Murf58

I知 55, and recently started riding again after having done very little for the last 10 months or so. Feeling it a bit and wondering what works for others to enhance recovery. I知 interested about everything from activity, to ice baths to nutrition etc. Thanks

Salmonchaser

Things that are helping me (age 53):
-Fueling during my rides, even during easy training ride. 50g of carbs/hr for easy and 75g+/hr for hard rides makes a huge difference in how fast I recover vs not eating enough.
-Stretching - my whole life I’ve had very tight muscles and ligaments, and even worse now at my current age. Regular stretching and Theragun massage seems to help.
-Cold shower after a ride. I love long hot showers, but feel better after starting warm then dropping the temp to cold.
-Only one hard training day a week. I can no longer do multiple hard days a week, so I do one, and rest is zone 2, with 1 or 2 days a week off the bike as needed but doing some core exercises instead. I’m long past the age of training to win (and have a cardiac electrical condition that has cut out a measurable fraction of my capacity), so now the aim is just to stay fit and strong as long as I can

GhostRider62

I take a nap

If my HrV is bad the next day (rare), I take a recovery day

wolfchild

I use cycling as recovery from other things in life such as weight training and daily physical work...I don't need recovery after my bike ride because the bike ride itself is recovery for me....My rides are low intensity Zone 2 and range anywhere from 40 -60 miles. I don't need any special recovery after a Zone 2 ride.

big john

Naps, days off the bike, plenty of water. I'm 69 and retired and sometimes the day after a hard climbing ride a little yard work or just doing chores will help me loosen up and feel better. Sometimes an easy cruise around the neighborhood helps, just 1.5 or 2 hours without working hard.

I also use a roller on the legs sometimes.

Steve B.

I’m 68. I swim 3 days, bike 3 days, kayak one day. I usually do 3 activity days then take a day off with no activity.

rsbob 

It hasn’t been proven, but after a ride, I usually have a protein drink and stretch quads, hams and calves. I also try to drink more water to rehydrate.

If it has been a really long day or a tough high intensity day, I take the next day off, which helps with muscle recovery/building.

I never do two high intensity days in a row since that just tears down muscle and leads to a longer recovery.

Iride01 

Actually a pretty broad question. I always drink at least 20 - 24 fluid ounces of a high carb drink within the first hour of ending the ride. Even the same stuff I put in my bottles will do. I use to buy recovery drinks that had a little protein and a lot of carbs. But after laughing at that commercial about drinking chocolate milk for quite awhile, I finally compared the Protein, Carb and Fat values for the stuff I was drinking to chocolate milk. And it was almost the same. Chocolate Soy milk was a little better for protein, but that got hard to find and the oat milk and almond milk are lacking in protein and I don't like their taste. Lately I'm just mixing the remaining stuff in my bottles with Lactaid and Nestle Quick chocolate powder. That sums up my immediate recovery steps after a ride. (if you haven't tried it, 2% fat Lactaid has almost as good a taste as whole milk)

If one is tired enough to need a nap after a ride, then I might suggest one is a little on the dehydrated side. They ought to check their before and after weight and see if they are losing too much weight from sweat loss. There can be other reasons for being tired enough for a nap, but hard activity shouldn't be one of them IMOH.

jadmt

what kind of distances and intensities are you talking about? I am almost 65 yoa and I am an old overweight drunk, but so far I have not had to really do anything to recover from anything 100 miles or less. I might knock a few cold beers down when I get back. I just got in from a 70 mile ride averaged 18.3 mph. ate a grape popcycle and drank a cold hefe. During the ride i drank two 26 ounce bottles of water with a packet of liquid IV in each and ate one Cliff bar. I will probably drink a couple more beers throughout the day. I think a guy reaches a certain age and he has to make sure he drinks plenty of beer to replenish the body. I am lucky I live where there are numerous breweries.

Random11

When I started riding a bit less than six years ago, I was riding eight miles four days a week. I was not in bad shape (I was a runner before I started cycling), but in hindsight, I was not in cycling shape. Over a period of a few years, I increased my distance and frequency, and now ride 15-20 miles a day almost every day, and rarely ride less than 100 miles a week. My thought is that you should ride what's comfortable for you, take days off when you feel like you need it, and you'll build up your cycling shape. I don't do anything special to recover (but you do need to keep hydrated). My body is just used to cycling 15-20 miles every day. (I sometimes take longer rides, but don't have the time to do it often.)

GhostRider62

The reason for my naps are a significant release of HGH with PM naps. I never said I needed a nap, I usually only ride 250-300 miles per week nowadays but a nap is a sure fire way to enhance recovery and was one secret I used to heal 11 broken bones in several months when the dumb ass doctors said recovery would be 12 months.

There is nothing better to screw up athletic training than lack of sleep and on the flipside, a nap is often benefical

big john

I love my naps, doesn't matter whether I'm dehydrated or not.

big john

I remember the pleasure of an ice cold beer on a hot day but it's been more than 30 years.

Murf58

Thanks everyone - appreciate the responses.

A bit more detail as requested, I am only riding 8-9 miles per ride (road and MTB) at the moment - several times a week, a few hills but nothing major. Looking to build up to daily riding of between 10-15 miles, as random11 suggested, maybe I just need to slow down a bit, squash the 20 year old in my head 😂, and take the time to adapt.

Jadmt - Like Bigjohn I haven’t drunk beer for more than 30 years, I used to love a beer after a hot day of work or exercise but it gives me stomach pains unfortunately. More power to you if it is your recovery wonder juice!

Ghost rider/Big John, I wish I could nap mate - I would love it, I’ve been a bad sleeper for a long as I can remember. Been working on it for years but still almost never get more than a few hours uninterrupted sleep and I’ve been taking sleeping tablets for the best part of 10 years now. Sucks but it is what it is and may explain why I feel I don’t recover well. I’ll keep trying to crack that nut…

couple of other things I picked up from the comments above;
* I normally drink very little and never eat on a ride (even previously on 1-2 hour rides). I need to sort that out and will start drinking more on my rides and taking some carbs to see if that helps.
* I need more discipline to stay in zone 2 for more rides and only have 1-2 med-hard rides a week.
* Probably need to tidy up my diet a bit further as well 😬 Normally post ride I’ll have a shake with some frozen mango, blueberries and milk (sometime chocolate)
* Other than strava recording ride distance, i e never been one for monitoring the hell out of my riding. I should start at least with heart rate/HRV - Ghostrider and others what do you use to monitor HRV?
* Stretching more consistently

Thanks again all.

Iride01 

If you nap normally whether you ride or not, then naps are probably just normal for you.

But it should matter whether or not you are dehydrated. I actually have more of a issue with it when I'm working in the yard or other outdoor activities where a bottle of water isn't as convenient to grab as it is on the downtube of my bike.

wolfchild

Taking naps is perfectly normal, it's part of life. There is nothing wrong with it.

big john

When I do yard work I keep a water bottle nearby. I've been retired for 4 years but when I was working I would be dehydrated for a good part of the summer. I worked on cars, outside but mostly in the shade. I could drink a gallon and a half at work and still be light. I sweat buckets on the bike. I think I need double the water that others I ride with do. Today I did 30 miles with 2K feet of climbing. No big deal, right? Still drank 4 large bottles and have been drinking more since I got home. Of course, it's been over 100 degrees here for weeks.

goaliedad30

Since it hasn't been mentioned above, you could try hookers and blow ... ;-)
For me, it's replenishing the fluids, and a nap if I was up early.

Carbonfiberboy 

The practices of experienced cyclists who ride long distances are not of much interest to a newbie. But 15g of flavored protein with about half that much sugar after a ride is a good idea - if it's longer than 20 miles that is. I can still remember being 55. What you want to do is ride away from home until you're tired, then ride back. The most important things are good bike shoes, clipless pedals, real bike clothing, learning to drink from a bottle while riding, and taking stuff with you: 2 tubes, patch kit, tire levers, boot kit, ID and a little money, and a snack bar of some sort. Nothing much happens physically until after 45', so at least an hour's ride each time. Riding more helps recovery - it takes time.

I never took it easy when I started riding again at 50. There' a shopping center near here, 14 miles and 600' elevation gain round trip. Took me most of my first summer to be able to ride that easily. Not that I shopped there, just a goal, following my own advice above. On a bike, being able to climb is everything. Sounds stupid, but bike riding is all about climbing. That's what stimulates your system and makes you strong. So I'd ride up the hill until I was beat, then ride back home, etc. It wasn't too long before I was able ride further, so I gradually increased the distance. The next summer I was able to do 60 mile Sunday rides.

I should mention that I had joined a gym at 34, so 44 years ago, and went twice a week for about an hour, still do. Good idea. I'm not a bodybuilder, just a normal guy. I had also been hiking with my wife once a week most of the summer, for years, also a good idea.

pdlamb

Murf58 , I'm not sure you need to worry about "recovery" with your regimen. Drink a bit while you're riding, drink some more when you get home if you're still thirsty, stretch when you get off the bike. Take a day off if you feel tired. Most of the recovery discussion doesn't apply IME even at 15 miles a day. As for a special diet, try to cut out empty calories (snacks, desserts, drinks) if you're trying to lose weight.

One exception to the above "Don't worry, be happy" advice is if you start having signs of hyponatremia -- if that happens, eat a little more salt.

rsbob 

I take a day off. That’s when muscle building/repair happens.