The thing is that I would imagine the benefit of a complete day off relative to a short easy day is marginal, at best. Also, I don’t think anyone besides a pro level athlete is chasing marginal gains- that is, nearly everyone else could add more volume or something to that effect and get substantial gains, tho life constraints might not permit it. So in those cases, I think a whole day off of exercise to let your body recover is excessive and just not necessary. If it’s a mental thing, then that could be helpful, but I highly doubt it’s a physiological thing. I think a complete day off vs an easy hour or so are probably interchangeable. I like to keep the legs moving - and going super easy just feels nice
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Sometimes I feel that I could do a workout. However I have a wife and kids. And I have at least one day off because I want to spent time with them, sometimes two depending on the family schedules. With just 7-10 hrs/wk and at 36 year old, I’m not sure if I really need need a day off.
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I’ve done 24 days in a row last year as my volume peaked (I am 46 y/o with a full time job too, albeit no kids). But there’s EASY Z1 rides in there for 30-60 min on recovery days (45-50%). I think those rides are as good as a day off, with the benefit of getting blood and muscles moving, although sometimes it’s nice to just have the mental break and not be on the bike.
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I guess I didn’t phrase my question totally right.
I’m counting a Zone 1 light spin as a day off.
Do you physically need any Days Off / pure Zone 1 Days? (not counting injury / terrible sleep / family / work days that you are forced off).
Wondering how many people on here ride, call it 345 days a year at at least Zone 2 for at least an hour (with most workouts being 1.5-2+ hours)? and their experience with that.
I feel like the standard line of thought is you need one day a week off (or Zone 1) and I would just plan it in. but why is it one day a week? if at all? what if optimal is one day every 12 days? or 36? where does the 1 day a week off come from? wondering if it’s a sacred cow that needs to be reconsidered.
An interesting listen….
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They are NOT the same thing.
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I guess sometimes my view of a “day off” might be different than some other people’s. Almost always, if I have a day off the bike then I’ll probably double the amount of walking and other non-workout activity I do. So it probably ends up being about the same as if I had done a 30-45min Z1 ride.
So day off from activity? I wouldn’t
But sometimes a day off the bike is a nice mental switch up.
I’m slightly confused what you’re saying here. I get a whole day off may not be needed vs an easy short spin. But I’m assuming you’re mention of “substantial gains” is adding more volume than just an easy hour spin one what some people might take a complete day off?
Unless I’m confused, endurance rides are supposed to be training load. And I’m not sure how you recover from training load with more training load? Unless people are counting a 30min Z1 ridiculously easy spin as not a day off?
I’m sure plenty of people can handle training every day forever. But would they be faster if they rested? Seems like a ton of coaches say yes?
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Your body is MADE to hunt/farm/gather 7 days week / 365 days year for about 50 years. Will you be a better athlete without days off, I don’t know.
Id concern yourself not just with the cardio side of it but the connective tissue, soft tissue, etc side of the house as well. If you use too much force, even at low watts, you’re basically still doing a leg workout. You’re just doing a single movement, so you can get an overuse injury. You’re sitting on a saddle, so you can get a sore. So… maybe do a day or two of hiking.
Convenience of scheduling for our tiny human brains and social economic constraints. Nothing scientific or magical about it.
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Hm, this is a good question but I have so many other questions…
For those who never take a day off:
- Are you over 40 years old?
- How many hours per week are you riding and/or training?
- Do you still periodize your efforts in progressively intense weeks followed by an easier week?
- Do you ever do any back to back days of truly depleting (long or ridiculously intense) rides?
- Do you do any races? How do you taper for them? How do you recover after them?
- Are you still improving or experiencing a plateau?
That doesn’t mean they win because they train 7d per week.
The answer is, of course, “it depends”. I try to get most of my athletes to take a full day off. Doesn’t mean they sit around on the couch, they can still be active, but get away from the bike or running shoes. For those of us with families, I think that’s critical.
If you’re single, young, etc. etc. the answer might be different. I don’t think it’s fair to look at what P/1/2 and elite masters riders do and apply that to everyone. First off, that’s not a healthy mindset. Second, I’d be willing to bet they don’t train 7 days always Z2+, etc., and if they tell you that, then they’re probably fibbing. You’d also need to ask about how the other things in their lives are going - marriage, jobs, etc.
There are people out there that can and do train 7 days a week, definitely doesn’t mean YOU should.
I typically do 6 days per week (until I get sick from the kids… ugh), but unless there’s a special case, Sunday is my day with the family and no bike. That works for me.
What works best for you over the LONG term?
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I’m saying that there probably is almost no difference between a day off or a short easy spin. If there is one, it’s marginal at best (trivial). If one was better than the other, it would probably only impact people already at their limits (for ex a pro athlete or somebody like that). Nearly everyone else is far from their limits, so a marginal difference (one way or the other) isn’t even going to be noticeable.
I’m 100% saying there is. I feel horrible after days off. Tried that for 6 years of structured training. I feel much better after a light spin and it’s beneficial to not only my next hard workout but also the next couple work weeks. I can literally do more at a lower RPE if I don’t take complete days off.
I take 1 light day of 30-50 TSS which tends to be high z1/low z2, whichever feels better. It
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Like others on this thread, my ‘day off’ normally includes an easy 45 - 90 minutes ride usually on a Saturday before a bigger day on Sunday
- Are you over 40 years old?
Yes, 46 last week
- How many hours per week are you riding and/or training?
Around 20 hours cycling and 8-10 hours walking
- Do you still periodize your efforts in progressively intense weeks followed by an easier week?
Depends - not when following a polarised base / build plan but recently did a 3 week VO2 block followed by 4 days Z1 / easy Z2 riding
- Do you ever do any back to back days of truly depleting (long or ridiculously intense) rides?
Not usually, try to place easier days in between the hard
- Do you do any races? How do you taper for them? How do you recover after them?
10 - 25 mile TTs mainly, wouldn’t normally taper for a 10 but for an evening TT I’d normally do an easy Z2 ride the following day. For a 25 I’ll try to have easier days immediately before and after
- Are you still improving or experiencing a plateau?
Yes, last season broke all my power records from 5 minutes up to 4 hours and recently my highest FTP
Caveat that this comes after several years of long commutes (20 miles each way and most days a bit more) - plus weekend rides
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Why wouldn’t you count injury & terrible sleep days that force you off the bike? These could very easily be systems of too much training and that you need to take rest days. If you / anyone excludes your body potentially indicating it needs rest from the question of do you need rest days, then you will get the answer you want - you don’t. But that doesn’t mean you don’t, it just means you biased (potentially) the data.
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No it’s not. That’s not how evolution works at all.
Also, how do you know our ancestors that survived 1 million years ago weren’t the ones that did all their hunting/gathering in 2 days a week and spent the other 5 resting inside huts and caves…out of the elements and away from the dangers of weather and predators that would kill you well before 50?
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Glad someone else said it, cause I typed it, thought “Do I really want to get into this argument?”, and then deleted it.
It would probably shock most people to find out that in our “evolved society” we work significantly more and have wayyy less time for relaxation, socializing, and communing than most other times throughout history. You could argue whether one is ‘easier’ than the other but we certainly work more than in most (maybe all) other times in human history.
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