Continuing the discussion from Rest and Recovery week?:
I know this has been discussed but I’m still confused?
Rest week.
Taper week.
Recovery week.
Are these terms interchangeable??
Rest week = time off the bike entirely
Recovery week = all low intensity work with an aim toward full adaptation from the prior weeks stress
Taper week = lower volume (less time) to gain freshness, but still high intensity (and workout frequency) to allow some recovery while maintaining enough hard work to not lose fitness.
Also, have you listened to last weeks podcast that covers this?
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They’re not, but people sometimes use rest and recovery interchangably.
Chad’s explanation is good and the podcast episode is helpful for this.
If you look at the end of a 6-week Sweet Spot Base block or either of the 4-week blocks in an 8-week Build plan, you’ll see a recovery week. It has similar volume to the other weeks, but less intensity.
If you look at the very end of a Specialty plan, you’ll see a 2-week taper: the intensity stays the same but the volume goes down.
In most cases they’re really recognizable. A recovery week is a week of nothing but flat, low-power rides, instead of the exciting mess of intervals that has been making you question your life choices. A taper is a sequence of weeks that usually has the exact same workouts for 3 weeks, but minus versions of them on later weeks.
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Chad’s explanation is perfect
I would add
Taper week = lower volume (less time) to gain freshness, but still higher intensity and frequency to allow some recovery while maintaining enough hard work to not lose fitness.
So same number of WO and same intensity but for 50-75% of time
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Thanks for all the replies.
I know that this topic has been covered plenty, but these responses are the clearest yet 
