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Recovery Time

by notfastenough
Thu, Mar 07, 2013 09:54
4

Morning folks,
A few of us in the club are planning an assault on next year's TdF Yorkshire stages, to be ridden on 6th/7th April this year. It's about 120 miles for each day, plus a 20 mile transfer between Harrogate and York (no coach transfer for us!).

Clearly, we'll be riding this a bit slower than the average Sunday ride to ensure we get round.

I've stepped up my riding to four times a week (about 10 hours), plus 1 or 2 gym sessions. I've also cut out the sugary treats and have dropped from 75kg to 71kg over about 4 months.

Now I know from past experience that if I've been training for a while, backing off for a week or so leaves me feeling really strong. I've since learned that there is a scientific basis for this, backing off the effort to allow yourself to recover more than just a day or so, and let all your effort 'bed in' as it were.

So my question is, for this scenario, how long do you think is a reasonable period to back off the routine prior to the big weekend? I have got an event the weekend before which is 52 miles, so I'm doing that anyway. Do you think just a 1 hour-ish fast ride on each Wednesday of the preceeding two weeks is appropriate? Too much? Too little? Anything else I could be doing?

Thanks for any help.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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4 comments

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skitza | 11 years ago
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A big up for SIS products as well , rego recovery straight after a ride (within 20 mins) ,rego night and look at the Rego with Fruitflow for beforehand, all seem to work well for me in conjunction with the wise advise above.

Rego Recovery:When you are in a training programme and need your body to adapt to increasing demands. A full spectrum recovery product for periods of intense training. Developed with feedback from the Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman, it helps your muscles to recover and rebuild. Use immediately after exercise to help your body adapt to increased training demands to become stronger as quickly as possible – ready for the next training session. Easy on the stomach, so it can be taken after hard exercise, and is available in either soya or whey protein formulations.

Rego Night:When you are in periods of increased training, to support overnight recovery. Contains a specific combination of ingredients needed by the body for rest, rebuild and recovery. You wake up feeling fresher, with less muscle soreness – ready to take on tomorrow’s training. Easy on your stomach and supports a healthy immune system.

Rego with Fruitflow: has beneficial effects on blood platelets giving them more resistance to activation during periods of strenuous exercise, reducing your bodies total inflammation. Studies have shown that this can help to shorten recovery times.

There are more but i havnt used those but do get benefit from these three

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notfastenough | 11 years ago
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Some good feedback here, cheers.

I've been working really hard the last couple of weeks, wondering whether I need a rest now after 80 miles done today.

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vorsprung | 11 years ago
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For long distance rides I normally do a big prep ride 2 weeks before. This will be the distance to be done in one day. The next week after that, I will ride normally, commuting etc.

At the weekend before the big event I stop riding completely and have a week off

I can do this because I am riding long, slow events. The duration of riding at a steady pace is more important than speed. If you need speed then a week is too long. Most authorities reckon that a ride with the same intensity but shorter and less often will allow your body to build up some reserves whilst keeping your fitness near peak

I've just done a blog post on general recovery here:

http://audaxing.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/rest-and-recovery/

What you are talking about sounds more like tapering than recovery as such

Hope this helps

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jimmo62 | 11 years ago
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It all depends on your ability to recover... you need to try various strategies to find the one which works best. I tend to do easier sessions but at the same volume with a short hard session the day before which works for me - I'd certainly think at least an easy spin the day before would be a minimum. Suggest you try a few different things over the next few weeks/months

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