Fifty Plus (50+) - Do you take "recovery" days?

I ride 3-4 days in a row then lay out a day for muscle recovery -- then back at it. Is there a schedule that i could follow that would be better or just go as i feel. I just got a new bike and have done 5 days in a row and last night the top of my foot ached a bit - i think from peddling. It's fine today but i am taking today to rest.

There is no formula that works for everyone, so I would suggest trying out different recovery schedules and see what works best for you. Remember that a "recovery" ride, i.e. very slow and easy, is more beneficial (for most) than staying off the bike totally.

For me, what works is: ride long/really work it (lots of climbing) on Sat. & Sun. take Mon. off totally, easy ride on Tues., Wed. totally off, Med. intensity ride on Thur., Fri. totally off or (sometimes) easy ride on my fixed gear bike.

YMMV of course, which is why you should experiment.

Rick / OCRR

I follow a schedule similar to yours, in that it is about 3 on 1 off. Its a very flexible routine however.

Thanks for the input Rick, the recovery ride is a good idea. I will give that a try, i appreciate your help.

I never seem to need recovery days. Oh I will take a "recovery" ride. If I rode hard the day before, then the muscles will warm up more slowly. I will ride at a lower pace. Often the muscles start doing fine and I can ride at my usual pace with some hard stuff. Usually I lay off.

From my reading, I think I am an outlier. Most people report that they do much better if they take very third or fourth day off. The main thing is to listen to your body. I have seen some people who go out and beat themselves up on each and every ride. They don't seem to ride for that many years though.

My normal routine is to take 2 days off a week, Monday and Friday. That seems to work best for me. Occasionally I will take an easy ride on Friday, but I never work out 7 days in a row.

My normal routine is to take 2 days off a week, Monday and Friday. That seems to work best for me. Occasionally I will take an easy ride on Friday, but I never work out 7 days in a row.

This is similar to my strategy. It varies according to schedule and weather, but my ideal week is as many miles as I can manage on the weekend, days off on M and F, ride hard on T and Th, and a small chain ring recovery ride on W.

BTW, the small chain ring rule has been a great device to force myself to take it easy on recovery rides. There were many occasions when I would set out to do a recovery ride and then, by the time the ride was done, I'd realize that I had actually pushed pretty hard - not hammering, but still harder than my original goal. If I resolve that the whole ride has to be in the 34 chain ring, I'm good.

If I had unlimited time and no other obligations and the weather was always good, I would schedule a rest day at least 1x per week. I never seem to have to worry about that though.

I take rest days, usually Mondays and Fridays during training season, I add Wed when I am back in shape usually by mid summer.

If I had unlimited time and no other obligations and the weather was always good, I would schedule a rest day at least 1x per week. I never seem to have to worry about that though.

Same here, but I usually have two or three days off the bike each week. Can't wait to retire.

Recovery days for me = leisurely after-work "beer rides" around my subdivision. Works wonders both physically and mentally.

I ride nearly everyday,don't have "system" or training schedule or specific goal for that matter. When I'm tired I ride less or less fast, when I'm really tired I sleep. It's a reliable system.

Marc

The consensus amongst cycling coaches & exercise physiologists seems to be that rest & recovery are absolutely necessary for healthy muscle growth & repair. Also, that it's better to be undertrained (but rested) than overtrained for a particular event.

However, where I live the weather is so uncooperative that I rarely need to intentionally take a Recovery Day, I get them whether I want to or not! Apparently this is a taper week, as I haven't been able to ride since Sunday!

The consensus amongst cycling coaches & exercise physiologists seems to be that rest & recovery are absolutely necessary for healthy muscle growth & repair. Also, that it's better to be undertrained (but rested) than overtrained for a particular event.

However, where I live the weather is so uncooperative that I rarely need to intentionally take a Recovery Day, I get them whether I want to or not! Apparently this is a taper week, as I haven't been able to ride since Sunday!

Same here. Wednesday I had a 30mi ride, yesterday was too busy and with the crappy weather there was no ride time. Today? Yeah, here we go. Unless you are an all weather rider there will be "recovery" days by default.

Recovery days for me = leisurely after-work "beer rides" around my subdivision. Works wonders both physically and mentally.

Beer in the camelback?

Im 72 and retired what works for me is to try to ride every other day.

78 and normally ride 6 days a week year 'round.
Living in sunny/warm AZ helps!

Same here, but I usually have two or three days off the bike each week. Can't wait to retire.

Same here but then I only ride 3 times a week at the most.

mac61, I don't specifically schedule a recovery day (ride or day off) unless the day before's ride was exceptionally difficult. The wind around here has been stronger than usual so recovery rides are usually 'same day with a tail wind' affairs.

Brad

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings are hard rides. Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5:30 AM I train with some hard core triathletes. Saturday AM is the club ride. A or B+ pace.

Tuesday and/or Wednesday evenings urban rides are easy rides with my wife, if she wants to ride. I ride an MTB on those rides. It's easier to stay with her on the MTB.

During the week I may ride the tandem to p/u my grandson at school, 10 - 12 mi round trip. The last half of the ride is always easy. I have him and we do 10 - 12 on the sidewalk. On the way up to get him I have trouble taking it easy. In spite of my best intentions, I usually leave too late and have to hammer all the way up.

I don't usually do a "recovery ride." I may after a hard century or some other extreme effort. I do try to treat the Urban rides as a recovery ride and keep the effort low and the cadence high. Same with the 2nd half of the tandem rides with my grandson. Seems to work for me.

Yes -- they are called "weekends." I'm enjoying one right now.


Paul

Thanks again for all the input -- i have been doing to "recovery ride" suggestion and that seems to work ok. I still get to ride but i use easier gears and go a bit slower than normal and at the end of the ride i feel pretty good.