Are there any rules regards recovery post exercise? Let's say after a normal ride or after something that really pushes you harder than normal?
Thinking about:
Nutrition / supplements
Rest / Sleep
When to exercise and how much after a big ride
Anything else?
Depends how hard obviously and your fitness.
A 2hr 75% ride wouldn't affect me the next day but it did when I started.
A race would be felt for 1-2 days after, a hard bike marathon a bit more
also on age...at 50 plus I am still recovering from a 4.5hr race last Sunday.
I'm 37 and my immune system seems to be shagged at the moment. 🙁
A lot of roadies and footballers gulp down a "recovery drink" within seconds of finishing their exertion. SIS REGO is a protein/carb cocktail that some people swear by.
However, I can feel a legion of "exercise more, eat less" and "glycogen insulin spike" warriors queing up behind me to have a Harry Hill style FIGHT.
As far as I understand, hard exercise causes millions of micro-tears in your muscles which are the key to building new muscles and capiliaries. They need time to do their work so recovery days are a big part of any training schedule.
I went to see a sports nutritionist recently who absolutely supported the chocolate milkshake after riding theory. Result!