The Rest Day Ride - Active Recovery
Posted March 6, 2009 – 12:33 pm in: Cycling
Cycling Phenom Jonas Carney discusses the importance of riding light, two days before the race
Seeing that it is Friday today, I thought I’d write about one of the most enjoyable aspects of training and one of the most IMPORTANT aspects about training and that is AR; Active Recovery. AR allows the body to flush out lactic acid and pump it through the heart while getting valuable blood flow to your muscles. This will help get rid of muscle soreness and fatigue.
I can hear Lenny talking to me on the phone right now, ” You have to make your hard days harder than you can ever imagine, and your easy days, easier than you can ever imagine.” That right there folks, is one of the best things that any coach or trainer can teach you about fitness training.
The Rest Day Ride
Polar Heart Monitors are the best
Here is the scenario, it’s Friday and you have to compete on Sunday. I am going to put this in Cycling terms right now, but the reality is, this can apply to most sports and athletes in general.
Seeing that you are racing two days from today. It is important to keep the heart rate LOW, and the resistance on the bike, very, very, light. High RPMs are important and the range that I like to attain is right around 90 - 100 rpms. If there is a hill, you will see by observing your heart rate monitors screen, that you have to go extremely slow, in order to keep it low. When I do a rest day ride, I generally am around 120 - 126 bpm. This can vary from individual to individual, you just need to learn how your heart works.
