Recovery rides

Beasty

Don't think we've had a discussion (in recent times anyway) on whether to structure and if so how to structure recovery rides to get the most out of them.

I'm starting to put a bit more structure into my training having been more focussed on maximising distance and speed/power in the past. Now I'm starting to get bought into the idea of undertaking active recovery rides

So what are the general views on recovery rides - are they best undertaken the day after a hard session/few days, or the day before? Similarly should you look to do one before or after a rest day (or two). Theire title suggests after but what's the general consensus in terms of getting the most out of these rides?

Should it involve the bare minimum of effort? How long should they typically be? I appreciate this may vary dependent on the normal training efforts. Should they reflect those efforts time-wise for example? If you typically do 2-3 hour hard road sessions should your recovery rides be a couple of hours, or maybe just 30 or so minutes? If you have say done 3 hard hour long turbo sessions on consecutive days should you look to do a longer recovery ride?

What about cadence. I did a 90 minute spin this morning. I kept gearing as low as I could, which resulted in my cadence averaging 98 or so. Should I have aimed at keeping it lower (and the resultant effort correspondingly lower)?

As an alternative is it simply a matter of fitting in low effort rides whenever you can without any particular structure to them?

Charlie69

Definitely get huge benefit from active recovery ride of around two hours or so the day after a hard session or a long ride.

Absolutely imperative though that the full recovery ride is done in zone 3 or lower.

Idleater

Recovery ride is when someone else passes you when you are daydreaming right?

Beasty

Charlie69 wrote: »

Absolutely imperative though that the full recovery ride is done in zone 3 or lower.

Even going into Zone 3 for short periods looks high based on comments I've heard from one coach (who was suggesting you try and keep the effort pretty much as low as you can get away with)

Beasty

Idleater wrote: »

Recovery ride is when someone else passes you when you are daydreaming right?

Haha - no-one overtook me this morning. Half way through the ride I saw a couple of guys in the distance and kept thinking "must not try and catch them". 10 mins or so later and I caught them....

Lusk_Doyle

Looks like time for a coach!

Lumen

Recovery rides aren't for recovery, they're low intensity neuromuscular training.

i.e they make you go faster without tiring you out.

upthe19th

If I can at all I try to do recovery rides the next day. At the very least I will use a foam roller.

I aim for as much in Z1 as possible. Typically keeping the cadence around 90rpm. At the start the speed is pretty low, but as the body warms up and settles into the routine, the speed increases with minimal HR increase.

Sometimes I'll use the club leisure cycle as a recovery ride. Spinning the legs in the group and the chat makes the time go quick.

Of late, cos I'm not always guaranteed to be able to get out the next day, I will do the last 10km of training ride in an easy gearing to spin the legs at about 100rpm, HR up and flush the legs. Find that it makes a difference the next day, for me anyway.

Pawlie

Whoever recovers in Zone 2 or 3 are mad,there not recovery zones they are endurance and tempo zones, best form of recovery is zone 1 for an 1hr upto 1hr 30 max and best way to get that in is on a turbo or rollors,that is unless you have complete flat roads for that time, you wont be recovering properly of you are out on road and at times you are being brought up-to zone 3 regardless of how slow you might ride when the gradient rises.

Too even enhance recovery after a hard training spin is too jump on the turbo for 20 mins in zone 1 with cadence above 90, this will help flush out the acid straight away and make the recovery ride the next day a lot more beneficial and easier on the legs.

You can look up any of the sports journels on the net, for primary articles that have been published, and are backed up by tests been done on riders.

TheBlaaMan

Interesting discussion. Try as I might, I can very rarely avoid exceeding my Z3 HR while out on the bike, partly because I live in a hilly area, partly my age & fitness, and partly because my HR seems to naturally spike very quickly (for which see 'fitness'...) so the rollers approach makes most sense to me in terms of 'recovery'.

Anyway, I'd be grateful for confirmation of how you guys are setting your HR zones?

I've been using the formula: ((HRMAX − HRREST) × %INTENSITY) + HRREST and therefore Z1=50-60%, Z2=60-70% and so on..............with this method, 85% of my time on the bike ends up being in Z3 or Z4......

Pawlie

Whats your max HR man,and how did you come by it, what test did you do or what formula did you use.

TheBlaaMan

HR max came from a ramp test in clinical environment following the Bruce Protocol. It was assessed as 184 (was 46 y/o at the time). I've see low 180s on plenty of occasions on the bike but that's after ignoring the signal to back off......As a result, I suspect my accurate HR max is still 184/185.

Pawlie

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

HR max came from a ramp test in clinical environment following the Bruce Protocol. It was assessed as 184 (was 46 y/o at the time). I've see low 180s on plenty of occasions on the bike but that's after ignoring the signal to back off......As a result, I suspect my accurate HR max is still 184/185.

Type 185 into calculater and it will give your zones
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20120925-Power-Calculator-0

JK.BMC

Recovery for me is in two forms: off the bike completely and get a massage/stretching, or else 30mins+ easy riding without any HR or power meter concerns. Just tootling along keeping warm; for me, too much analysis can get in the way of taking a rest when needed

Beasty

Pawlie wrote: »

Type 185 into calculater and it will give your zones
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20120925-Power-Calculator-0

That calculator works off Functional Threshold HR, not max

My max is about 186, but FTHR is maybe 170-173

StevieGriff

Anyone have a decent link to somewhere explaining zones and Functional Threshold tests? It boggles me.

Beasty

StevieGriff wrote: »

Anyone have a decent link to somewhere explaining zones and Functional Threshold tests? It boggles me.

Here's the British Cycling one backing up the HR zone calculator linked above

TheBlaaMan

Beasty wrote: »

Here's the British Cycling one backing up the HR zone calculator linked above

There is a huge difference between the BC approach to HRzones
HR Zone Lower Limit (%) Upper Limit (%) Physiology
1 <68% Active Recovery
2 68% 83% Endurance
3 83% 94% Tempo
4 94% 105% Threshold
5 105% 121% VO2 max
6 Anaerobic capacity


and the simpler system used by the likes of RidewithGPS and Strava

Zone 1 is 50-60%
Zone 2 is 60-70%
Zone 3 is 70-80%
Zone 4 is 80-90%
Zone 5 is 90-100%


How can these be in any way comparable?

Charlie69

Beasty wrote: »

Even going into Zone 3 for short periods looks high based on comments I've heard from one coach (who was suggesting you try and keep the effort pretty much as low as you can get away with)

Agreed, very difficult to stay in zone 2 for over an hour on the road though.
Personally I find it easier to do both recovery and HIIT sessions on the watt bike .
We all have a tendency to go too hard on our easy days and too easy on the hard days, much easier to stay in your target zone on the watt bike