30 min “recovery” spins on off day

What are the thoughts on doing a light spin on an off day, ie Dans or Taku. Is there any benefit or negative to it? I enjoy doing something and keeping my morning routine going.

The answer is probably it is fine as long as it doesn’t affect your other workouts but curious to hear others experiences.

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Taku is technically an endurance ride. Dans fits the bill though. @Nate_Pearson also does a custom flat 45% recovery ride. They should make a recovery Baxter, only ride that Nate would need then.

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I also like to keep a routine and usually opt for Dans on my off day. It’s truly EZ enough that it causes no stress and let’s me keep my sanity.

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Depends on the plan and schedule.

I’m on six days right now so I like to keep my off day an off day.

Exception is if I’m testing I’ll jump on for 1-2hrs the day before and do some hard efforts. I always like to test with a little something in the legs. I’m flat if I’m too fresh after an easy week.

There are two recovery Baxter’s that I have found:

‘Birch’

https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/workouts/5472-birch

And;

‘West Vidette’

https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/workouts/5267-west-vidette

I like to do a 30 minute ride at about 40% FTP, just spin the legs and loosen the muscles, I dont let my HR get above 90. But I also believe in taking one day completely off from everything…complete rest day.

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This episode covers Recovery Workouts well.

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I did 3 weeks of “double days” in December – AM easy ‘double’, Taku -1 or Dans; PM hard workout.
I can’t say with certainty if they were helpful or not, but they did wake up the legs and systems for the day and in a gentle manner.

As Coach Chad mentions in several inride texts, those easy recovery rides have to be very easy, 50% or less, no sweat, no increase in breathing, etc. About the only other thing is pay close attention to how your body feels. Don’t just do 30min just because that’s what’s on the clock. If it’s not easy after 10min, then stop at 10min. If you have to dial it down to 40%, then that’s what you do. Recovery rides are dictated by what your body tells you to do.

But, as with @craigmanning, having one day completely bike free can also be very valuable.

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I do about 70mins of recovery per day, Mon-Fri through my commutes to work. I’m probably doing 55% of FTP (a guess based on RPE and HR). I also do them fasted.
Thus far no ill effects. Indeed, I’ve successfully ramp tested after my commutes and not felt that they’ve been hindered in any way.
Having said all that, if I could, I would have a day of complete rest.

Those are endurance. Should be sub 50% for recovery.

why not use free ride 30 and work at a low intensity and RPE? Seems to me that on a rest day you should listen to your body carefully, its also one of the days.

You might want to look at your RHR as well, if its elevated it could be a sign of fatigue

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LOL! My heart rate goes over 90 just putting my bibs on!

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My favorite advice for a recovery ride is that you should be going so slow that you feel stupid for wearing a kit and riding an expensive bike to the coffee shop.

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I wish the Forum had an emoji for an LOL :slight_smile:

I usually do Pettit if I feel with energy and can’t / don’ want to do core workout. Otherwise I go to the boulder.

If I feel sick and I have workout, I try Taku

For the record, Pettit and the like, included in some plans, is NOT a Recovery ride. It is it squarely placed in the Endurance realm because it is 60% of FTP or above. True Recovery rides are 55% of FTP or lower.

If you want to easily find the true Recovery rides, go to the Workouts section on the site, and check the “Recovery” box under “Intensity”. That will get you the proper Recovery rides.

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