How To Master A Recovery Ride
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- Опубліковано 10 січ 2025
- Dan and Si explain what a recovery ride is and what the benefits are of this enjoyable and simple activity!
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Do you include recovery rides as part of your training? Let us know in the comments 👇
Ex-Professional Cyclists Dan and Si sit down over a coffee and cake to talk about recovery rides and what really is the purpose of them.
There are a number of benefits shown to come from recovery rides including
Improved Cognitive Function
Improved Resistance To Muscle Tissue Damage
Increased Fat Metabolism
When should you do them?
Good weather
After hard training
If you are able to ride very easily
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Leave us a comment below!
It looks like al my rides are recovery rides
Victor Bonnast your cognitive functions must be through the roof!
Ya beat me to it...
Nice one ;)
hahahahaha made me laygh man, good one
Ha ha! 👍
I called it a recovery ride when I am getting dropped by my mates
Agreed, I feel I gain fitness gains from a good half hour spin a day after a high zone ride. Even if your not racing. One hard ride a week recovery ride and some intervals, one will see progress over time. love the coffee!
Just started incorporating these into my racing training! Great 😁
Having been suffering from quite possibly the deadest legs I
have ever had recently. I have been doing a lot of homework online to find out
how to beat the DOMs and fatigue. Unfortunately there appears to be no agreed upon
ideologies, regarding recovery rides, foam rollers, stretching, massaging,
supplements etc. No one appears to agree with anyone else which I believe you
alluded to, so as with all things in life, everything has Pros and Cons.
Whilst I agree with some of your points i.e. increased blood flow removing waste
products etc. An interesting point I stumbled across which seemed to ring true
is that when you do any form of exercise you raise your metabolic rate, this
readies the body to release energy resources in order to facilitate the
activity. Be that breaking down food/glycogen/fat etc, even muscle in extreme
circumstances. So during a recovery ride and for some time after, your body cannot rebuild muscles and recover from
the previous training/vigorous activity. The piece I found stated that even
moderate exercise suspends muscle protein synthesis, which of course is the
last thing you want from a supposed rest. This makes sense by my reasoning,
when does your body to the majority of its repair and rebuilding? When you are
asleep, and when is your metabolism at its lowest? Yes, when you are asleep! So
in short, you cannot substitute rest days for active recovery. As much as it
hurts to not be out, especially this week with the amazing weather, I have come
to the conclusion that you do need complete days off the bike.
I am no biologist or sports scientist, so welcome anyone’s
input on the matter. What I have written above is my summary of my recent
findings based solely on others’ views/studies. Bottom line though, recovery rides
are not a holy grail, in my opinion.
I'm a biochemist. That sounds sensible, but I haven't thought hard about it.
Can you share some of your sources please?
4:15 Si... I must refer you to rule #24 "All of cycling’s monuments are measured in the metric system and as such the English system is forbidden." Thus junk miles is to be referred to as junk kilometers. #SIunits #nopunintended
After a few intervals and high output ride, I look forward to recovery rides!
Way I see it, there are two main benefits to recovery rides:
- It's a way for you to get on the bike when you need to rest
- It's a pleasant way of doing your stretching.
You pretty much do a very long warmup session, get some fresh air and improve your day quality significantly.
I am a FAN, a subscriber and watch almost every video. Matt, Dan, Tom, and Simon are four of my favorite people who I don't actually know. However, Re: Simon's comments at 4:08, perhaps I misunderstood , but . . . . what the hell are "junk miles" which are of "no benefit whatsoever?" I'm 66 yo and average 200 miles/wk. I ride hard sometimes and easy sometimes. To me, every mile is of benefit and definitely not junk! By the way, on recovery days I sit on the couch and watch GCN!
Just caught up with this. Answered all my questions... Thanks, Dan and GCN.
Oh man, this is what i´ve been waiting for! Thanks guys!
I always take a cup of coffee before bike ride, It always made my day complete
Have tried this but I struggle with recovery rides. I always end up pushing the pace up, just can't help myself. It definitely takes a toll after a few days. Spinning out for an hour would help reset the body.
TurneyUK I recommend leaving your computer/gps at home, just use your watch or take a route of no more than 16 miles, that's what I do...
but when I leave my powermeter/computer at home, I do more than 50% of my FTP for sure...
Also if you're on busier roads, I find myself automatically speeding up just to feel a bit safer with the traffic.
I am pretty fortunate, I have a good variety of roads to pick from. When I just need an easy spin I can go right from my house on some back country roads. I have ridden and had maybe two cars pass me in 16 miles
TurneyUK try bridle paths. Even on a carbon road bike they are fine if it's not muddy. Give you a nice relaxed atmosphere and even doing a bit if sliding here and there for fun!
definitely a fan of recovery rides. a refreshing mental break, too!
Junk miles can also just equal time enjoying riding a bike. I tend to always go too hard whenever I go out but I am trying to spend some time just enjoying riding as well as pushing it hard from a mental health standpoint. A couple easier rides that are actually geared more around enjoying yourself as opposed to increasing FTP/VO2 Max/any other measurement can set you up to get stronger by virtue of giving you motivation to want to ride your bike more. Sometimes junk miles are the best decision.
Hearing the term "junk miles" makes me want to reach for the proverbial remote. True, some moments on the bike may not be beneficial in terms of improving FTP or other things, but who says the need to be? Minutes/hours spent while spinning and enjoying the scenery are definitely not "junk miles", even if doing HIIT would be way better for improving one's fitness.
So, if all my rides are 'recovery rides' what do I do to recover from them?
David Starr mineral water
David Starr drink a barley pop
6 to 8 mineral waters.
A recovery recovery ride
Watch tv
GREAT VIDEO GUYS! LOVE YA CONTENT!
Watch out for "the Zwift effect" on a recovery ride. Some of my best sprint times have been on Watopia flat on recovery day when I'd see that the green jersey was within my abilities. I've gotten to the point where I won't even do routes that include a sprint segment in game just to avoid the temptation. So no Richmond, Box Hill with resistance turned off and Volcano CCW are my routes of choice :p
Any tips for using recovery rides to increase VOpooMax? Asking for a friend...
There is no such thing as “junk” miles when riding a bicycle. Even easy cycling is good for your heart and soul 🙏
Being both a runner and a biker, well, a sort of triathlete, recovery days do help.
Usually when the weather is beautiful and I feel I've gone hard days before is when I do the recovery rides.
I've been recovering since I started cycling
As a triathlete 🤣, I find a recovery ride is great at zone one / two power , really helps the legs after long run day, 😊
Hey guys, any tips for people who's just recovered from a broken collarbone and wants to get back to cycling asap? Thanks!
I am exercising recovery rides also before the hard ones...
Can you make a video, how to ride the day(s) before a race or is there already a video on your channel about it ?
We need an updated version :)
Recovery rides are difficult. I live near the coast, which is flat and ideal for recovery rides, but this unfortunately makes it very popular with triathletes. The first chubby triguy flies by me on a TT bike, pedaling as if afflicted with Parkinson's of the legs, and I shrug. Then a few minutes later, another one gives me the Armstrong "look" as he wobbles by on deepdish carbon rims and the latest superbike, and I nod and smile. But then it happens a third time and I wake up on my kitchen floor, exhausted, legs spasming, and the taste of blood in my mouth.
Since I ride to live, all my rides are recovery rides!!!Recovery rides=sanity
If I drive below 60% of my HRTP, I fall over, because I can't keep my balance when going below walking speed ...
With the evidence of the "benefit" of recovery rides being so thin to begin with, how doing it improperly be "junk miles of no benefit and are only negative"? If I enjoy every moment on my bike, who cares if I'm doing it "properly". I have never ridden a junk mile in my life.
I think the video is aimed towards competitive cyclists, but for the rest of us no wasted miles, all are good
Franklin Schwartz
The whole concept of recovery rides is only relevant if you are training to improve your cycling fitness. Obviously, if performance is not important to you then you don't need to worry about training methods.
I just wrote something similar. Fully agreed.
#torqueback would a short (around 7kms) ride up a hill be considered a "recovery ride" as long as efforts stay low? since ideal bike routes here in my country are usually made up of hills.
It will increase your heart rate, that's bad
*taps finger on head* you can't have a recovery ride if every ride is easy
hi guys. When would it be sensible to replace a session with a recovery ride. I train well, and often have fridays off the bike completely. However, I struggle to know the difference when Im tired or 'over' tired.... obviously being fatigued is part of trying to improve.... Its hard to know when to suck up the fatigue and do a planned Z2 ride or back off and just do active recovery. Cheers
Super Junk, I have a power meter + Golden Cheetah and read about training with Friel and Coggan. So I do monitor ATL, CTL and other metrics. But still cant find any advice on when is a good time to rest, even when the programme says train.
junk miles are all I ride. You can do what you like.
just about to head out for a recovery ride
FTP- functional threshold power
HRTP- heart rate threshold power? Is that correct, or did they mean FTHR- functional threshold heart rate?
On the last day of being sick when you are mostly back to normal but are not quite ready to get back to riding hard until the next day should you do a short easy recovery ride or just stay home another day?
@GCN what about the cooling down you see now, especially in the grand tours? is that recovery or something else?
I find it odd that you guys so often are wearing long sleeves and tights, but NOT gloves! My hands are always the first thing to get cold.
Temperature is a fact, warm/cold is rather subjective... But a better argument: ALWAYS wear gloves - there are many kinds of gloves to give you the right temperature feeling - just to avoid abrasion wounds when falling !!
@@pureeschaap exactly. Gloves always, even in the summer. I saw a guy on the bike path with skin hanging off his hand after wiping out at 25mph.
When to do a recovery ride? 4, 8, 12, 24 hours after a hard effort?
I went out on a Recovery ride the other day and didn't stop for coffee. Guilty? Not Guilty?
get out
How can 'increased resistance to muscle damage' be a good thing, if breaking down muscle and rebuilding it, but better, is the essence of training?
ProTip: Done a hard weekend ride? Use your commute as a recovery ride! You can even take that coffee & cake with you for when you arrive at work :)
I do my recovery rides at an effort level of between 1-2 out of 2
The weather makes the recovery ride more benifitical? The rain stops recovery? ;)
Don't know if it was mentioned here but, how long after my main ride should I do this recovery ride. Is it 24hrs after, skip a day or 2?
Staying below 50% FTP is hard, but my body needs it. I need the 'flush' that spinning gives post-abuse.
1:57 ist that where the waste products flush out... Seriously this sounds like a FART!
Velofil I know. Right?
We've been together long enough not to care about farts.Now, let's get recovered
I'd pretty much need 0% gradient the entire ride for this to be achieved. I've actually considered driving my bike to the bottom of the hill I live on so that every recovery ride doesn't end with my laboring up a slope. Seems so lame to do that, but I probably should.
On my bike, I can't go "easy", I just can't. I even struggle going easy during the warm up... xD
Put power meter on. Will stop you from doing stupid things :D
On your Wal-Mart Magma mountain bike?
I usually get pressurised by a car if i do any in town riding
Interesting. Another IL-6 wild goose chase! A survey of the scientific literature shows IL-6 to be involved in every process. While the may have a sensitive biomarker for need for physical recovery it is not specific to any underlying disease or exercise modality.
It's not the first video when GCN (and Si especially) using all their skills in British version of English language to diverge from the must to know term: Polarized Training.
Would I cause myself any harm if I did a recovery ride in the morning and then in the evening? (Each 45 minutes long). I am trying to loose some weight so I thought it would be a good opportunity to improve not only my fitness levels after a heavy interval training from the day before but also to burn some extra calories...
I am aware that the recovery ride shouldn't be longer than 45-60 min so I am just wondering if having that gap of let's say 10 hours between each of those recovery rides be enough?
Thanks to anyone for taking the time to respond.
Use termal jacket & ride in zone 2 of hearth rate & cadence >85-100rpm.
Junk miles? Not heard of this before. Surely any riding is likely to have a positive impact right? Unless you're hindering recovery.
Every direction from my home is downhill, that means hard uphill on the way back. Not a recovery ride after that...
Less than 60% of HRTP..? What's that? Do you mean FTHR? Dan mentions maximum heart rate though.
The earliest I've ever been on GCN. 1 minute ago.
The Dan so
The Dan same
The Dan same
I'm a purist, recovery rides all the way!
Is fasted training the same as a recovery ride?
No. And there are two ways to ride fasted. 1. A normal Carb heavy diet - ie. training before breakfast perhaps with an expresso or two.
2. The other option is a long term Ketogenic eating method, where you train fat adapted - and fasted rides there will definitely be "in a state of glycogen depletion" as per the book Dan quoted, in either but fat as fuel only occurs under a number of metabolic markers. Very low insulin being one of them.
I take umberance at "junk miles", any mile on a bike is a good mile.
Coffee & cake Si, full house.
Right In, Early Doors
Is there really such a thing as junk miles? I can believe that overtraining can cause problems, but Si suggests that miles too intense to be recovery but not hard enough to be training are wasted.
I got attacked by a dog from the farm you road past earlier this year (near the start of the video)had to throw my water bottle at it to get it away from me ( maybe a nice GCN red one would be a nice replacement, or be brave enough to have a look for mine next time your filming up there ) luckily he/ she only bit my overshoes, although it still took me a while to recover from that !
Mendip farm dogs = dangerous beings
Do I spy 454 NSW's on Si's Aeroad??
I suck at recovery rides. I always end up going way too fast...
hello friends! i have a problem i live in a super mega stiff climb XD how can i do a recovery ride in here ?
hi from chile!
I'll have a recovery ride
so your saying if i ride glycogen depleted im going to get fitter...... WTF
It's not junk miles if it's enjoyable!
CAKE, fuck yes.
I appreciate that Si has his own style, but I struggle with the cap under the aero helmet. I think GCN either need to take it to the wind tunnel or ask "Hot or Not?" Looks warm but not cool---discuss.
In the break of long cycle ride can we have coffee with sugar and bread butter
Don't talk with your mouth filled with cake 🍰. Cake crumbs are flying out your mouth XD
Hi GCN! I like to go for a run in the morning and an easy ride in the afternoon/evening. Would that be a recovery ride?
Im just asking if ya boys want some a bit of tea later
Every km count. No such thing as junk km
Junk kms are those that bring you to performance plateau and even drag you down in decline from it. And "km"s don't count that much anymore as they used to be by old schoolers.
Guoenyi not if you enjoy them... but for your fitness and your speed on the bike!
Guoenyi
Not all kilometres improve your performance, many don't at all
@@lisapet160 I suppose if you're just puttering around it's enjoyable but you won't be pushing yourself hard enough to improve power or anything. I remember lapping a lake at 12 mph with a friend. It didn't very me fitter but was just a bit of fun. I still don't know how he managed to crash into the back of a parked car and break the light.
Why is Matt on the thumbnail but not on the video itself?
Si, you messed up a bit mate. You are supposed be in a depleted state as by Dan, but you were having cake......Enjoy
Question boys.....Are any miles spent on a bike " junk " miles???
Hey Ceye your bulding is quite funny, but I must comment your last comment. Your junk miles may be just to enjoy the sport, hm ? Or if you just cycle for sake of cycling is not good enough?
There are no negative miles...
You missed one point. Recovery rides must be done on a Sabbath bicycle.
I don't drink coffee or tea. I have no chance.
Every ride with Dan is recovery ride+ Si why don't u use fork
So does Matt just pose for thumbnails and not appear in videos now?
I use road cycling pretty much for recovery from mtn biking
Clean up on aisle 6 😂
my goodness these guys are so top level pro
aero trim
There is scientific proof. Team Sky does them. Thats enough.
Si's lookin a bit rough in the thumbnail there.
And now... everybody...: click on your globe ;)
hi
Wrong presenter on the video thumbnail... Why no love for the GMBN XC guy?