"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Active Recovery vs. Rest Day

I was curious how many people used active recovery vs. rest day. I know everyone needs at least a day or two of rest, but I find that I benefit more from a full rest day than doing a 60 or 90 min recovery spin. Is anyone else like that? My training consists of two days of hard group rides and one day of SST work with some hard intervals. I use WKO+ to monitor my TSB, but I find that taking a day off to recover provides a better recovery than a recovery ride which is counterintuitive based on current approaches to recovery. Anyone else feel the same? BTW, since I'm 37 yr old Cat 3, that may play a role...don't recover like I used to...

are you sure your recovery rides are slow enough? In my experience they should be 30-60 min rather than 60-90, and they should be agonizingly slow.

I'm the same way, even if I do 45 minutes in zone 1, based on power readings, I still don't seem to recover as fast.

I'm 24, this is my first year racing/training like I'm racing.

If I do 30-60 minutes in zone 1, I get off the bike feeling like I never went for a ride. I'm pretty sure that's the what it's supposed to feel like.

active recovery 2 days/wk combined with stretching and i feel WAY better than if i took the days off.

I go with how I feel. Most of the time, I prefer to spin easy for recovery. Sometimes -- almost the equivalent of totally off -- I'll do errands on my bike. And, sometimes, I'll power hard. For the latter, this is rarely part of the plan; if I feel it on a ride, I do it.

Yes, my recovery rides are 50% of FTP which is the higher end of zone 1. Maybe they need to be more like 30 - 40% of FTP since I don't feel as recovered as a day off the bike. Thanks for the input. I'll keep experimenting since recovery rides seem to work with the others on the board.

I personally like my rest days to be completely off the bike. It's good for me mentally and I think having at least 2 days a week of non-repetitive motion on the legs helps tendons/joints/etc to stay healthy.

50/50. One day a week is light spin, zone 1, careful eye on the powermeter. Other is a day off - a mental break. Both really help! Mental break is important.

I take time off the bike. However, I try and ride at least 30 minutes the day before a race. I always joke that "you don't get better when you train, you get better when you rest", which is sort of true. Our old joke was that we were "double secret training", i.e. not riding at all.

My plan for this year is to rest Thu, Fri each week. Easy on Sat, unless race, then race on Sunday. Then hard rides Mon (2 hour group ride), Tue (race), Wed (race). Max recovery for the next weekend's race, max work before said recovery.

cdr

For me personally (and I do believe this is a personal thing) I have to say it depends. I notice if I have big rides or races coming up I need to do active recovery after hard training otherwise the soreness and fatigue will stay for 3 days rather than say 1. For example last Sat I did a hard training ride and did no active recovery because I was coming up on a rest week and I was sore till Tues when I got back on the bike.

Today for example I don't have a race or hard ride coming up so I'm taking full recovery even though I did a hard ride yesterday (Tues). So I guess at this point if I have no rides coming up I'll take full rest if I have rides, training or a race coming up I'll do active recovery and keep my muscles fresh. A lot of the times I feel like the full days off the bike are more mental decompression rather than physical recovery if that makes any sense... but I am a noob.

On friday mornings I usually walk fast(4-4.5mph) on the treadmill for 45 mins or so, I use this as a recovery day. I usually feel fresh on saturdays, flushing the crap out of my legs from thrusdays worlds training crit. I hear the light pounding of walking/running is good for the bones since cycling is a non-impact sport.

I don't ride on recovery days. I go way too hard if I do.

Riding around at 140-150 watts is boring. I'd rather hang out with my friends instead.

I originally didn't find recovery days helpful and it was because I was going too hard. I now do not go above 150 watts (seriously hard to do) for about an hour and it does make me better, plus it burns a few calories which I still desperately need. :(

Recovery rides make me feel a lot better than days off.

e.g.
Did 100 miles Saturday, one hour recovery ride Sunday, raced Monday, 1 hr rec. ride Tuesday morning, raced Tuesday night.

My legs didn't feel great but they felt a lot better than if I'd just rested between each hard effort.

On friday mornings I usually walk fast(4-4.5mph) on the treadmill for 45 mins or so, I use this as a recovery day. I usually feel fresh on saturdays, flushing the crap out of my legs from thrusdays worlds training crit. I hear the light pounding of walking/running is good for the bones since cycling is a non-impact sport.

I'll often take a walk around the lake (3 miles) after a race or hard training session in the evening. I find it helps me.

A teammate puts in about 30 min each night on his rollers, in the easiest gear, just spinning lightly. He says it helps him.

I don't ride on recovery days. I go way too hard if I do.

Riding around at 140-150 watts is boring. I'd rather hang out with my friends instead.

and here i thought you were a smart kid.

and here i thought you were a smart kid.

Meh, too may rollers and the like here to keep it truly recovery. If there are no hills, there's wind. I hate middling around at 14-15 mph. It's boring...

If I want to do a short easy spin for 20-30 mins, I'll do it on the trainer while watching a TV show.

Meh, too may rollers and the like here to keep it truly recovery. If there are no hills, there's wind. I hate middling around at 14-15 mph. It's boring...

If I want to do a short easy spin for 20-30 mins, I'll do it on the trainer while watching a TV show.

http://ohnolookoutitsaraygun.com/argh-Picard.jpg

http://ohnolookoutitsaraygun.com/argh-Picard.jpg

Go hard or go home.

So if I'm not riding hard, I ride at home.

Honestly, even my easy 12 mile loop has a couple of hills that I have to climb at or above threshold. That really doesn't do much for a 'recovery' ride. Doing laps around campus isn't entertaining.

I prefer an easy day to a day off. Today would have been a recovery ride day but there is also a good chance of getting caught in a thunderstorm. I opted to stay home. If it was a day where the training plan was more intense I would be out there and probably getting wet.

I take 2 days off the bike per week. I'm a 38 yr old Cat 3 w/ a full time job that requires me to be on my feet most of the day, add to that I have 3 young boys. I figuring walking around for 8 hrs a day and hanging w/ the family is my "active" recovery.

I think it really depends on what your job, family, and work situation is like. If you have a lot on your plate as it is, then a full day off the bike might benefit you more than a easy day on the bike.

Doing laps around campus isn't entertaining.

All male campus?

All male campus?

Negative. All the girls are sunbathing on the campus hill.

Recovery is sitting there with the guys with a couple of cold ones on a nice day after a ride, or during a rest day.

Or both ;)

Negative. All the girls are sunbathing on the campus hill.

Recovery is sitting there with the guys with a couple of cold ones on a nice day after a ride, or during a rest day.

Or both ;)

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/images-2/weekend-at-bernies.jpg

Actually. This gives me an idea.

I figure that I should just build up my backup bike again (the 84 trek) and ride that on recovery days. It doesn't have anything on it (no speedometer, PM, what have you), and has a compact crank. I should be able to go pretty easy on that beast.

That thing is a joyyyy to ride. I haven't ridden it in forever. Sad, I know...

I did a TT last night and I have a crit tomorrow night...this afternoon, I went out for an easy 20 or so, which is what I felt like doing...I find it easy doing things that I want (and am able) to do...

Actually. This gives me an idea.

I figure that I should just build up my backup bike again (the 84 trek) and ride that on recovery days. It doesn't have anything on it (no speedometer, PM, what have you), and has a compact crank. I should be able to go pretty easy on that beast.

That thing is a joyyyy to ride. I haven't ridden it in forever. Sad, I know...

And you should ride it slowly near the campus hill. Maybe even stop.

Actually. This gives me an idea.

I figure that I should just build up my backup bike again (the 84 trek) and ride that on recovery days. It doesn't have anything on it (no speedometer, PM, what have you), and has a compact crank. I should be able to go pretty easy on that beast.

That thing is a joyyyy to ride. I haven't ridden it in forever. Sad, I know...

find a chick, or a dude if that's what you're into (NTTAWWT), and go for a little spin.

find a chick, or a dude if that's what you're into (NTTAWWT), and go for a little spin.

Jigga what?

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/images-2/weekend-at-bernies.jpg

bros before hoes

I tend to make a blanket nest on the couch and do nothing play ton teh Intarwebs and watch TV all day on my recovery days. I have been known to not go out of my room, let alone outside, on such days.

Jigga what?

C'mon, really?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outing

I was curious how many people used active recovery vs. rest day. I know everyone needs at least a day or two of rest, but I find that I benefit more from a full rest day than doing a 60 or 90 min recovery spin. Is anyone else like that? My training consists of two days of hard group rides and one day of SST work with some hard intervals. I use WKO+ to monitor my TSB, but I find that taking a day off to recover provides a better recovery than a recovery ride which is counterintuitive based on current approaches to recovery. Anyone else feel the same? BTW, since I'm 37 yr old Cat 3, that may play a role...don't recover like I used to...

This will probably sound crazy but it seems to work for me....

I'm 40 and proper recovery is a big issue for me. I usually ride 200-250 miles a week and do a weekly local race series on tuesday evenings.

For the last three years straight I've been close to or have fallen prey to overtraining. My problem used to be that I'd ride with too much intensity too often, and or add in too much volume. Lack of discipline and experience. 12-15 hours a week of training seems to be the best workload for me from the end of May until late September when my race season ends. After that, I ride more but back off the intensity.

More time on the bike is good for me a few times a year, but for the most part 12-15 hours has been very productive DURING the duration of my race season.

Like I said before, I tend to ride too hard too often. At least that has been the case previously.

Since I race on tuesday evenings this is pretty much my weekly schedule (my training week starts on a sunday):

Sunday: 70-90 mile Zone 2 ride with some brief zone 3. Most of this type of ride is done in the small chainring or easier big ring gears.

Monday: Day off

Tuesday: 27 mile race

Wednsday: Hour and a half solo Zone 2 ride OR zone2/3 group tempo ride.

Thursday: 3 hour Zone 2/3 ride in the big chainring OR 1 and a half hour Zone 2 with several hard climbing intervals

Friday: Zone 2 with some steady state or sprint intervals thrown in

Saturday: (Option day) 1 and a half hour somewhat easy ride OR dedicated recovery ride (depends on how I'm feeling. I usually decide which ride I'm going to do within the first 15 minutes of my ride. Sometimes if I'm feeling overly lethargic, fatigued or somewhat off, I'll just call it a day and do a very short recovery ride.
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For some reason, taking the day off BEFORE race day works best for me. I find any other combination, including active recovery the day before a race leaves me feeling a bit tired, especially as my volume increases. That long ride on sunday really works for me too. However.... I will show up on race day early and do a LENGTHLY warm up. I used to just show up, do the standard 4-5 mile warm up and then wonder why I was fighting like hell to not get dropped in the first 10 miles. A much longer pre-race warm up solved that problem nicely. :)

The above is my race window "peak" schedule and not how I train all year long.

So I'd have to say taking a dedicated day off the bike works wonders for me. Recovery is just as important or perhaps more important than the actual training load. I think as you get older, this is even more important. Now that I ride smarter, I ride faster and don't burn myself out by June anymore. :thumb:

I've tried many variations and settled on no riding for the recovery days. However, I do lift weights every day: chest & arms one day, shoulders & back the next, legs 3rd day, abs 4th day. I alternate riding every other day -- and if riding falls the day after leg weights, it's rarely a hard or big ride.

Stretching repeatedly (when I get up, a few hours into the day, around the office, before going to bed, etc.) pays off handsomely as well -- for me at least. 'Used to not stretch, but after getting a Retul fitting session and noticing my flexibility is not where it should be, I started stretching more.

I tend to make a blanket nest on the couch and do nothing play ton teh Intarwebs and watch TV all day on my recovery days. I have been known to not go out of my room, let alone outside, on such days.

this. you are my hero. add some chris horner donuts and other assorted trashy foods and it's perfect.