New To Intervals - Recovery Between Intervals?

CleeRider

I assume you're not supposed to stop pedalling in recovery.
What sort of figures should I be aiming for during the recovery time between intervals?

Is it simply best to try and bring HR down as far as possible?
Or are there targets for % of FTP or THR/Max HR that I should be aiming to maintain before the next interval?

I'm doing 3mins recovery between 4 x 10mins intervals.

(can't find anything on Google)

shazzz

Keep pedalling but nice and easy. 40-50% FTP or so.

imposter2.0

Unless you are doing tabatas (which you aren't) then the aim is to recover as much as possible before the next interval - so take a five or even 10 minute minute recovery if needs be and spin as lightly as you need to. The important thing is being able to complete the next interval - so in that sense, the only objective for the recovery element is to 'recover'....

JayKosta

There are many different views on how much recovery between intervals.
I wouldn't wait for a 'full recovery' due to time constraints, but recover long enough to feel that 'yeah, now I can do that again'.
The critical point is that INJURY must be avoided. And don't become so exhausted that safety is compromised.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

bahzob

Hm.

Imposter is just straight wrong/simplistic. The amount of recovery will vary according to what you are training for. For short intervals especially it is good to recover enough to be able to repeat but not feel fully rested. This will make the intervals harder and more realistic. (Apart from being bad for the body it is bad for the mind to think you need to be fully recovered before trying anything hard, riding in the real world is not like that).

As a concrete example Adam Topham one of the best TTers in the country's most important workout is what he calls "Pyramids". This consists of 8-12 all out 10s efforts repeated once per minute, then 6 very hard one minute intervals with 2 minutes rest between each, then 3 5 minute VO2 intervals with 3 minutes rest between each.

JayKosta's advice is better but chill out. You CANNOT!!! "injure" yourself doing intervals on a bike regardless of how much rest or otherwise you have. You will just become knackered and feel like poo. That is a good thing, it means you are actually training rather than just burning calories. If you really do become seriously ill then its going to be because of some more fundamental health issue that would have hurt/killed you regardless.

The only way intervals become dangerous is if they lead to riding dangerously, too fast looking at your Garmin. That's why, especially short ones, they are best done on hills or a turbo.

imposter2.0

bahzob wrote:

Hm.

Imposter is just straight wrong/simplistic. The amount of recovery will vary according to what you are training for. For short intervals especially it is good to recover enough to be able to repeat but not feel fully rested. This will make the intervals harder and more realistic. (Apart from being bad for the body it is bad for the mind to think you need to be fully recovered before trying anything hard, riding in the real world is not like that).

Being wrong isn't the same as being simplistic - which is it? Either way, you say I'm wrong, and then proceed to agree with me.. You say 'more realistic' - doesn't that depend on what you are training for?

Disregarding tabatas, where recovery (or lack of it) is part of the interval session, surely the objective of any interval session should be to focus on the interval, not the recovery - that's what I was implying. A 5-10 minute spin in the middle of a 2x20 is commonplace and even 3-5 minutes should be plenty of time for most people to recover between intervals. I'm not suggesting they go indoors, have a meal, a nap, a massage and then go back into the shed for the next session.

FatTed

I think JayK was meaning if your doing intervals on the road don't fall off into the path of a car because your exhausted. Clearly safer to do intervals on a turbo.

Alex_Simmons/RST

CleeRider wrote:

I assume you're not supposed to stop pedalling in recovery.
What sort of figures should I be aiming for during the recovery time between intervals?

Is it simply best to try and bring HR down as far as possible?
Or are there targets for % of FTP or THR/Max HR that I should be aiming to maintain before the next interval?

I'm doing 3mins recovery between 4 x 10mins intervals.

(can't find anything on Google)

The basic principle with training design, of which recovery time and intensity between efforts is but one small element, is that you understand the purpose of your training session, and how it sits in the context of your overall plan and training.

Unless that is known, then what interval recovery duration and intensity might be suggested could be in a range from zero seconds / no recovery at all to doing absolutely no pedalling for some hours.

4x10-min at or around threshold power with 3-min easy pedalling recovery between sounds fine to me. Some might like a bit longer, others might not need any recovery time at all. If you are riding the 10-min efforts harder than that, you'll likely need longer recoveries.

As a guide, you can use Normalised Power and Intensity Factor for an intended workout of such duration (40+ minutes) to help work out what's feasible/sensible, and perhaps to recognise how much recovery you might require and at what intensity.

nigeldoyle

I would suggest following a training plan that specifies rest time, cadence, Heart rate zone / power zone etc.

I follow the Cyclo 90 Masters training program and this has a range of intervals. Some you never recover fully before the next interval starts. The idea being to improve your recovery time between intervals. But all depends on the intervals. Some I do have long rests, others like today's intervals had some rest periods only 1 minute long following a 1 or 2 minute interval.