Here's a typical coaching commentary on recovery, courtesy of Carmichael Training Systems.
"To improve performance, your body needs systematic increases in exercise stress to overload your system and create adaptations to these increases. These adaptations can only occur if proper rest and recovery is allowed. This is why you see recovery days incorporated into periodized training programs.
Active recovery has been found to aid in the process of recovery with faster lactate disappearance immediately after exercise. It can also be coupled with some of your rest days to increase the blood supply to your muscles and accelerate recovery. You need to be careful not to over-do it when adding AR to your program. Light running or spinning for 30 to 40 minutes at 65-70% of your average heart rate should be sufficient for recovery purposes. Anything over this is not recommended. You need to make sure you’re not overreaching (short-term overtraining). Signs of overreaching include, training fatigue, reduced maximal performance capacity, and decreased competitive ability. If you begin to feel any of these symptoms following the addition of AR into you program, stop use immediately."
A lot of folks who are working their butts off, but while never seeing any improvement, are doing it to themselves by not properly utilizing their recovery days. If you don't use progressive overload in your training then recovery days may be of less value to you.
Me personally...I fought recovery days for a few years before finally giving them a chance to prove their worth. My cycling and fitness have not been the same since. I couldn't believe how much difference they made when properly used with a train hard, rest hard/active recovery training approach.
__________________
