Recovery week - how about this?

Training
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I’m pretty new to TR and have been doing a bit of a hybrid plan with sustained build plan intervals during week and long outside ride/FTP work on Saturdays as the bulk of my training stress. So far, so good and I have been able to complete all the intervals without too much drama.

This week is my first scheduled recovery week and the TR plan is very different from what I’ve done in the past. The TR plan calls for 60-120’ endurance rides through the following sunday. Nothing I would consider a true recovery ride, but mostly just endurance pace.

I guess I don’t see the point of riding endurance all week if I’m trying to absorb the training stress of the prior 3 weeks. It seems it would slow recovery, but not enough stress to build fitness. Why wouldn’t it be better doing a few easy spins and jumping back into intensity/volume by the next weekend? What is a 90 minute endurance ride supposed to be achieving in the context of a recovery week?

For recovery weeks, I will typically do some cross training Sunday and do a few active recovery (~50%) m-F, but then back to some volume/intensity the following Saturday and I’m feeling rested and strong by then. What would be the downside of this compared to the endurance rides?

On a related note, what about doing a ramp test on Friday night at the end of a recovery week rather than burning a full session the following Tuesday?

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Even with the longer endurance rides, you are seeing a big reduction in TSS and overall stress for the recovery week.

Ex: Mid Vol Sus Pwr Bld

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  • The recovery week is about 59% of the TSS compared to the prior week. Note the huge difference in the type of workouts from one week to the next. All intensity is dropped. The emphasis is to reduce loading on the body in effort to allow it to absorb the stress from the prior 3 weeks.
  • All that said, you are free to adjust as needed based on prior experience. But it is important to recognize that you may not (and most likely will not) feel great during the recovery week. There are several threads discussing this and how it is natural to feel off during this recovery week.
  • See the “Week Description” for some clues on the reasons behind the schedule.
  • Nothing wrong with that, if you are fully recovered at that time.

Much of this is individual and you should adjust of you know that something different works better for you. If you haven’t tried the TR approach, I think it is worth your time to try it first and see what it does in your case.

Some existing discussion:

Edit to add more links:

8 Likes
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Thanks, some good info here.

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Thanks for the thread and reply by Chad as it is exactly what i’m asking myself now.

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