Joe Friel

Helping endurance athletes stay current on the science and art of training

Rest and Recovery

Almost four months. I believe that's the longest time I've ever gone without posting to my blog in more than six years. Several readers have emailed asking if everything is ok. I really appreciate their concern. Yes, everything is going well. I've just been unbelievably busy, especially with travel around the world and speaking engagements. But I'm trying to get back to posting more frequently, if not in depth on a topic (there are several such things I would like to eventually tell you about but they will have to wait until thngs slow down a bit). But I get occasional interesting questions from athletes and coaches which I answer individually, but think it may be good to post them here somtimes, also. I received the following one today that gets at a crucial aspect of training which athletes can sometimes not fully understand. Here's the question and my answer (the writer's name is omitted since I don't have permission to use it).

Question:

Hi Joe,

I have a 16-year-old that is competing at national level in cycling in the UK. He is a junior rider next season and will be competing in national road races of 100-120km. He is about to embark on a period of rest and recovery. His training volume has been typically 10hrs per week. He weighs 52kilos and has a threshold of around 270 watts (1hr).

A three week rest period seems typical (from blogs and word of mouth). I have no doubt he will be climbing the walls after this period! It seems like an incredibly long period to stay off the bike. Would 2 weeks be insufficient? If so, why. Do you agree with a period of 3 weeks for young athletes? Is it more important for young athletes over older athletes to take this kind of rest?

Regards

JH

Answer:

Hi JH,

Thanks for your note. Good question. Rest and recovery doesn’t necessarily mean time off the bike, although some of that is ok. For most athletes it means "active" R&R which involves riding short durations at low intensity (usually zone 1). There are 3 times when R&R is common for a young rider: weekly, monthly and annually. Weekly is roughly about every other day (but perhaps slightly less often sometimes as when preparing for a stage race or in the base period when training sessions may not be as stressful). This weekly recovery is incomplete so fatigue still continues to accumulate but it is kept under control. Monthly R&R is usually 3-5 consecutive days after about 3 weeks of hard training. This allows for more extensive recovery–yet still incomplete–and prevents overtraining. At the end of the season R&R lasts 1-4 weeks and produces complete recovery which often means eliminating niggling injuries and psychological burnout from being focused for so many months on race preparation. For older athletes (35+) there is usually more frequent R&R which also may last longer. I hope this helps, but let me know if not.

Joe Friel