I do 2-3 hours of riding twice a week, pushing pretty hard , but it takes me 2-4 days to recover from a ride. I would like to add a swim and a run/football in, but in order to do this I need to recover faster.
Would recovery drinks work? or do I just need to ease off during my rides so I don’t wear myself out so much. Or are gentle recover rides the answer, if so how long do these need to be.
Or maybe I just need to drop the post ride beer/s 🙂

Just add the swim and run in, you’ll soon get used to it and recovery quicker IMO.

Stretching, replacing fluids, carbs, protein, etc. all help. Sleep is key. Alcohol is bad obviously.

You do tend to find that as your body gets used to the exercise it will recover quicker, make sure you’re fuelling right including some electrolytes and as above, the beer will most likely not be helping.

You tend to recover better the fitter you get so start to build up the excercise. To start with you could drop the intensity of the cycling to allow you to fit the other activities in.

Recovery is vital though. You can push it for a while but eventually your body will crack so don’t just push on regardless.

I am very sceptical about recovery drinks (and electrolytic drinks). Check out the ingredients on some then go and compare it to some milk and decide how you want to spend your money. A healthy balanced diet is probably sufficient.

I have found recovery rides to help. Normally this is just me cycling into work but after some big rides a very gentle spin the next day is helpful in the long run – normally about 30min to 60min mostly easy but enough to get the blood pumping. Stretching is good. I’ve got a massage stick which I find genuinely helps.

Try and warm-down a bit at the end of your ride, protein shake straight after can speed up recovery if you’re doing high-intensity stuff. Foam roller and sleeping in compression tights might help you to. Swim could be useful for recovery unless you’re planning to do a hard training session rather than relaxed swim.

To add to what they are saying – make sure you have the right nutrition before and during rides as well.

Ice bath (sit in an empty bath and run the cold til it covers your legs and stay put for 10mins) foam roll and stretch.
Get enough sleep and eat well.

Guess I also need to think about improving the sleep/beer aspects, but diet is generally pretty good.

Will add in the swim to start, trying a recovery drink after the previous ride.

Thanks all

I do 2-3 hours of riding twice a week

is that all the riding you do? week in week out?

I’d say it sounds like too much hard work – no base to build on. If you take one ride in 3 (or similar) much easier then you’ll probably see an improvement.

I’d say good pre-workout and post workout nutrition. Cant underestimate the importance of preworkout nutrition for recovery. The bodybuilding gainer shakes have glutamine and carbs as well as protein so as part of a calorie controlled diet can be good for recovery, especially if you dont have access to a meal for a little while. Like when you have drive a long way to your training area. A warm down and stretching afterwards. I find that just before bed on the same day as training, a spin on an exercise bike and a further stretch followed by a small meal (carbs 60% protein 20, unsturated fats 20) to repair you through the night when all the growth hormone is released does it for me. I feel much less stiff when I wake up then

There was a program on telly a while ago where they compared one rugby team with another. One used energy recovery drinks, one drank milk.

After a short while, I seem to recall it was one or two weeks, the milk team felt the greater benefit.

So, dont waste money on sports drinks, just drink milk very soon after your ride.

Clever powerfull marketing is quite persuasive, but unsurprisingly you dont need it.

Varying your riding style can help too, e.g. Tue = normal pace (or zone 2 etc), Fri = throw in some intervals. IME if you keep doing the same things you’ll get the same results.

Intervals (when more fit I tend to sprint up lots of shorter climbs) can make a big different to your fitness, which in turns encourages your body to acclimatise through recovery. Helps if you’re eating/drinking/resting correctly too. All IMHE of course.

‘whole’ lot of milk marketing going on here

lactose is fine, dairy fats are fine

Varying your riding style can help too, e.g. Tue = normal pace (or zone 2 etc), Fri = throw in some intervals. IME if you keep doing the same things you’ll get the same results.

This. I found the biggest difference when training for La Marmotte was to do one long and steady ride mostly in zone two (say 4 hours+), then a short blast (1.5 hours) with an interval or two thrown in the middle, in the form of a short max effort hill climb.

I’ve been through the recovery drink / supplements circle via several sports.

Chocolate milk post ride and adequate in-ride fueling FTW, stay well hydrated and get sleep.

I am not able to get 4 hour+ rides in due to family commitments, I normally ride at night once the kids are in bed, so limited to 2-3 hours.

I have already introduced a mid ride banana, high five zero in first bottle, then squash in the other, with the occasional gels if I hit the wall. Maybe i’ll introduce some flapjack to increase carbs mid ride further.

I normally pick a few selected Strava segments for intervals and aim to ride in zone 3/4 for the rest of the ride.

It’s that damn Strava pushing me too hard.

typical ride

Trouble with riding at night is the lack of a post ride meal, hence the post ride beer. I will try replacing some of the beer with Milk.

There isn’t really much scientific evidence about the ice bath thing. Originally they were for bruising. We’ve removed a load of our ice baths.

Eat healthy and get good quality sleep.

Pint of Guiness after every workout …….you’ll be fine .. 😀

Woah!! How can you get through that amount in 2-3 hours?

Woah!! How can you get through that amount in 2-3 hours?

I don’t normally finish the second bottle, but in this weather I am at least half way through it. In winter I would only use one bottle.

I was more thinking about the banana, high 5 AND “some gels” – I can usually survive a couple of hours on my “fat reserves” 🙂

The milk, recovery drink stuff probably helps a little but not much. If you aren’t recovered, you went too hard, by definition. Even strava thinks it was a tough ride!
The classic way to get stuck in a training trap is to do too much tempo riding. It’s too hard to recover from quickly but not hard enough to make you faster. Good racers, for example, will do masses of Z2, surprisingly little Z3 and plenty of Z4 with a smattering of Z5 thrown in.
As a poster has said, have some variety. Maybe you could try an easier ride? Frequent rides of 2 to 3 hrs in the ‘moderate’ zone is plenty long enough to build a great base. The trick is to keep it steady all the time for these rides, as much as you can when off-road.
The intervals thing is good but might be better as part of a shorter ride so you can warm up, really give it a quality caning and then warm down.

I was more thinking about the banana, high 5 AND “some gels” – I can usually survive a couple of hours on my “fat reserves”

^^^^
THIS

A banana and some water will do me for an average 3hr ride. Are you a particularly large specimen that requires regularly feeding?

Clever powerfull marketing is quite persuasive, but unsurprisingly you dont need it.

In my experiencee Torq recovery is better than plain carbs or milk, but it’s really expensive. Milk is fine in theory but you need to drink a lot to get the recommended carb and protein levels, like 2 pints or something.

Torq contains ribose and HMB which is why it’s so expensive. I think ribose is what makes it more effective than other recovery drinks or milk etc.

Milk is fine in theory but you need to drink a lot to get the recommended carb and protein levels, like 2 pints or something.

Would that not vary according to the individual AND the type/length of session?

I am not able to get 4 hour+ rides in due to family commitments, I normally ride at night once the kids are in bed, so limited to 2-3 hours

Really? If you make the commitment then you can do far more than you think.

I’m ‘training’ to solo the Torq 12 in 4 weeks time. My dad’s also got non-Hodgkins lymphoma currently so I’ve been spending time helping getting him to hospital appointments, etc., which has limited my time with the family, so my ‘normal’ rides have fallen by the wayside in general.

I’ve got my long rides in either stupid early in the morning (up at 5am saturday, back home at 11am) or late at night (Thurs will take the bike to work, and then aiming to ride after work for about 5 hours from 6-11)

I’m also lucky because I’m close enough (12.5 miles e/w) to ride to work; so have been getting 50 or 75 miles a week of singlespeed road bike commutes done, which includes a few max effort intervals on hills, sprints at traffic lights, etc. and threshold for the rest.

[edit: I’m still sh*t scared though]

A banana and some water will do me for an average 3hr ride. Are you a particularly large specimen that requires regularly feeding?

No, not a large specimen. 5 10 and 11 1/2 stone

I think I do need to ease back on at least one of the rides by the sounds of it and this would also allow me to fit in the swim more easily.

Post ride or run I try to have a peanut butter and jam sandwich and a pint of water – works pretty well for me and stops me feeling really hungry an hour later.

I’m sure I read something years ago which compared a peanut butter sandwich washed down with flat coke (may have been diluted?) to the latest and greatest sports bar and drink combo and found very little real world difference.

aim to ride in zone 3/4 for the rest of the ride.

er, that’s a lot imo although it depends on how many zones you have? if you go hard all the time, no wonder you can’t recover!

do you have harder weeks and easier weeks?

I’ve switched recently to protein shakes and torq recovery plus, along with a major focus on my diet. I’m amazed that i can get up the next day and feel nothing in my legs from the previous day. I used to use choc milk, but never again having seen the benefits from the shake and torq, plus i’m leaner too.

Milk is fine in theory but you need to drink a lot to get the recommended carb and protein levels, like 2 pints or something.

No you don’t. If you look at high 5 recovery, mixed up with water at the recommended strength, it is roughly 4g protein per 100g. If you look at milk it is 3.2g / 100g. So you need to drink less than a quarter more. Carbohydrates, they are both similar.

And is there actually any study out there that shows Ribose being any use? A quick search of pubmed just brought up things like this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16937963 which appear to suggest that it doesn’t make any difference. There is a book saying how awesome ribose which Torq reference, but I can’t find any study that actually passed a peer review and demonstrates any advantage.

I’ve made a few changes to my diet in the last few months which I think along with riding more has much improved my recovery time.

No expert in fact I am following advice from here or web articles, mostly vastly reduced high GI foods, (now@17 kg weight loss) less alcohol and often riding without food to burn fat.

Keep the fuel topped up but not excessively on 2/3 hour plus rides and I will try to have some carbs and protein within 30 minutes of reasonably intense rides although the need to do that seems to be decreasing. At the moment I’m of the opinion it’s easy to focus on eating and end up consuming more than is actually needed.

And I read somewhere- drink fluids when your thirsty, drink when your not thirsty and drink when your not sure if your thirsty or not, just water and minerals(not talking alcohol here).

Previously would be fairly wiped out after a 5/6 ride or maybe get tired towards the end of a week of commuting. Almost never feel it now.

Good basic diet before exercise seems to be key, lots of hydration and less of the highs and lows of sugar stuff.

I am not able to get 4 hour+ rides in due to family commitments, I normally ride at night once the kids are in bed, so limited to 2-3 hours.

Then do a steady 3 hour ride. The point is two “quite hard” rides per week don’t seem to be suiting you, which chimes with the training advice I was given. I certainly noticed an improvement with one steady and one fast ride per week.

A bit controversial, but Micellar Casein?
Loads of (slow release) protein, very little fat.

No, not a large specimen. 5 10 and 11 1/2 stone

Pretty similar to me. I managed to drop to 11 stone with no dietary changes – just the extra riding as described above. I don’t bother with anything more than an emergency flapjack/ banana and some dilute energy drink unless it’s a longer ride (4 hours plus), in which case there might be a cafe stop. I do usually fuel up with a bowl of porridge or some pasta before I set off.

Perhaps look at “periodising” your riding? Like some here have suggested.

I have some low level fatigue in my legs almost all the time these days, but recovery is heaps quicker than it was 6 months ago. Get as much good quality sleep as you can (cut out alcohol before sleep, regular sleep times, naps where you can get them at the weekend) because food only goes so far to repair you.

Try and listen to your body a little bit more as well. Though this is more an art than science though.

I’ve switched recently to protein shakes and torq recovery plus, along with a major focus on my diet. I’m amazed that i can get up the next day and feel nothing in my legs from the previous day. I used to use choc milk, but never again having seen the benefits from the shake and torq, plus i’m leaner too.

Interesting. What shakes be those dirtygirl?