I'm on a bit of a mission to try and get some fitness back having been pretty inactive for the whole summer. I've been trying to get out on the bike about four times a week for the last few weeks and now I feel like its starting to catch up on me.
It feels like I'm walking around with lead weights attached to my ankles at the moment.
Anyone got any ideas on rest periods between spins in the early stages of a fitness program? Or could it be that I'm not refueling enough after the spin?
I know there are plenty of People here who are way up on all this kinda thing, Any pointers would be appreciated, Stewart? Oz?
All the advice seems to be "listen to your body"! If you're tired take a couple of days off - if you don't you'll almost inevitably get sick or injured and end up missing a lot more time.
You've been really "giving it a lash" over the last few weeks Shane after a 4-5 month lay off - you've been riding 3-4 a week with people who've been riding consistently over the summer - of course you're tired!! And being the competitive b..t..d that you are just "hanging-in" won't do, will it?
I would suggest giving yourself 48 hours rest between spins - maybe Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday or Sunday and make sure you're drinking loads of water throughout the week! Obviously eating properly is important too.
I've come and gone too many times to remember, the most important thing is that you CAN get out, so, take it handy, don't drive it so hard that you and up getting sick, 2 night spins and a weekend spin is more than enough, if you keep chipping away like that the good form will come.
In between, rest, eat and drink.
Other than that, horse the fluids in, non-caffinated NUUN or ZYM tablets are great, a pint of that during the day before a night spin and a pint of it after a weekend spin, also works great as a hangover cure.
take it handy on the spins you shouldn't be pushing urself hard. Ride at about 70% with maybe the odd short burst here and there. I'd aslo recomend the Zym tablets. Make sure you refuel propperly after the spins aswell and plenty of rest between. 3 spins a week is more than enough
I know..
I have a big interest in training and stuff . I don't rest , but I believe in active rest.Its easier for the fast lads to go fast all the time because theire base fitness is huge. What appears to normal people that we are on a savage spin is only a medium one for them. They only time they really push over 70% is in races.
You need rest days , and then a good rest every 4 weeks. But just going out and twiddling around 3 times a week is not going to work. There has to be some structure to your spins if you want results.
Usually I pick the spins that have serious climbs and serious descents and these have brought on people like Jack and Smithers dramatically.
You can't come out after a months layoff and get stuck in. You'll just go backwards as what has happened with Sham.
Burying yourself each spin is not going to work either.
I'm a Coach and if anybody wants serious training advice let me know, i'm only too happy to help.
What you see a lot of the time is an act. Don't be fooled, i know exactly what i'm doing.
Richie
thats funny **** lads when you consider the strongest riders in the club ignore all that, maybe they're just lucky.
That's true Richie but what you need to remember is that what you would consider an easy spin, is actually putting a huge amount of stress onto the bodies of more normal riders like Shane or myself. I've been involved in a number of competitive sports over the years (including playing squash 5-6 days a week) and mountain biking is definately the toughest!
With regard to the strongest riders in the club I have to say that I'm amazed at how little "structured training" our top riders do. And while I can understand that lots of "flat out" spins are a lot more fun than doing interval training between lamp-posts it doesn't necessarily follow that they're the best way of maximising fitness or results!
The reason some people can ride further for longer is still the "law of overload". Their fitness is higher, so the amount of overloading they do is minimal. Imagine how far Eoin Keith has to go before his body is under strain. Ryan & Mel spend at least 25 hrs per week on their bikes. This sh1te about being naturally fit or lucky is horsesh1te. If you are overweight, your body is under more stress, plus if you are unfit, your body isn't able to cope with the required effort etc.
The club has 5 official coaches, the fact that we are not the usual boffin type should not take away from our knowledge. most have other fitness qualifications, and some have twice as much knowledge through experience. If anybody wants proper advice, talk to one of us. But if you don't want to listen, don't bother.
As for rest days, you can still go out. just do something different. Have a technical type spin. real easy on the climbs, and try improve cornering or breaking on the way down. next spin, have a creasing session.
Shane make sure you visit a good sports massage therapist at least once every two weeks it will make a big difference.I had a point this season where three days before a road race I really wanted to do well in my legs felt exactly as yours do now.
I went for a massage and my legs were completely flushed out and then I took a break for two days I rode the race on the sunday and won.If you need the number of a good sports therapist pm me.:)
RichardL that was a joke ! Theres a lot more structure going on thank you think. True its not exactly obvious but its going on.
Its very simple.
Technically those boys never miss a spin. They might miss a Tuesday or a Thursday here and there, but they can catch up with a Saturday or a Friday.
Alfie always rests when he has a sniffle or isn't feeling 100%.
When I was racing seriously I always rested and and always watched my diet and didn't drink.
Like Stewart says, its all about what your body can take.
I don't rest anymore because I don't train, I just ride my bike with the different groups. I go hard on Tuesdays ,Thursdays and Sundays. Saturdays is an active rest day, I also do intervals on a Wednesday on the sly during the race season just to keep a bit of speed in the legs.
When nobodies looking i also crank out a few miles on the road bike.
I'm not as big a fan as I used to be of the supplements, I don't feel the need for them as I'm not competing.
Make no mistake, theres plenty of thought and hard work going in to what the faster riders are doing.
A little a lot though is better than a creasing session here and then a big gap and then another on or 4 days biking without a rest..
Seriously, get some structure going.
And if you can't get time to cycle, then run. thats also what I do on the sly, otherwise I'd never keep sight of Damo and Alfie.
Its all about commitment, hard work and planning,regardless of what I say to the contrary as a joke.
Oh yeah, motivation is a huge factor. Something I cornered the market in years ago.
I hope this is all helpful to everybody, Sports massage, would you ever cop on to yourself Richie..I can imagine the kind of massage you do be getting
Richie
Richard L, you posted while I was, so here's my views on your points....
I agree that a proper structured training session will focus on target areas, but that is not required at the level of most of us. I'm not saying we would not benifit, but taking things that serious is overkill. Alfie & Damo might be able to claw out another couple of % if they did it properly, but they don't want to. They enjoy riding bikes, and havin' the craic.they are still getting better & better, they just enjoy doing it. The guy who does it the other way will probably be fitter, with higher VO2 max etc, but can he handle roots etc. MTB training is so much more than fitness.
Your first point about the fact that you struggle on bigger spins. not being funny, but that is why we have easy & hard spins. If riders cant stick the pace, go on one of the easier spins. You will find that the club savages are on heavy bikes, so use your xc one. plus, they go Sat, Sun & Mon. weaker riders should only do one weekend spin. The problem is, the craic is great, and nobody wants to miss anything.
As for your fitness RL, it has improved dramatically. probably the largest improvement in the club. you've lost 15kg, and your pushing 50 (not being smart, but it's harder to get fit as you get older). Technically you've improved hugely too. so stop comparing yourself to riders with 20 years experience. compare yourself to people you know outside of MTB. thats where you'll see the differences.
I'm on a bit of a mission to try and get some fitness back having been pretty inactive for the whole summer. I've been trying to get out on the bike about four times a week for the last few weeks and now I feel like its starting to catch up on me.
It feels like I'm walking around with lead weights attached to my ankles at the moment.
Anyone got any ideas on rest periods between spins in the early stages of a fitness program? Or could it be that I'm not refueling enough after the spin?
I know there are plenty of People here who are way up on all this kinda thing, Any pointers would be appreciated, Stewart? Oz?
All the advice seems to be "listen to your body"! If you're tired take a couple of days off - if you don't you'll almost inevitably get sick or injured and end up missing a lot more time.
You've been really "giving it a lash" over the last few weeks Shane after a 4-5 month lay off - you've been riding 3-4 a week with people who've been riding consistently over the summer - of course you're tired!! And being the competitive b..t..d that you are just "hanging-in" won't do, will it?
I would suggest giving yourself 48 hours rest between spins - maybe Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday or Sunday and make sure you're drinking loads of water throughout the week! Obviously eating properly is important too.
I've come and gone too many times to remember, the most important thing is that you CAN get out, so, take it handy, don't drive it so hard that you and up getting sick, 2 night spins and a weekend spin is more than enough, if you keep chipping away like that the good form will come.
In between, rest, eat and drink.
Other than that, horse the fluids in, non-caffinated NUUN or ZYM tablets are great, a pint of that during the day before a night spin and a pint of it after a weekend spin, also works great as a hangover cure.
take it handy on the spins you shouldn't be pushing urself hard. Ride at about 70% with maybe the odd short burst here and there. I'd aslo recomend the Zym tablets. Make sure you refuel propperly after the spins aswell and plenty of rest between. 3 spins a week is more than enough
I know..
I have a big interest in training and stuff . I don't rest , but I believe in active rest.Its easier for the fast lads to go fast all the time because theire base fitness is huge. What appears to normal people that we are on a savage spin is only a medium one for them. They only time they really push over 70% is in races.
You need rest days , and then a good rest every 4 weeks. But just going out and twiddling around 3 times a week is not going to work. There has to be some structure to your spins if you want results.
Usually I pick the spins that have serious climbs and serious descents and these have brought on people like Jack and Smithers dramatically.
You can't come out after a months layoff and get stuck in. You'll just go backwards as what has happened with Sham.
Burying yourself each spin is not going to work either.
I'm a Coach and if anybody wants serious training advice let me know, i'm only too happy to help.
What you see a lot of the time is an act. Don't be fooled, i know exactly what i'm doing.
Richie
thats funny **** lads when you consider the strongest riders in the club ignore all that, maybe they're just lucky.
That's true Richie but what you need to remember is that what you would consider an easy spin, is actually putting a huge amount of stress onto the bodies of more normal riders like Shane or myself. I've been involved in a number of competitive sports over the years (including playing squash 5-6 days a week) and mountain biking is definately the toughest!
With regard to the strongest riders in the club I have to say that I'm amazed at how little "structured training" our top riders do. And while I can understand that lots of "flat out" spins are a lot more fun than doing interval training between lamp-posts it doesn't necessarily follow that they're the best way of maximising fitness or results!
The reason some people can ride further for longer is still the "law of overload". Their fitness is higher, so the amount of overloading they do is minimal. Imagine how far Eoin Keith has to go before his body is under strain. Ryan & Mel spend at least 25 hrs per week on their bikes. This sh1te about being naturally fit or lucky is horsesh1te. If you are overweight, your body is under more stress, plus if you are unfit, your body isn't able to cope with the required effort etc.
The club has 5 official coaches, the fact that we are not the usual boffin type should not take away from our knowledge. most have other fitness qualifications, and some have twice as much knowledge through experience. If anybody wants proper advice, talk to one of us. But if you don't want to listen, don't bother.
As for rest days, you can still go out. just do something different. Have a technical type spin. real easy on the climbs, and try improve cornering or breaking on the way down. next spin, have a creasing session.
Shane make sure you visit a good sports massage therapist at least once every two weeks it will make a big difference.I had a point this season where three days before a road race I really wanted to do well in my legs felt exactly as yours do now.
I went for a massage and my legs were completely flushed out and then I took a break for two days I rode the race on the sunday and won.If you need the number of a good sports therapist pm me.:)
RichardL that was a joke ! Theres a lot more structure going on thank you think. True its not exactly obvious but its going on.
Its very simple.
Technically those boys never miss a spin. They might miss a Tuesday or a Thursday here and there, but they can catch up with a Saturday or a Friday.
Alfie always rests when he has a sniffle or isn't feeling 100%.
When I was racing seriously I always rested and and always watched my diet and didn't drink.
Like Stewart says, its all about what your body can take.
I don't rest anymore because I don't train, I just ride my bike with the different groups. I go hard on Tuesdays ,Thursdays and Sundays. Saturdays is an active rest day, I also do intervals on a Wednesday on the sly during the race season just to keep a bit of speed in the legs.
When nobodies looking i also crank out a few miles on the road bike.
I'm not as big a fan as I used to be of the supplements, I don't feel the need for them as I'm not competing.
Make no mistake, theres plenty of thought and hard work going in to what the faster riders are doing.
A little a lot though is better than a creasing session here and then a big gap and then another on or 4 days biking without a rest..
Seriously, get some structure going.
And if you can't get time to cycle, then run. thats also what I do on the sly, otherwise I'd never keep sight of Damo and Alfie.
Its all about commitment, hard work and planning,regardless of what I say to the contrary as a joke.
Oh yeah, motivation is a huge factor. Something I cornered the market in years ago.
I hope this is all helpful to everybody, Sports massage, would you ever cop on to yourself Richie..I can imagine the kind of massage you do be getting
Richie
Richard L, you posted while I was, so here's my views on your points....
I agree that a proper structured training session will focus on target areas, but that is not required at the level of most of us. I'm not saying we would not benifit, but taking things that serious is overkill. Alfie & Damo might be able to claw out another couple of % if they did it properly, but they don't want to. They enjoy riding bikes, and havin' the craic.they are still getting better & better, they just enjoy doing it. The guy who does it the other way will probably be fitter, with higher VO2 max etc, but can he handle roots etc. MTB training is so much more than fitness.
Your first point about the fact that you struggle on bigger spins. not being funny, but that is why we have easy & hard spins. If riders cant stick the pace, go on one of the easier spins. You will find that the club savages are on heavy bikes, so use your xc one. plus, they go Sat, Sun & Mon. weaker riders should only do one weekend spin. The problem is, the craic is great, and nobody wants to miss anything.
As for your fitness RL, it has improved dramatically. probably the largest improvement in the club. you've lost 15kg, and your pushing 50 (not being smart, but it's harder to get fit as you get older). Technically you've improved hugely too. so stop comparing yourself to riders with 20 years experience. compare yourself to people you know outside of MTB. thats where you'll see the differences.
I'm on a bit of a mission to try and get some fitness back having been pretty inactive for the whole summer. I've been trying to get out on the bike about four times a week for the last few weeks and now I feel like its starting to catch up on me.
It feels like I'm walking around with lead weights attached to my ankles at the moment.
Anyone got any ideas on rest periods between spins in the early stages of a fitness program? Or could it be that I'm not refueling enough after the spin?
I know there are plenty of People here who are way up on all this kinda thing, Any pointers would be appreciated, Stewart? Oz?
All the advice seems to be "listen to your body"! If you're tired take a couple of days off - if you don't you'll almost inevitably get sick or injured and end up missing a lot more time.
You've been really "giving it a lash" over the last few weeks Shane after a 4-5 month lay off - you've been riding 3-4 a week with people who've been riding consistently over the summer - of course you're tired!! And being the competitive b..t..d that you are just "hanging-in" won't do, will it?
I would suggest giving yourself 48 hours rest between spins - maybe Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday or Sunday and make sure you're drinking loads of water throughout the week! Obviously eating properly is important too.
I've come and gone too many times to remember, the most important thing is that you CAN get out, so, take it handy, don't drive it so hard that you and up getting sick, 2 night spins and a weekend spin is more than enough, if you keep chipping away like that the good form will come.
In between, rest, eat and drink.
Other than that, horse the fluids in, non-caffinated NUUN or ZYM tablets are great, a pint of that during the day before a night spin and a pint of it after a weekend spin, also works great as a hangover cure.
take it handy on the spins you shouldn't be pushing urself hard. Ride at about 70% with maybe the odd short burst here and there. I'd aslo recomend the Zym tablets. Make sure you refuel propperly after the spins aswell and plenty of rest between. 3 spins a week is more than enough
I know..
I have a big interest in training and stuff . I don't rest , but I believe in active rest.Its easier for the fast lads to go fast all the time because theire base fitness is huge. What appears to normal people that we are on a savage spin is only a medium one for them. They only time they really push over 70% is in races.
You need rest days , and then a good rest every 4 weeks. But just going out and twiddling around 3 times a week is not going to work. There has to be some structure to your spins if you want results.
Usually I pick the spins that have serious climbs and serious descents and these have brought on people like Jack and Smithers dramatically.
You can't come out after a months layoff and get stuck in. You'll just go backwards as what has happened with Sham.
Burying yourself each spin is not going to work either.
I'm a Coach and if anybody wants serious training advice let me know, i'm only too happy to help.
What you see a lot of the time is an act. Don't be fooled, i know exactly what i'm doing.
Richie
thats funny **** lads when you consider the strongest riders in the club ignore all that, maybe they're just lucky.
That's true Richie but what you need to remember is that what you would consider an easy spin, is actually putting a huge amount of stress onto the bodies of more normal riders like Shane or myself. I've been involved in a number of competitive sports over the years (including playing squash 5-6 days a week) and mountain biking is definately the toughest!
With regard to the strongest riders in the club I have to say that I'm amazed at how little "structured training" our top riders do. And while I can understand that lots of "flat out" spins are a lot more fun than doing interval training between lamp-posts it doesn't necessarily follow that they're the best way of maximising fitness or results!
The reason some people can ride further for longer is still the "law of overload". Their fitness is higher, so the amount of overloading they do is minimal. Imagine how far Eoin Keith has to go before his body is under strain. Ryan & Mel spend at least 25 hrs per week on their bikes. This sh1te about being naturally fit or lucky is horsesh1te. If you are overweight, your body is under more stress, plus if you are unfit, your body isn't able to cope with the required effort etc.
The club has 5 official coaches, the fact that we are not the usual boffin type should not take away from our knowledge. most have other fitness qualifications, and some have twice as much knowledge through experience. If anybody wants proper advice, talk to one of us. But if you don't want to listen, don't bother.
As for rest days, you can still go out. just do something different. Have a technical type spin. real easy on the climbs, and try improve cornering or breaking on the way down. next spin, have a creasing session.
Shane make sure you visit a good sports massage therapist at least once every two weeks it will make a big difference.I had a point this season where three days before a road race I really wanted to do well in my legs felt exactly as yours do now.
I went for a massage and my legs were completely flushed out and then I took a break for two days I rode the race on the sunday and won.If you need the number of a good sports therapist pm me.:)
RichardL that was a joke ! Theres a lot more structure going on thank you think. True its not exactly obvious but its going on.
Its very simple.
Technically those boys never miss a spin. They might miss a Tuesday or a Thursday here and there, but they can catch up with a Saturday or a Friday.
Alfie always rests when he has a sniffle or isn't feeling 100%.
When I was racing seriously I always rested and and always watched my diet and didn't drink.
Like Stewart says, its all about what your body can take.
I don't rest anymore because I don't train, I just ride my bike with the different groups. I go hard on Tuesdays ,Thursdays and Sundays. Saturdays is an active rest day, I also do intervals on a Wednesday on the sly during the race season just to keep a bit of speed in the legs.
When nobodies looking i also crank out a few miles on the road bike.
I'm not as big a fan as I used to be of the supplements, I don't feel the need for them as I'm not competing.
Make no mistake, theres plenty of thought and hard work going in to what the faster riders are doing.
A little a lot though is better than a creasing session here and then a big gap and then another on or 4 days biking without a rest..
Seriously, get some structure going.
And if you can't get time to cycle, then run. thats also what I do on the sly, otherwise I'd never keep sight of Damo and Alfie.
Its all about commitment, hard work and planning,regardless of what I say to the contrary as a joke.
Oh yeah, motivation is a huge factor. Something I cornered the market in years ago.
I hope this is all helpful to everybody, Sports massage, would you ever cop on to yourself Richie..I can imagine the kind of massage you do be getting
Richie
Richard L, you posted while I was, so here's my views on your points....
I agree that a proper structured training session will focus on target areas, but that is not required at the level of most of us. I'm not saying we would not benifit, but taking things that serious is overkill. Alfie & Damo might be able to claw out another couple of % if they did it properly, but they don't want to. They enjoy riding bikes, and havin' the craic.they are still getting better & better, they just enjoy doing it. The guy who does it the other way will probably be fitter, with higher VO2 max etc, but can he handle roots etc. MTB training is so much more than fitness.
Your first point about the fact that you struggle on bigger spins. not being funny, but that is why we have easy & hard spins. If riders cant stick the pace, go on one of the easier spins. You will find that the club savages are on heavy bikes, so use your xc one. plus, they go Sat, Sun & Mon. weaker riders should only do one weekend spin. The problem is, the craic is great, and nobody wants to miss anything.
As for your fitness RL, it has improved dramatically. probably the largest improvement in the club. you've lost 15kg, and your pushing 50 (not being smart, but it's harder to get fit as you get older). Technically you've improved hugely too. so stop comparing yourself to riders with 20 years experience. compare yourself to people you know outside of MTB. thats where you'll see the differences.
I'm on a bit of a mission to try and get some fitness back having been pretty inactive for the whole summer. I've been trying to get out on the bike about four times a week for the last few weeks and now I feel like its starting to catch up on me.
It feels like I'm walking around with lead weights attached to my ankles at the moment.
Anyone got any ideas on rest periods between spins in the early stages of a fitness program? Or could it be that I'm not refueling enough after the spin?
I know there are plenty of People here who are way up on all this kinda thing, Any pointers would be appreciated, Stewart? Oz?
All the advice seems to be "listen to your body"! If you're tired take a couple of days off - if you don't you'll almost inevitably get sick or injured and end up missing a lot more time.
You've been really "giving it a lash" over the last few weeks Shane after a 4-5 month lay off - you've been riding 3-4 a week with people who've been riding consistently over the summer - of course you're tired!! And being the competitive b..t..d that you are just "hanging-in" won't do, will it?
I would suggest giving yourself 48 hours rest between spins - maybe Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday or Sunday and make sure you're drinking loads of water throughout the week! Obviously eating properly is important too.
I've come and gone too many times to remember, the most important thing is that you CAN get out, so, take it handy, don't drive it so hard that you and up getting sick, 2 night spins and a weekend spin is more than enough, if you keep chipping away like that the good form will come.
In between, rest, eat and drink.
Other than that, horse the fluids in, non-caffinated NUUN or ZYM tablets are great, a pint of that during the day before a night spin and a pint of it after a weekend spin, also works great as a hangover cure.
take it handy on the spins you shouldn't be pushing urself hard. Ride at about 70% with maybe the odd short burst here and there. I'd aslo recomend the Zym tablets. Make sure you refuel propperly after the spins aswell and plenty of rest between. 3 spins a week is more than enough
I know..
I have a big interest in training and stuff . I don't rest , but I believe in active rest.Its easier for the fast lads to go fast all the time because theire base fitness is huge. What appears to normal people that we are on a savage spin is only a medium one for them. They only time they really push over 70% is in races.
You need rest days , and then a good rest every 4 weeks. But just going out and twiddling around 3 times a week is not going to work. There has to be some structure to your spins if you want results.
Usually I pick the spins that have serious climbs and serious descents and these have brought on people like Jack and Smithers dramatically.
You can't come out after a months layoff and get stuck in. You'll just go backwards as what has happened with Sham.
Burying yourself each spin is not going to work either.
I'm a Coach and if anybody wants serious training advice let me know, i'm only too happy to help.
What you see a lot of the time is an act. Don't be fooled, i know exactly what i'm doing.
Richie
thats funny **** lads when you consider the strongest riders in the club ignore all that, maybe they're just lucky.
That's true Richie but what you need to remember is that what you would consider an easy spin, is actually putting a huge amount of stress onto the bodies of more normal riders like Shane or myself. I've been involved in a number of competitive sports over the years (including playing squash 5-6 days a week) and mountain biking is definately the toughest!
With regard to the strongest riders in the club I have to say that I'm amazed at how little "structured training" our top riders do. And while I can understand that lots of "flat out" spins are a lot more fun than doing interval training between lamp-posts it doesn't necessarily follow that they're the best way of maximising fitness or results!
The reason some people can ride further for longer is still the "law of overload". Their fitness is higher, so the amount of overloading they do is minimal. Imagine how far Eoin Keith has to go before his body is under strain. Ryan & Mel spend at least 25 hrs per week on their bikes. This sh1te about being naturally fit or lucky is horsesh1te. If you are overweight, your body is under more stress, plus if you are unfit, your body isn't able to cope with the required effort etc.
The club has 5 official coaches, the fact that we are not the usual boffin type should not take away from our knowledge. most have other fitness qualifications, and some have twice as much knowledge through experience. If anybody wants proper advice, talk to one of us. But if you don't want to listen, don't bother.
As for rest days, you can still go out. just do something different. Have a technical type spin. real easy on the climbs, and try improve cornering or breaking on the way down. next spin, have a creasing session.
Shane make sure you visit a good sports massage therapist at least once every two weeks it will make a big difference.I had a point this season where three days before a road race I really wanted to do well in my legs felt exactly as yours do now.
I went for a massage and my legs were completely flushed out and then I took a break for two days I rode the race on the sunday and won.If you need the number of a good sports therapist pm me.:)
RichardL that was a joke ! Theres a lot more structure going on thank you think. True its not exactly obvious but its going on.
Its very simple.
Technically those boys never miss a spin. They might miss a Tuesday or a Thursday here and there, but they can catch up with a Saturday or a Friday.
Alfie always rests when he has a sniffle or isn't feeling 100%.
When I was racing seriously I always rested and and always watched my diet and didn't drink.
Like Stewart says, its all about what your body can take.
I don't rest anymore because I don't train, I just ride my bike with the different groups. I go hard on Tuesdays ,Thursdays and Sundays. Saturdays is an active rest day, I also do intervals on a Wednesday on the sly during the race season just to keep a bit of speed in the legs.
When nobodies looking i also crank out a few miles on the road bike.
I'm not as big a fan as I used to be of the supplements, I don't feel the need for them as I'm not competing.
Make no mistake, theres plenty of thought and hard work going in to what the faster riders are doing.
A little a lot though is better than a creasing session here and then a big gap and then another on or 4 days biking without a rest..
Seriously, get some structure going.
And if you can't get time to cycle, then run. thats also what I do on the sly, otherwise I'd never keep sight of Damo and Alfie.
Its all about commitment, hard work and planning,regardless of what I say to the contrary as a joke.
Oh yeah, motivation is a huge factor. Something I cornered the market in years ago.
I hope this is all helpful to everybody, Sports massage, would you ever cop on to yourself Richie..I can imagine the kind of massage you do be getting
Richie
Richard L, you posted while I was, so here's my views on your points....
I agree that a proper structured training session will focus on target areas, but that is not required at the level of most of us. I'm not saying we would not benifit, but taking things that serious is overkill. Alfie & Damo might be able to claw out another couple of % if they did it properly, but they don't want to. They enjoy riding bikes, and havin' the craic.they are still getting better & better, they just enjoy doing it. The guy who does it the other way will probably be fitter, with higher VO2 max etc, but can he handle roots etc. MTB training is so much more than fitness.
Your first point about the fact that you struggle on bigger spins. not being funny, but that is why we have easy & hard spins. If riders cant stick the pace, go on one of the easier spins. You will find that the club savages are on heavy bikes, so use your xc one. plus, they go Sat, Sun & Mon. weaker riders should only do one weekend spin. The problem is, the craic is great, and nobody wants to miss anything.
As for your fitness RL, it has improved dramatically. probably the largest improvement in the club. you've lost 15kg, and your pushing 50 (not being smart, but it's harder to get fit as you get older). Technically you've improved hugely too. so stop comparing yourself to riders with 20 years experience. compare yourself to people you know outside of MTB. thats where you'll see the differences.