Rest days?

[K9 Block]

So I have had a quick look to see if this has a thread already but with my limited time I couldn't see one.

I am in something of a pickle.

I am butting heads with several family members and friends about my reluctance, read refusal, to take rest days.

Are they REALLY necessary? Can anyone explain to me how doing nothing can make anyone fitter or how training every day can be a problem?

I ride somewhere between 80 and 105 miles every week. I ride every single day and if the weather is truly vile I cycle indoors. This head butting started at Christmas when I chose to go for a ride on Christmas morning. I was out for just over an hour and you'd think I'd stayed away all day!

As I teach I tend to ride the higher figure in the school holidays and the lower one during term time and I am rarely out for longer than 70 minutes at a time.

Thanks for your time and help. I've done a lot of research which all points to rest days as being desirable but asking real cyclists has to be a better plan.

 

[Peter Armstrong]

If you plod along every day at the same effort and do not push past your comfort zone you just will Plato at that fitness level and not improve I see no need to rest. If you’re training and need to improve then training and recovering is paramount. They go hand in hand.

 

[K9 Block]

I am training.
I want to improve.
I don't understand how resting will help. Surely the more I do the better/faster I will get?

 

[VamP]

If you're not feeling fatigued, then you don't need to rest. It's that simple.

Recovery days are only really necessary if you are increasing training load in a significant manner, which is what is required to force training adaptations. Even then, rest days actually needed are few.

However, I would say that if you are not feeling fatigued cycling every day, then your intensity is much too low to see any serious adaptations take place. Increase the intensity of some of your rides, and the occasional rest day will suddenly make sense to you.

 

[cosmicbike]

Your muscles gain strength, and more importantly, repair whilst resting. As @Peter Armstrong staes, if you just ride steady all the time no need for rest, but if you are seriously looking to train it is vital to do so, it allows the minute tears in the muscles to repair..

 

[K9 Block]

How long for? One day a week?
My legs do ache almost constantly but I've been pushing on in order to get better/faster and lose the couple of pounds I gained over Christmas

 

[Dusty Bin]

Nobody here can tell you how much rest you need. If you want to ride every day, then crack on. 'Training' implies a structured programme of riding designed to bring about specific improvements. What you call training is, I suspect, just riding.

 

[K9 Block]

Possibly but I am looking to increase speed and lose weight. Still stuck then. Never mind.

 

[Peter Armstrong]

If your legs are a bit sore then throw in a rest day, it can only help. My best performances come when I’ve had a few days off after a lot of hard training.

 

[Dusty Bin]

Possibly but I am looking to increase speed and lose weight. Still stuck then. Never mind.

Increase speed by over-extending yourself for short periods (aka interval training) - lose weight by controlling your diet. Most 'training' programmes involve periods of riding beyond your current capabilities - once you start doing that I suspect the need for rest will become more apparent.

 

[K9 Block]

My doctor is a bit useless to be honest, but yes I am still seeing him for WP.

 

[cosmicbike]

Your GP will be little help, they have so many different ailments etc to look at/know about that 'Do I need a rest day for this bike riding lark' will not be an area they will focus on.
Get yourself a physiotherapist, define exactly what you are trying to achieve and develop a structured training plan to suit. It WILL include rest days.

 

[K9 Block]

Seems they are advocated by most :-/

 

[gbb]

Its a very difficult thing to guage K9, we all have our opinions and interpretations of what is correct.
80 to 100 miles a week, a fair amount but not that much to leave your legs tired all the time.
How long have you been cycling those kind of distances ? If its only been a while, you're doing well, but maybe expecting a little too much too soon. Keep at it, the stamina just grows with time anyway.
Are you grinding away, pedalling slow'ish but putting a lot of effort through the pedals...or are you spinning, pedalling fast.
At first, spinning seems counter productive, but it takes a lot of pressure off the knees and muscles. After a couple weeks, maybe a month, you'll find you can cruise just as fast spinning but won't stress your knees, legs half as much.
Resting ?...as an indicator, if i'd had perhaps a few days off the bike, i'd absolutely fly the first day back.

A rest is good, even if its just one day off the bike a week, it lets you repair.

There are no magical answers...you have to work hard to improve, and the harder you work, the more you're likely to need to rest occasionally

 

[ianrauk]

Your own body will tell you when you need a rest.
Crack on with your cycling.