In response to the ‘Recovery Ride on Monday?’ question, and specifically thinking about a recovery day coming after a very high volume weekend my thoughts are…
Don’t do a recovery ride
- If you are viewing it as an extra training load to build fitness.
- Using it to top up training load to chase CTL
- Thinking of it as building more fitness, a true recovery ride does not add ‘fitness’ directly, a recovery ride that isn’t a true recovery ride harms your potential fitness gains from upcoming quality sessions.
- Your time is better spent on sleep, relaxing, foam rolling, meditation, hydration, a snooze, or other proven recovery techniques.
- You have a habit of not fully meeting the required hydration and nutritional needs of your general or quality rides, during a recovery ride most people don’t think about hydration and nutrition, this is a big mistake in my opinion.
- You don’t feel the need to follow a strict schedule everyday
- You can do and enjoy other types of active recovery activities i.e walking.
- You don’t feel more refreshed after the recovery ride than when you started it
Do a recovery ride
- If your range of motion is reduced (your muscles are tight) following heavy weekend
- Routine is really important to you… i.e getting on the bike at a certain time of day
- You feel much more refreshed after a recovery ride than when you started it
- You get restless and struggle mentally if you don’t get on the bike.
- You have time to do a ride and still focus on at least two other recovery techniques during the day.
- You respond well to active recovery rides, more so than foam rolling, meditation etc
- You are disciplined and keep a recovery ride as a recovery ride.
Some points are the same or similar in different words, but that is because I feel the point is important. Recovery rides on a Monday after a heavy weekend can be very productive but not at the expense of more ‘pure’ recovery techniques.
I’ll do a recovery ride on the Monday after a heavy weekend training, i.e 150 - 200 miles weekend on the bike and a long run ~ hour plus. The main reason being that my muscles get tight and along with foam rolling I have found that is the most productive way for me to recover. If you are someone that doesn’t get enough sleep you might be better served to get a snooze in rather than get on the bike. Listen to your body, get to know it, how it responds and do the things it needs.
The same general principles apply to most recovery days.