One of the common problems that all driven athletes will have is that they want to go hard at working out all the time. However, you can’t always go all out. If you do there will eventually be a tipping point. I always say recovery is 50% of a good training program, and this is usually forgotten with driven athletes. I always view Saturdays as tune-up day, and a chance to build my aerobic base. These recovery workouts will help ensure that I will be able to go hard the next day, or for sure by Monday. By taking your foot off the gas pedal every so often, you can make sure that you have enough energy for the intensity of a hard workout.
I love using the bike for recovery because it is low impact, it flushes my muscles out, it eases my mental tension, and creates a demand for food. I can easily burn 1600 calories in less than 2 hours. I can watch a movie to help relieve the monotony that 2 hours can have. I am a movie fan, so so it makes sense to fulfill my movie passion while I recover. This also builds up my volume for aerobic capacity, which makes everything I do easier and for efficient.
You don’t have to do this on a bike inside. You can easily go outside and enjoy the spring weather. The entire point is to do cardio more than 90mins to tap into your endurance system. After 90mins hydration, body temperature, food, and other factors start to play a role. It is important to track your results using numbers and science, but don’t be a slave to them. I have meticulously tracked, logged, and tweaked my daily workouts for over 7 years. I studied patterns on everything that might affect my fitness. That being said, I have done so for a bigger goal of freeing myself from needing to do that. Learn why, how, and when you do things and you will be better off than most. Eventually, you don’t need the external measure, you will be able to go by feel. I am at that point, but I still am aware of my numbers.
