ride the 5 miles to work. You also might want to look at some sports massage (or self massage), stretching or compression clothing, all help you to recover and feel better.

Kaise

i must admit i do feel the benefit of the rest day once i get back in to training but during the day off i have this lathargic feeling and at the end of the day i can fall asleep on the sofa by 9.

i eat a very healthy diet, fuelling my body as best i can and listening to its needs for proteins and carbs.

i have complete rest days built in to the programme.

I have been training for cycling for about 3 years now, using a turbo effectively and measuring power output gains and combining that with leg strength excercises, and recently (10weeks) i have been training for duathlon, off road and on road with some great results, i just need to stick to the plan, the trainer knows best i suppose!

rock_hopper

I suppose it all comes down to the individual really, some recover quicker than others and have a higher tolerance for workload. At 77kg I recover fairly well for my size but would have more muscle to repair than someone say 67kg.

'The trainer knows best'

I would counter that with the trainer knows quite a lot about improving sports performance but 'your body knows best'