Originally Posted by jsirabella .
felt, As always a great post. I was never a big believer in active recovery or even the idea that it will help keep you better trained (i,e, an hour of L1/2 will allow your CTL not to drop too much as opposed to a day off). I have tried it this year and find it does work on the recovery but still not sure on the CTL though. My only issue though is the mental side. Honestly I believe it is good to just take a day or so off the bike. I do not want it to start to feel like a job. I have one of those already.
The only reason I do this active recovery is due to the impact of the leg training session. Otherwise I probably would be doing another day of L3/SST/L4 on Monday rather than the active recovery. So for the cycling purist I agree with you that I am not sure of the value for active recovery. You are also right if one has a big training load in cycling may do good to have a mental break from the activity. I rarely have an issue mentally with training. Mine is the opposite that I am too eager to get to the gym or the bike and I have to pull back because my body cannot sustain the load that my desire wants to put on it. Once in a blue moon have I experienced mental fatigue. I have trained in lifting for over 30 solid years now and I hate to take days off, but physically I have to schedule time off a couple times a year. Cycling is the same way. Mentally I cannot wait to train again. I am excited to think in a few hours I get to do intervals again. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
My post was a very specific hurdle that probably only applies to me on this thread. I may be the only one here that attempts to do both lifting and cycling training weekly and progressively. The post was just a note on how active recovery for the lifting session using cycling seems expedite my legs recovery from the stress load of the Monday morning weight training. The active recovery has nothing to do with my cycling training. The forces and trauma from my cycling stress load do not cause that sort of trauma to muscle tissue. Cycling causes me to be more fatigued than sore. Now based on what I have seen on Coggan's chart that L7 type training will cause similar symptoms to lifting and does require additional recovery time that may be applicable, but I rarely take my intensities above L4 for any sustained period of time.
I believe last night was another observation of how the Monday evening active recovery may have helped me again. Tuesday evening schedule is to do about 80 minutes containing at least 60 minutes of L4 as a goal.
Did I make the goal with my legs being extremely sore going into Monday evening from lifting? Did the Monday evening active recovery help?
Results from last night
Tuesday at 5:45 I started my warm up
10 minutes 80% FTP
20 minutes 91% FTP (goal 91%+)
5 minutes 60% FTP rest
20 minutes 87% FTP (was starting to fade at about 15 minutes) (goal 91%+)
15 minutes 85% and tapering to a cool down period
Previously without the Monday evening active training the muscular soreness from lifting I could not even get into 80% FTP much less hold it for any length of time and even though I did not break any records last night and was fading on the second 20 minute I was able to get in my cycling training as opposed to sitting on the couch Monday evening. My L4 intervals tonight and Thursday should actually improve now that recovery in my legs from lifting is still in progress but getting better by the hour. By Thursday I may actually be able to hit 95% FT on one or both of the 2x20's or at least that is how it seems to work out most of the time and what I try as a goal. I also throw in a few harder over (L5+) and under (L3) efforts in the 3rd 20 minute if my legs are feeling good enough.
So my post is really specific to me attempting different things over the past few years juggling between lifting and cycling and finding something that will help me avoid miss cycling training days due to the muscular soreness in my legs. This is why I have also boldly stood on the side of those like ric stern and fergie that lifting is of no benefit to the competitive cyclist and is rather damaging to increasing the cycling training load. In my case I am a recreational cyclist and now (post competitive) a recreational lifter as well. Even though I have found this avenue to help me get a bit closer to increasing my cycling training load I am way short of the training load of a competitive cyclist. If I were planning to be a competitive cyclist I would no doubt drop lifting and increase the training load in cycling.
It may seem at times based on my posts that I am chasing numbers like CTL, but I look at CTL and the other metrics as simply a byproduct of consistent training and it is easier for me to relate to you guys my CTL so that you can kind of get a picture of how much training load I have, but it also leaves out a whole lot of details. One thing I do love about all of this and especially with me being self classified as recreational I get to experiment with different things. When I was competitive in lifting and bodybuilding I did not have that luxury and had to play as close to the
book of training specificity in order to win. Now I get to have fun playing and experimenting with diet and training without risk of sabotaging a competition type training. I enjoy seeing if I can work this puzzle out trying to juggle the two forms of training. Right now at this point I am absolutely convinced that is impossible to be progressive/successful in both. Actually cycling training is winning the battle of the two. My strength has slowly decreased and my sustainable power output has increased over the last few years.
Friday is my scheduled day off for cycling and I actually take that day off. Saturday and Sunday are my scheduled days off from lifting. The other days have an overlap of both activities.
I hope all that makes sense. I was afraid my post about active recovery may cause some confusion as if I am suggesting it for other cyclists. I only do it myself to help recover from lifting.
