For all of the tri plans it seems that Mondays are an off day. I get that the days can be shifted around to fit everyone’s schedule best, but is having 1 day completely free important?
I feel that doing long Saturday rides and then a long run and long swim on Sundays generally feels like my weekend gets taken up. I’ve been able to get the work in by generally doing one of the two long run/swims on Sunday, and then the other on Monday when nothing else is scheduled.
Is there anything detrimental to not having a full day off?
Is it potentially less optimal, but better for me because I get the prescribed work in? Or would I see better gains by choosing one of the two workouts to eliminate on Sundays and keeping a full Monday off?
Generally speaking having a day completely off helps the body recover more completely. Said slightly differently - doing 100 (of anything) for 7 days in a row will leave you slightly more depleted than doing 117 for 6 days in a row and then taking the 7th day off.
Most people are better off keeping the rest day (although it doesn’t have to be Monday). However, feel free to experiment and see what works best for you. You might be able to handle not having a day off just fine and getting in more work will help you progress
Recovery is where you reap the benefits of training, and is underplayed by almost everyone. You do need at least one day a week you’re not training, can you do it without? Perhaps, but it’s suboptimal and increasing your risk of injury and burn out.
You can use the calendar feature to juggle workouts around your life which is what I do to keep the weekend free but for one workout.
n=1, but for a few years I moved workouts around such that I was doing 9-10 workouts per week over 7 days. My performance got better and my motivation stayed a lot higher when I gave myself one day each week completely off, still 9-10 workouts but over 6 days.
I like to take Sundays off if I have the flexibility during the week to get a longer workout in. That gives me a weekend day to sleep in, play with the kids, etc. But I’m a big proponent of a full day off, particularly for older athletes. The physical break is important, but over a 26 to 28-week training cycle for an “A” event, the mental break of one day per week of not worrying about training and all that goes with it is the true benefit, in my opinion.
