Intervals, long hours in the saddle, and strength training make you a strong cyclist, but one of the most overlooked aspects of training that you need to improve, is recovery.

All goal-orientated cyclists should prioritise recovery. Although everyone is different, no one can handle back-to-back training with no rest. To keep your training productive, and avoid overtraining, you need to incorporate rest into every day, week, and month of your training.

1. Short-term rest: Stretch after every session and take at least one day a week completely off.
2. Medium-term rest: Include one “easier” rest week in every month of hard training.
3. Longer-term rest: Consider taking a few weeks off the bike towards the end of the year to recover, especially if you’ve had a big year of training and racing.

You can’t get faster with training alone; you need to recover to progress. Make sure you prioritise rest days, recovery rides, stretching, nutrition, and training. One of the most common training mistakes is making up missed sessions. If you miss a session, don’t double up, you’ll do more damage than good.

Make sure you’re getting as strong as you’re working to get by prioritising training and recovery equally. Recovery needs to be focused on in the short, medium, and long term. If you need recovery advice, we’re here to help.

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