THE POWER OF PROPER REST

I've danced around the topic of rest in several blogs... but I think it's time to pull out the big guns, cause subtlety doesn't seem to be working...

Last week, 2 separate things pinged my radar screen that suggested this should be a blog topic:

#1. Maybe Riders don't take a rest week because they don't know how... aka... they are afraid to take a week off... AKA... THEY DON'T WANT TO RUIN THE FITNESS THEY HAVE BEEN FIGHTING ALL SEASON FOR!!! 

OK... I totally get it.  Been there...  Know all about it...  Down wit dat... We'll talk about that in a bit...

#2. How much sleep are you getting??????   Hey!!!!   I'm not being nosy!!!!   It's an important question!! Important muscle repair type crap takes place when you're sleeping!   We'll talk about that too...

But first... I gotta give credit to the 2 separate things that pinged my radar screen:

PING #1

Many of you may not know... “ The Ride Bully”...

He's a Expert Mountain Bike Racer, who's turned into a fairly decent roadie (slang for road rider). “The Ride Bully”... is a very fitting nickname for “whats-his-name”... because, when he's feeling good... he's "one" of the miserable bastards in the pack, who takes great  pleasure in making everyone in the group SUFFER!!!!

I both love and hate it when he's on the ride.  

Love it, cause he keeps the ride fast and interesting... 
Hate it... cause when he's around, sometimes I'm flapping off the back like a broken sail and I hate it, when I'm a broken sail!!!

Last week, in honor of the longest Tuesday of the year... we did a Metric Century. … 62 Miles. It was a glorious night for it and the Ride Bully showed up for it!!!

So... off we go.  We're riding along and the next thing I know... we were dropping the Ride Bully, at first I think he's messing with us, but then it happens again... Finally... I ask...

Hey!  What the hell is wrong with you!!!!!  

To my shock...

THE RIDE BULLY ADMITTED HE WAS TIRED!!!!

Wow, everyone around seemed as surprised to hear those words as I was... Andy Gould actually stopped pedaling his bike for a second, to make sure he actually understood what was said.    

This is what we discovered during the ride... 2 BIG REASONS behind his fatigue....

#1. He did some early morning sneak training ... not a good idea.  He had the bright idea of cramming in a 35 miler, thinking it wouldn't have a huge impact. RIGHT!!!! It totally kicked his butt and came back to haunt him by mile 20 that night.

No one is invincible...regardless of your age... your body simply can't recover that quickly.  Even if we went for our usual 40 mile ride... at the speeds we travel (in excess of 23 mph on the flats) and we hammer on the climbs, there is no way in hell you can “sneak” in a ride in the morning and then do a “A” level ride in the evening.

#2. I believe Andy actually asked the question of  “The Ride Bully” when was the last time he took a rest week and his answer shocked the hell out of everyone... his answer was “never!”... WHAT?????? Yup... I never take a week off my bike...

Q - Dude!!! How do you ever expect to get better, if you don't take some time off to recover!? 

A - I don't need a break, I just need to get stronger! 

Uhhh.... Ain't Gonna happen.  The only thing that's gonna happen is the Ride Bully will get stale, go flat... and eventually totally flame out...

  

The second radar ping was from Pig Pit...  


 

PING  #2


The Pit is an avid reader... and doubles as a human sponge, soaking up as much data as possible...

  








He shared an article with me that Hammer Nutrition had just released about the importance of sleep and it's impact on recovery and the resulting boost to our immune system. 


So... Let's get down to brass tacks...

#1.  The power of "rest weeks" and exactly what is it???

One critical training principle is that of overload and recovery. For a system to grow stronger, it must be stressed and then allowed time to rebuild. This is the reason for recovery periods between hard efforts during interval workouts or during a building period when we are working towards a specific goal.  

How often should we take a rest week??? Typically every 4 or 5 weeks... depending on how hard the training is during each training cycle.  


If your training cycle is building in intensity... you will need the rest week by week 5...

 A rest week, doesn't mean getting off your bike and laying around on the couch.  That would cause your system to go into total shut down and that would be BAD!!!!  You want your system to recover... not go to sleep.   

Here's what a rest week looks like. This is a copy of my actual rest week... And brother do I need it, my legs are cooked after this past training cycle...


 

WEEK 16 July 1 -7 REST WEEK	EASY	LIGHT	MIDDLE	HIGH	MAX
MONDAY EASY/OFF	30 MIN
TUESDAY SPRINTS	40 MIN
WEDNESDAY	40 MIN				3 sprints
THURSDAY EASY/OFF	50 MIN	1 x 10 MIN
FRIDAY SPRINTS	30 MIN
SATURDAY	30 MIN	1 x 10 MIN			5 sprints
SUNDAY ENDURANCE	50 MIN	25 MIN		1 x 4 MIN

 

This will let my system rest and repair itself, without losing fitness.  

Note that halfway through the rest week I will "ping" my system with 10 minutes of  moderate effort.  Believe me... I will feel like absolute CRAP during that 10 minutes!!!  Why... my body will fight back... it likes the rest and won't like going back to work.  The 10 minutes of work is simply a reminder to my system that it can't go into hibernation.  But... once I am into the 10 minutes, I will have to fight the urge to NOT DO ANY MORE THAN 10 minutes... WHY???? because I will start to feel really good after the 10 minutes and I'll want to keep going... but that's not the point!  My job this week is to rest!   It's all about recovery, so after the 10 minutes of work... I'm going to turn around and slowly noodle home... I'm done for the day!!!   It's all about recovery.


What happens after you rest???  


Well... you get stronger!!  And guess what, you then move up to the next level in the fitness food chain... and that Sports Fans... is how you GET FASTER... That's how you beat your competitors !!!

#2.  The power of sleep on your performance;

Several studies have been conducted around sleep and it's impact on training and racing.  In addition to the fact that the majority of muscle/tissue recovery and the boost to the immune system functions take place while we sleep...  Researchers found that athletes constently getting on average of 10 hours of sleep per night... improved in different aspects of performance (sprint times improved, start times out of the blocks improved, kick strokes improved... etc.)

Now... I don't know about you, but I would sell my kidney for 10 hours of regular sleep a night!!!

But... here's another way to skin the sleep cat ...

Prior to a big event... Especially in the weeks leading up to the race or the "event" 

Make it part of you training plan... to get plenty of sleep.  Take a 2 hour nap after a big work-out...

If you are a restless sleeper.. Hammer Nutrition REM Caps are a powerful yet safe sleep aid, that can help improve quality and length of sleep. 

So, rest up... Get strong and go kick some ass!
    

Have fun out there, Ride Safe

I'll Talk with you all soon

The Peanut Gallery