Days off and recovery - or lack of?

I've been reading this forum for a while now and have been very impressed with the quality of the discussions and the incredible knowledge of some posters. Although I have already asked this question in another BB, I will therefore give it a try here.

First, who am I? I'm a 19 y.o. female who has been riding regularly for about 8 months. Right now in the middle of our Canadian winter I ride strictly on the rollers, about 10hours/week. I have been on such a "program" for about a month. In fact, up to november, I strictly rode on the roads without much thought about training. From mid november to the beginning of january I trained very loosely on the rollers and jogged quite a bit. (I stopped jogging because I can't stand it. ) My goal is to start racing this spring. So here goes the problem. Whenever I get back to training after days off (1 or 2) I find myself much less performant on the bike. It doesn't last long, most of the time a day or two, before I get back to my usual self, but i still find it intriguing. My thought is that days off should help the body recover and get stronger therefore improving performances when fully rested. This is not my case.

An example. I weekly do 2x20 intervals at about 320 watts. Heart rate avg of 185. Today, after two days off, I did 30 min on the bike (it's really all I could take) at 170 watts! Heart rate? 175! It was not the same intensity as my 2x20s but it definately felt like a good hard tempo ride. HR matched the effort perception except that for such an intensity I usually have a much higher power output.

I am not too concerned with this though because I know I will get back to normal. But I am really intruiged as to why such a phenomenon.

I must add, because it had been addressed on the other BB, that I am most certain that I don't overtrain. I can track and feel progress weekly in my indurance capacities and power output at different intensities. I also feel very good and have much energy for the rest of my daily activities.

Any input will be greatly appreciated!

Just to make sure I'm reading you correctly, your workouts on back-to-back days are fine and it's only after a rest day that you have difficulty. Is that right?

frenchyge: " Just to make sure I'm reading you correctly, your workouts on back-to-back days are fine and it's only after a rest day that you have difficulty. Is that right?"

Yes, precisely.

A few things. Remember that you do need recovery days so your body can respond to your previous training by improving itself, and you need to give it time to do that.

Since you're young and maybe not training real hard (yet!) you may not really need many days completely off the bike because your recovery is so rapid. I know some good junior riders who are this way.

Instead of not riding at all try doing (on your rollers) 10-15 minutes easy, then one progression from about 60 watts below your threshold just up to your threshold over the course of about 4 minutes, then maybe 3 little sprints 10-12 seconds long with 3-4' rest between, and finish with 5-10 minutes easy.

If you do have a day off, then try something like the above workout on the first day back, and then do some hard training on the second day back. I think of these rides as kind of a transition from hard training to the rest day, and then transition from the rest day to a good training day. Look around online for information about "active recovery" and it's benefits.

At your age, I think 3, maybe 4 hard(ish) days each week is plenty for now.

10 hours a week on rollers? If you keep that up you'll go insane.
XC skiing?

My first ride after 1-2 rest days is not typically my best effort of the week either, although not nearly as drastic as what you mentioned. Even if I'm there mentally, my body just doesn't seem to respond as well. Similar to what WarrenG suggested, I'd recommend taking an extra-long warm-up and maybe some tempo-time before starting into any hard intervals on that first day back. You also might consider some light spinning on your rest days rather than taking the days completely off.

As far as *why* this might be happening, I really can't say. Diet, rest, daily routine, etc. can all effect performance to some degree, but again, not nearly as drastic as what you seem to be experiencing.

I am experiencing a lot of benefit from recovery rides after hard days. I looked up google and it seems there is scientific evidence to prove it...

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/t...verecovery.htm

I will try recovery rides instead of days off... although I do feel that I need days off, if not physically then at least mentally! Thanks WG for the workout suggestion. But does anyone have an answer as to why this happens?

Active recovery almost always produces better results than laying on the couch, but that could be a hike or long walk too. I am too lazy to look up the physiological details if they are even known but the principle behind it is as a result of the long evolutionary process bodies are inherently "lazy" and try to economize wherever possible. Training adaptations are unavoidably resource intensive and stopping the stimulus of training would naturally be expected to cause the body to shout hallelujah and shut it down as soon as it could detect it was no longer needed. Active recovery keeps that from happening.

If you get that blocked feeling from taking a day or two off the best thing is a good long warm up and then a few all out efforts to blow the cobwebs out. It will feel like hell but afterward things should be more normal.

My favorite quote in this regard was Andy Hampsten saying in an interview that he was trying to take it easy on the flat days leading up to the mountains in the Tour but not so easy he got blocked up (from lack of hard efforts). So the levels are all relative, and the fact that you are getting so severely blocked is probably a very good sign for your stage race abilities. :-)