Over exercising?

[Moose.]

Morning all,

I was wondering how long one should wait between rides to ensure one's getting the benefit from the previous session? I find that if I have a long day's riding and then try to go riding the following day, it's quite an effort to match the pervious day's pace. Should I just be pushing through this or is it better to rest a day in-between to allow the body to recover properly?

Reason I'm asking is because I'm doing the Clic24 again this year (in three weeks time!) and want to ensure I'm not totally useless for it

cheers

[WildCards]

I try and leave a day inbetween serious excersize, but have been known just to have a short pootle/easy session on the inbetween days as I sometimes find it helps with muscle tension etc. Eating correctly and getting decent kip helps massively too, have you tried Rego type drinks for immediately after the hard graft?

Edited by WildCards on Monday 27th April 12:12

[dmitsi]

I leave two days between intense exercise, I do cycle every day, but only push it every few rides. I sometimes leave three days between running as I like my knees too much to screw them. You're muscles need time to heal properly, push them too far too soon and you'll do more hamr than good.
I know a few people who have over done varous forms of exercise, and one of them is very close to having his left leg amputated at the knee as he is now in almost constant pain. He pushed himself too far way too often, so far he's had four ops to help, but no joy.

[Nick_F]

Periodicity and variety.

Steady week
Hard week
Very hard week
Easy week
and repeat.

One complete rest day a week isn't a bad idea, either.

[Moose.]

So far what I've been doing each week is this:

Monday - gentle (20 miles cycle path)
Wednesday - medium pace (20 miles cycle path)
Friday - hard (15 miles climbs/descents, all off-road)
Sunday - very hard (25 miles climbs/descents, all off-road)

I'm trying to up the distances each week too, as I figure I need to be able to ride for endurance rather than out and out speed during the event. It seems to be working ok, but I find the Monday evening ride a struggle having had the full-on riding on the Sunday. Just wondering if it's beneficial doing the Monday ride or is it better to rest and do it on Tuesday instead?

[WildCards]

Moose. said:

So far what I've been doing each week is this:

Monday - gentle (20 miles cycle path)
Wednesday - medium pace (20 miles cycle path)
Friday - hard (15 miles climbs/descents, all off-road)
Sunday - very hard (25 miles climbs/descents, all off-road)

I'm trying to up the distances each week too, as I figure I need to be able to ride for endurance rather than out and out speed during the event. It seems to be working ok, but I find the Monday evening ride a struggle having had the full-on riding on the Sunday. Just wondering if it's beneficial doing the Monday ride or is it better to rest and do it on Tuesday instead?

Are you using a HRM? It's not necessarily the terrain your riding that dictates how severe a ride is but how much effort you put in, i'd develop a schedule that works to various percentages of your max BPM over the distances you've highlighted above.

Are you stopping much/taking breaks whilst riding? I've found that a constant cadence everywhere with minimal stops over an off road route has improved my cardio and muscle stamina no end. Look at what Tour riders do, then adapt something to suit your needs.

[Moose.]

I am indeed using a HRM and think I've worked out a vague schedule. I keep in zone 3 for Mondays, mix of 3 & 4 on Wednesdays and just tend to go for it on Fridays and Sundays (jumps to 5 during climbs and tends to stay in zone 3/4 the rest of the time).

When I'm training (not social riding), I try not to stop too much and just keep going. As you say, this tends to help with stamina.

Just curious about resting really

[ewenm]

What are your targets? By which I mean what are you trying to achieve from your training? Extra stamina, extra speed, some of each?

You need to do specific work for each aspect of your targets. In terms of rest, in my training (endurance running but should be comparable to distance work on the bike) I do hard sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays and one weekend day. The other days are easier but still training and I usually have one rest day a week. There is an aspect of training to how you feel though - if you've put in a big block of training and are not recovering very well, then take a day or two off.

[Boomshanker]

I reckon it depends on age. I'm pushing 40 and need a couple of days off the bike / very gentle riding to recover. . . but then I am a bit of a girl.

God knows how I'll finish this.
http://www.cyclistsfc.org.uk/vatternrundan.html

http://www.justgiving.com/thebigcahuna

Edited by Boomshanker on Monday 27th April 20:21

[Ken Sington]

Your resting heart rate can be an indicator as o whether or not you are overdoing it. Measure it first thing in the morning before you get up and if it above where it is normally, then that is a good indicator you need to take it easy for a day or so.