Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Just wondering how people work in a rest period into their training schedule??

Last week I had the week off training fighting a cold and just got back into my local hill repeats this morning.. I was blown away by how good my legs felt!! working harder gears and faster pace, but my heart rate was still low..

I guess one week/month off is an overkill? One light training week/month maybe?

I often feel pretty flash after 5 ish days off. But for a rest period you can just take it real easy. No need to stop completely. Some people have to though as they can't just chill.

vbplease wrote:Just wondering how people work in a rest period into their training schedule??

When it's required.

Tornado wrote:I often feel pretty flash after 5 ish days off. But for a rest period you can just take it real easy. No need to stop completely. Some people have to though as they can't just chill.

Thanks. I'll give it a go with a bit of trial and error.. I'm thinking the time off would have to be very light to let the muscles fully repair? I'm guessing that would include cycling/running/swimming at the same time - or perhaps matching rest with cycling/running and alternating with swimming?

Yeah. Just light and easy. Don't put your body under any stress. I think the idea for cyclists is to promote a little extra blood flow to the legs by using them and hopefully assist repair time. Spin the legs over in an easy gear. Forget about pace and just take in the scenery.

Try googling about the topic if you haven't already. Here's a starter

Recovery article for you

Tornado wrote:I often feel pretty flash after 5 ish days off. But for a rest period you can just take it real easy. No need to stop completely. Some people have to though as they can't just chill.

This week is the first really quiet week riding wise I have had since Feb. 4 days of the bike . I don't feel flash ( too much driving ) at all but I will test this theory by doing a 20km TT Sunday .
If you are not a pro then life will get in the way forcing time off the bike / training.... work, family, sickness... hence I never schedule a real recovery period. Usually 2 days max off the bike after a really hard race... other wise a quiet day is usually enough.

End of the season for me though... temps are dropping so I usually reduce everything by 50% time wise from October to Feb... but do keep throwing some really hard short stuff in. 50 minute CX races at -5°C each week usually does the trick .