General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Recovery days? Rss Feed  
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2008-10-28 4:47 PM

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Subject: Recovery days?
I am discovering that I hate taking "rest days"- comletely off from doing any exercise. Right now, I take one day off a week, but I feel so much better when I work out! When I don't work out, I feel really sluggish and "foggy" if that makes any sense at all.

The problem is that I also know that I feel so much better for my next week of workouts when I do take this weekly rest day. Without rest, my legs start feeling really heavy.

My question to you is if there is any way I can incorporate recovery into my weeks without taking a complete day off. Should I just make some days workouts shorter in duration? What would a week of training every single day look like?

Should I just toughen up and keep the rest day, knowing that it is better for me in the long run?


2008-10-28 5:01 PM
in reply to: #1771573

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Subject: RE: Recovery days?
I've got a variety of "rest/recovery" days.  Sometimes, I take the full day off.  Currently that's about once a week.  In the middle of a training plan that was once every two or three weeks.  Also during that training plan there were "recovery" days.  These weren't necessarily shorter time/distance wise, but were swims or rides done at a lower intensity.  I'm too crappy a runner to have anything involving running as part of recovery, but a lot of people swear by recovery runs as well.
2008-10-29 4:58 PM
in reply to: #1771573

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Subject: RE: Recovery days?
Thanks for the advice! It definitely makes sense to have some days at a lower intensity than others.

How many days a week should I take at a lower intensity? What would a typical 7 day training week balancing easy workouts and hard workouts look like?
2008-10-29 5:10 PM
in reply to: #1771573

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Subject: RE: Recovery days?

Recovery for me can be anything..I HATE taking days off, it screws with me mentally. Recovery can be swimming and/or yoga or just lifting and no cardio. Today was a "recovery day" and I went downstairs at beat on my boxing bag for 45minutes.

 

2008-10-29 5:13 PM
in reply to: #1774352

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Subject: RE: Recovery days?

I might take 2-3 day completely off a month (this month was an anomoly) even though my plan usually has me taking every friday off.

I usually put in a recovery (zone 1) workout or a swim, since I know that won't hurt me too bad for my long runs or bikes over the weekend.

If you stick to a very easy workout, it's just about as good a just taking the day off, IMO.

2008-10-29 7:58 PM
in reply to: #1771573

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Subject: RE: Recovery days?

Recovery days don't have to be no-workout days.  When I was a pure runner my only no-run days during the season were after long (1/2M or longer) races where I went all out, or one day during recovery weeks.

I'm now trying to retool to be a triathlete, and in general my strategy has been to take a recovery day once per week, doing a relatively easy workout on that day.  Usually that means an easy swim, but sometimes it's an easy bike.  This seems to work well for me.  YMMV.

As for ratios of easy to hard workouts, you'll find different suggestions out there, but the one thing that they all (as far as I know) have in common is that there is far more easy volume than hard volume (you'll see ratios like 80-20 or even 90-10).  The main point here is that in order to make the most of your hard workouts, they need to be truly hard.  But they won't be if you are tired, which is one of the most important reasons why your easy workouts need to be easy.

Of course, things are more complicated, because there are different kinds of' 'hard' workouts. To take the obvious case, a long run is hard in a way that is different from intervals.  The best way (IMO) to start getting a sense of a good mix of workouts is to look at a variety of plans, then try one and see how it goes.

 

 



2008-10-29 9:38 PM
in reply to: #1774330

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Subject: RE: Recovery days?

amyro1234 - 2008-10-29 4:58 PM Thanks for the advice! It definitely makes sense to have some days at a lower intensity than others. How many days a week should I take at a lower intensity? What would a typical 7 day training week balancing easy workouts and hard workouts look like?

ehh... it varies so much depending on what I have going on.  In a typical training cycle, I might have a brutal run week, a normal cycling week, but relatively short swims with some drills.  The next week might be a bike puke fest with very light easy runs, and a normal pool week.  etc. etc. etc.  It's sort of like rolling recovery weeks for each discipline.  Genrally speaking, I try to plan a total low intensity day the day before a long run.  That's because running wears me down so much more than the other two.  So, I like to be a little more refreshed heading into it.  

Honestly, when training for a specific event, I typically just get after it until my body revolts and won't let me get out of bed in the morning.  Then I take a rest day.  The hard part is figuring out if it's your body or your head talking.

2008-10-30 4:18 AM
in reply to: #1771573

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Subject: RE: Recovery days?
No rest days here.

A low-intensity pull buoy/paddle swim if the legs/lungs are dead.
2008-10-30 7:19 AM
in reply to: #1771573

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Runner
Subject: RE: Recovery days?
As someone who only runs, 90% of my workouts are easy.  I generally do one or two workouts per week that are medium or occasionally hard.  Right now I'm doing 8 runs a week.
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