Originally Posted by
TimothyH
Junk miles is a training and coaching term.
They are miles ridden with no other purpose than to increase mileage. Most people do this in zone 3 or "moderate" riding.
- Recovery rides (zone 1) help you recover after an intense workout.
- Base miles (zone 2) increase aerobic endurance.
- Intervals, tempo and threshold workouts (zone 4+) increase power and speed.
Everything else is junk because there is little training benefit and significant recovery is required.
As the article states, if you are not training with a specific goal and are just riding for fun then there is no such thing as junk miles. If you are training for a specific goal then you need to be careful about your intensity because moderate riding really serves no purpose and can hurt you in the long run.
-Tim-
The article made sense to me. Didn't really see what was meant by the term. Part of my goal is improved fitness. Not really training for a race tho. So I'm just going to quote this from the article:
There are no junk miles if you’re having fun.