Rest in the recovery week

Hey TR.

How would it affect the recovery week, if you take multiple days of the bike?
Would it effect the ramp test and following weeks of training?

If I do other types of training like swimming, would this be beneficial?

Thanks :blush:

I think the last podcast addressed this.

Fitness is always increasing or declining, stopping cycling entirely will start to see some decline but iirc not significantly over seven days.

For your ramp test youā€™re still best to do the recovery week sessions, or in fact any session to keep your legs ready. My current approach is to shorten sessions or pick a shorter/easier session I can fit in rather than do no session at all.

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Although itā€™s probably not ideal, Iā€™m usually more liberal with letting life events take precedent over my training during recovery weeks. If that means that I need to skip a ride or two, so be it.

Generally speaking, from a fitness standpoint, youā€™re better off riding rather than not riding. However, you still need balance in your life and recovery weeks are a great time to pay back.

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My recommendation based on n=1 personal experience: if you take significant time off the bike during recovery weeks (or for travel, work, ā€œlifeā€, etc.) leading into a ramp test, I lead into the ramp test with at least two days of work on the bike. For me, thatā€™s a 60-90 minute endurance ride to ease back onto the bike, then an opener such as Truuli -2 to wake the legs up. Iā€™ve done this a couple of times prior to outdoor testing and once prior to a TR ramp test after a 5-7 days off the bike, and it works for me.

So for me it looks like:
Sa: Pettit, Fletcher, etc.
Su: Truuli -2
M: Ramp test

I think if you go in to a ramp test with several days off the bike, youā€™re going to feel stale and maybe have forgotten how hard ā€œhardā€ feels, and your ramp test results will reflect that.

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Iā€™ve been thinking about that this week. I am out of town for a work conference from Thursday night to Saturday night (likely late). So I wonā€™t be able to ride Friday and Saturday. I also play indoor soccer on Sunday nights, so moving the Saturday ride to Monday seems like too much. I think what Iā€™m going to do is to do Tuesday as scheduled, and then see if I can make the Wednesday session a bit longer and do the Saturday session on Thursday. Iā€™ll still skip one ride, but maybe slightly less TSS. At the same time, if I feel tired at all on Wednesday or Thursday, Iā€™ll only do as much as feels good.

In the end, skipping one workout in the recovery week probably doesnā€™t matter much, and front-loading TSS (even if Z2) in a recovery week probably doesnā€™t aid adaptation eitherā€”particularly because Iā€™ll also have work travel stress.

So my plan now is:
Mo: off
Tue: 90 minutes zone 2
Wed: anywhere between 45-75 minutes zone 2
Thu: 90 minutes zone 2
Fri: off
Sat: off
Sun: 2h zone 2

I might try the leg opener on Monday if I feel it.

Thanks.

The reply time on this forum is amazing ; )

Im going on holiday in my recovery week, but will try to get my legs spinning a couple times.:+1:

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I have the same problemā€¦ Maybe itā€™s just another one of those, ahem, seasoned athlete things, but Iā€™ve had horrible tests after days off the bike. Itā€™s counterintuitive if youā€™ve never had it happen, but Iā€™ll never test again without doing something other than nothing the day before.

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