DaveLeeNC

Assume that, for whatever reason, you have been training very hard (by your standards) for the past several weeks. This means weekly mileage at/above your norms by 10% or more, more ftp/above work than is typical, no days off, etc. You are now tired, couldn't ride 20 minutes at ftp if the prize for doing that was a new road bike of your choosing, heartrate won't come up, etc.

How much rest is required to recover such that you should begin normal training again. I guess this is going to be very personal (a day for some and maybe a lot more for others). But I am interested in experiences here.

Thanks.

dave

Snicklefritz

Back when I was racing actively and doing long distance events, I trained on a 3 week on, 1 week off program. The "off" week was mostly easy spinning for 1-2 hours/day, where I wasn't trying to get my heart rate up.

I found if I tried to train for more than 3 weeks, say going to 4, then somewhere in that 4th week my workouts would feel unproductive. According to my HR and power meter, it didn't matter how much I pushed, the wattage just wasn't there. So I just tried to stay on that 3 week/1 week schedule and that seemed to work.

I never did try to see what happened with making the rest week shorter than a full week. However, from what I remember, I think my body needed at least several days.

RR3

Ice, rest, massage, supplements, end, and easy spins all help hasten recovery. I postponed Tuesday intervals to yesterday owing to incomplete recovery from a long hot weekend ride. I had to abort intervals yesterday because power or hr was not there despite feeling good. I went out today and set a personal best on my interval hill Assuming op just overreached a bit, 2-3 days should restore freshness.

DaveLeeNC

Snic/RR, thanks for the replies/info.

When I was younger and running (a bunch) one day was all it took to 'get it back'. I am older and maybe cycling is different. But one day won't do it for me. Oh well.

dave