I set out for a recovery ride on Sunday and kept my power consistently below LTP. I was tired with limited strength to go above LTP for 15-20 min (guess). I was enjoying the ride so I kept going for 5+ hours at which time I was very tired……this obviously did not end up as a recovery ride. Is there a rule of thumb I should use to keep the strain below a certain level. Example, maintain power below 180 watts, heart rate below 120 bpm and strain below “X”? Or should I just use an arbitrary time for a hard stop like 1 hour or 2 hours while maintaining power and HR below set limits……
A 5 hour recovery ride. Wow.
How much below LTP? I used to try to stay just below LTP and found it hard work after a couple of hours. Now a minimum of at least 10% below for me. Even lower for a true recovery ride rather than an ‘easy’ ride.
LTP 220, AVG 174, Spent a lot of time at 200 and below. The 5 hours duration was too long for the ride to be a recovery ride as the duration added to much stress and I was tired at the end of it all. So I needed to recover from my recovery ride. In the future I need to stick to some limit. Just trying to figure out how to set that max limit so the ride remains a true recovery ride
1 Like
A proper recovery ride should be no more than 1 hour and you should not feel any stress in your legs. They should also feel better after it than before. I just wish I could learn this lesson.
5 Likes
As little as 7 minutes 80-100 rpm at 150W attenuates biochemical signs of muscle damage: Gill ND, Beaven CM, Cook C. Effectiveness of post-match recovery strategies in rugby players. Br J Sports Med. 2006 Mar;40(3):260-3. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2005.022483.
I guess many of us using Xert would not consider 7 minutes at 150W a Sunday recovery ride 
2 Likes