Cycling Better

You’ve heard this statement from every single training guru or coaching program out there. Rest days are extremely important! So why are we still not taking them correctly? This is a question I get quite a bit from people as I talk training. Why do I need to schedule a rest day? or I feel so good I want to just keep training, is that ok? The answers vary –

I believe we should schedule rest days into our training plans so we have something to look forward to – it helps me dig a little deeper on the day before a rest day knowing I have a full day to recover after that training day. it also makes me take stock of where I am in my training. Have I been working hard enough? Am I ready to amp up an area? Or, am I training with a blind spot? (you’re not sprinting in training ya big Oaf)

But can you keep going and not rest? Of course but be cautious, very cautious. As your ability to do more training grows you will want to challenge yourself and do more work – my suggestion though is to not miss a rest day. These are the days your body needs to be ready for the next set of training days. These are also the days that your mind needs. Instead, increase the workload on training days and allow the rest/recovery to happen. We all know the feeling of power that comes from a day off or even two days sometimes. Hold onto that imagine and feeling in your head when your mind is trying to convince your body to skip the rest day. You’ll be glad you did

Ride safe my friends