TSB and Recovery Weeks

Bailsibub said:

I'm loving the WKO right now. Seems like this could make a difference in my training for the upcoming racing season.

I've been trying to find info on here and by google searches about recovery weeks and their relation to TSB and haven't found really as much as I would have thought or hoped.

So I'm posting this in the hopes of finding out what some of the more experienced WKO people do, or have found out, for recovery week management with the software.

Reason being, it seems that the software, and TSB specifically, is perfect for recovery management.

So what do you guys do? Or what does the software show you when you are on your typical recovery week?

And another thing, I've seen a bunch of PMC graphs from different riders online and didn't really see much of what looked like a recurring 4th week of TSB gain (like you would expect from a recovery week). Am I missing something? Or are these guys the tough types that don't need a recovery week. :p

Recovery weeks? Only when needed, which isn't very often. Other than that, keep on keeping on. For most riders, rest of life factors tend to provide sufficient unscheduled recovery anyway.

Here's mine:

The first dip in the CTL was when I was having problems with skin breakges on my stump and excessive soreness that took some time to sort out before I could ride again.

The second dip was due to an unscheduled trip away to look after my Dad who had an accident and so I couldn't get much training in.

Bailsibub said:

So I'm posting this in the hopes of finding out what some of the more experienced WKO people do, or have found out, for recovery week management with the software.

Personally, I don't like to have a negative TSB for more than 3-4 weeks at a time continuously. If you (micro)manage your TSS build-up in precise steps, you can keep TSB reasonable and not have too many low dips.

Bailsibub said:

And another thing, I've seen a bunch of PMC graphs from different riders online and didn't really see much of what looked like a recurring 4th week of TSB gain (like you would expect from a recovery week).

It's all numbers. If your ATL and CTL are high (thus you've been training consistently and frequently) and you take a rest week, you may not see it recover quickly because of the time-weighting of those factors. It depends upon what you do during a rest week.

Don't be too much of a slave to the numbers. If you know what works for you, keep doing it. However, don't be afraid to experiment with the software as a guide.

Alex Simmons said:

Recovery weeks? Only when needed, which isn't very often. Other than that, keep on keeping on. For most riders, rest of life factors tend to provide sufficient unscheduled recovery anyway.

+1 on this.

Another way to think about it is that prescheduled periodic recovery weeks ala Friel are very safe for someone that doesn't have better ways to know when to back off and take a bit of a breather. IOW, if you're coaching someone and worried that they push too hard too often, never rest and have too much time on their hands then one safe approach is to make sure they take every 3rd or 4th week off. It's conservative and based on some very shady interpretations of what seems to work for competitive weight lifters (Bompa's original work), as applied to endurance sports it's not grounded in science or study but is steeped in tradition.

Anyway, now that you have WKO+ and its Performance Manager you have really good insight into workload, how quickly you're piling it on, how much your CTL drops during time off and the impact of life's interruptions. Definitely take time off when you need it, and keep an eye on your CTL build rate to avoid steep ramps but that doesn't mean you have to plan every Xth week off to train well. Many folks have scrapped that sort of preplanned rest week and use the PMC to monitor stress.

Here's a shot of my PMC for last winter's build cycle and the first half of the racing season showing the way race and recover mode can impact CTL. I basically never took prescheduled time off during the build but backed off a bit when I felt I needed it and didn't stress too much when work or family life got in the way. I had a short bout with the flu mid winter but bounced back from that pretty easily by dropping out my high end work and getting back on track with Tempo/SST workouts.

I agree with Steve, you don't have to be a slave to the numbers, but you also don't have to be a slave to traditions such as taking every 4th week off. Listen to your body, keep an eye on your PMC to see if it's telling you the same thing and think of those interruptions that life tends to throw your way as opportunities to rest a bit.

Good luck,
-Dave

Alex Simmons said:

Recovery weeks? Only when needed, which isn't very often. Other than that, keep on keeping on. For most riders, rest of life factors tend to provide sufficient unscheduled recovery anyway.

+2. Right on. 😎

Thanks for the replies fellas. Extremely helpful!!!

This will be a big change for me, but I'm definitely willing to now "keep on, keeping on!" 😄

I think the real difference is that you can effectively manage your training load on a daily or weekly basis with WKO+ rather than using an indiscriminate 3-on, 1-off approach. You'll still need recovery time, but it might mean skipping a workout to hang with the family rather than sitting on the couch for an entire week.