The easiest workout to improve performance
How to train recovery for greater fitness.
It’s my recovery week! YAY! With various training workouts improving my aerobic, anaerobic, threshold and neuromuscular systems spread over 3 weeks, it’s time to deescalate the body of the accumulated stress and overtime fatigue. It’s such a joy and relief to settle into a light effort for the week. As easy as it may seem, we aren’t utilizing this significant stage of performance with as much attention as our training workouts.
During my recovery week, I went out with a group to do some local hills. My intention was to keep it very mellow during the ride with an easy and steady pace up the hills. I did so without ramping up power anywhere. There was a moment during a 4 minute climb, where I can see the other riders gradually floating and drifting away from me… the gap. As I continued my steady pace, I felt the urge to sprint, to launch out of the saddle, to blast the pedals! The temptation was knocking at the door of my thoughts. Breathe… Remove the thoughts and patiently ride.
It’s very challenging to contain and constrain the energy. Every part of my body was primed, ready and with a simple twitch, I could fly up the hill! But no! I maintained my pace and experienced the deliberate drop.
When I mentioned to one of the riders in the group that it was my recovery week, he commended and applauded me for taking a recovery week, for listening to my body, taking care of myself and placing in time for recovery. I was surprised. From this small interaction, I realised many riders aren’t emphasizing recovery to the same importance as workout training.
We tend to associate greater performance with doing workouts such as HIIT, sprints, endurance, speed and power efforts. Granted, they are the primary ways to improve riding and fitness, but ultimately it’s the recovery stage that fitness adaptations and benefits happen in response to the workouts. So, take it easy, relax and settle in for a lesson in recovery performance.
What is recovery?
Recovery means being able to meet or exceed performance in a particular activity. Proper recovery is essential for peak human performance, because it allows the body to bounce back stronger.
What happens during recovery?
Beyond just feeling better for the next ride, let’s look into the physiological details:
- Repletion of creatine phosphate and ATP stores.
- Rebuilding of muscle and liver glycogen.
- Conversion of lactate into glycogen or removal of blood lactate.
- Clearance of acetylcholine and other neurotransmitters from skeletal muscle.
- Removal of calcium ions from areas surrounding muscle fibers.
- Repayment of post-exercise oxygen debt via respiration.
- Downregulation of sympathetic nervous system, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate and other acute responses to exercise or stress.
What happens during under-recovery?
Knowing the benefits of recovery is good but knowing the contrast is even greater. This is a game changer in fitness performance as you realise and understand the impacts of under-recovery. You’ll think twice about recovery and optimize it into your riding performance.
Bones
- Loss of bone density
- Depletion of bone-building
- Increased risk of injury and stress fracture
Blood
- Lowered immune system, more frequent sickness
- More susceptible to food sensitivities
Hormones
- Decreased testosterone
- Dysregulated cortisol
- Hypothyroidism
Muscles
- Reduced ability to put on muscle mass
- Decreased muscular strength and power
Metabolism
- Decreased fatburning ability
- “Skinny-fat” or weight gain
- Blood sugar dysregulation
Nerves
- Neural fatigue
- Poor performance
What happens in a recovery week?
You ride like a granny for week :). Be the rider that everyone is waiting for after the hill, the one being dropped at the beginning of the climb or the one who skips a turn in the front. Ride slow. Ride easy.
There you have it. We are not machines. Even so, machines need servicing every so often. Allow yourself a recovery week. Keep it simple by staying low on your effort and zone. Thats it! We all want to get fitter on the bike but life goes beyond riding. Take some time for recovery and you’ll be not just fitter, but happier and healthier on and off the bike.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I love sharing my experiences of cycling and hope you enjoy my life experiences.
