Clyde1820

Had a nearly catastrophic injury to one leg, 40 years ago. Was a modestly competitive distance runner who trained with Division I/II NCAA athletes (former teammates and others). So I know the regimen, determination, mindset and consistency required.

For me what's worked despite the injuries is: daily something.

Beyond ensuring good nutrition and sleep, striving to always get some moderate to intense exercise in, on a day, even if it's a pitiful attempt, even if it's a "recharge" day such that the effort I'm doing is modest but of sufficient time to keep the muscles "fed," stretched, etc. Of course, any training regimen's going to have tiers of effort, variations through the week and month as improvements are made, as illness hits, as a recovery day is required, and so on. Nobody's "on" daily. But it's funny how doing something fairly solid on a daily basis begets better mindset, begets better muscles, begets better skills, smoother technique, etc.

Layer on an appropriate training regimen (ie, fartlek runs occasionally, with moderate mileage weekly, with an occasional hard hills session, with an occasional sprint session), tailored to your goals. With cycling, it'd be various routes, various intensities, training sessions, good "base" mileage days with occasional hard sprint/hill days, leveraging the cycling computer to capture data about the rides' specifics and tracking improvements over time.

But, at the base of it all, doing something and sticking with it. With modest aches and strains, with modest challenges to nutrition and fluid intake, with modest fatigue, generally I've found that daily attempts help recovery, even on "recovery" days when the effort is deliberately (necessarily) modest.

Most people will find that the body will start "talking" to you, letting you know when it's got more for the asking, can handle an increase in toughness or frequency of the regimen. At which point, you ratchet-up things and pump up the volume. Gradually, as the body can tolerate it. In time, you improve.

Now, that said, the injuries were nearly catastrophic. So my leg's ability to get a job done is vastly less than it once was. So I work within what's possible, given that limitation. Ain't pretty, mostly. Certainly isn't inspiring, from a performance standpoint. But it keeps my legs working, keeps me healthier than otherwise, gets me outside, aids my cardio, gets me away from the normal crush of people (on a longer walk or hike or bike ride). If nothing else, even if it's a modest effort and of questionable physical benefit beyond the basics, it's still a great "recharging" opportunity for me.