You know, i’ve been doing endurance athletics for 25 years almost and i thought i knew this but i think it turns out i actually don’t.
But put simply, when you have a “rest week” after a hard training block . . . what are you doing with that time?
still doing endurance rides just suuuper easy? Or is it just recovery rides, stretching, yoga, going for walks and that’s it?
I define the week after a hard block as a recovery week, while a complete break after a half/full season is a rest week.
Recovery weeks are all low intensity, mostly zone 2 (of 5) heart rate. 4-5 workouts for the week, compared to 5-6 workouts in a harder week.
Rest weeks are absolutely nothing in the week, and a coffee ride on the weekend to end the week.
I was about to pipe in but @geraldm24 covered it perfectly! There’s different types of recovery/rest weeks and when you’re on a true rest week, not riding is important. Taking 2-4 days completely off is one of the hardest things for athletes to do, but it’s needed from time to time.
Thanks guys, this is helpful. I’m probably going to need to do maybe a “hybrid” approach. I did a DIY training camp last week while my wife was out of town which included about 25 hours of riding over the course of 6 days, which was a fair jump up from my prior volume. Most was endurance but i live in a hilly area so some of it was spicy (plus i’d do things like hop onto MTB trails to do hot laps in the middle of the ride, etc.)
By the end of it, z1 felt awful, z4+ felt pretty tough too (and like the throttle was broken in the “off” position), but z2/3 felt better than before, felt like i was on an e-bike for those rides.
I did upper body strength session saturday, a recovery ride and yoga sunday, monday totally off, recovey ride and yoga again on Tuesday, and i still felt pretty trash on the bike yesterday. So mostly off the bike (kinda like a true rest week, even though it’s mid-season).
I’ll probably start up with some endurance rides now just verrrrry easy, very easy.
If it’s a recovery week (every fourth week or so), then I roughly halve the volume, but maintain frequency and intensity.
If a rest week then I’ll stay off the bike. Just like rest days I’ll stay off the bike, maybe with easy short walk.
Hi @BikerBocker, have a strength routine you can perform twice during your recovery week to supplement your other training as well. Hope this helps!