Active rest

[Will_B]

What constitutes Active Rest? I guess it depends on your level of fitness and personal circumstances.

Would alternating between cycling and running for the same amount of time and relative intensity count as active rest or continuous training?

[MickTor]

I use my bike to actively rest and I am looking into swimming too. I just take a leasurely ride to keep me ticking over. I find it hard to rest up but its got to be done eh

[IainR]

I just do steady runs, on trails 3-4 miles, very slow though and some stretching, or 20-30 miles on the bike, low gear spinning..

[cyclops]

I'd say that active rest for someone who predominantly runs is either easier/shorter/less demanding/lower frequency runs, and/or mixing that up with easy swimming or easy turbo sessions. I say turbo, as you can regulate your cadence/effort levels much easier than cycling on the road/trail...unless yr cycling on a disused railway trail.

[CL]

What constitutes Active Rest? I guess it depends on your level of fitness and personal circumstances.

Would alternating between cycling and running for the same amount of time and relative intensity count as active rest or continuous training?

Neither because the two statements are oxymorons. The proper concept to use is 'intensity.' If you are cycling, swimming or doing anything else using the same intensity i.e. calories per second, as running then the consequences are going to be similar. If you run an hour one day and cycle the next at the same intensity then you cannot fool your body or mind into thinking it has had a rest.

In general terms the greater the intensity of exercise the less training you need to do. In middle and distance training a certain volume must be carried out and this in effect will define the intensity. Train too long and you won't train fast and train too fast and you won't last long enough to develop stamina.

All this doesn't mean you should spend your easy days confined to a wheelchair in an attempt to rest properly, all it's means is that the volume and intensity of your easy days be reduced to a level that'll allow you to recover from your hard days.

Hope that helps.

[Deadlegs]

I agree CL but what about the fact you are carrying out a different exercise? Cycling is not load bearing in the same way as running and I wonder if you can combine running and cycling to train for longer overall? I would appreciate your thoughts.

[Splatcher]

Sudoku

[millipede]

Sudoku

I worked out how to do a m squared sign on my smart board today. I am an IT genius.

[CL]

I agree CL but what about the fact you are carrying out a different exercise? Cycling is not load bearing in the same way as running and I wonder if you can combine running and cycling to train for longer overall? I would appreciate your thoughts.

Yes you probably could BUT, you'd have to drop the intensity. The key issues I believe are the energy rate (power) and 'vital chemical reserves,' not whether one exercise causes more stiffness than another. Let's say you are equally as strong on the bike as you are running and so one day you run for an hour and the next day you cycle for an hour. Let's also say you burn 1000 kilo-calories( 200 grams of Cadbury Dairy milk) in each, 2000 in total. If you then on the cycling day also run for an hour at the same energy rate and keep this going it won't be long before you'll find that instead of getting fitter the body actually becomes weaker. It does this by turning its furnace down i.e. reducing available power. When that happens you might find you can only sustain a loss of 800 kilo-calories per hour, which is a significant drop in power, intensity and speed.

It is always the case that beyond a certain amount and intensity of training, no matter whether it's strength or endurance you are training for, the fire in the furnace will fall. The trouble for the individual is finding that point. Not many do!

[andy k]

Don't you need to decide what kind of rest ?
Sometimes specific muscles do need a rest. (perhaps more acurately - recovery, from a battering)
Sometimes your energy stores need a rest. (to allow replenishment)
Sometimes a more general tiredness demands a rest. (energy and "vital chemical reserves" replenish)
for the first an alternate sport can be the answer
for the latter lower intensity / frequency / duration.

Agree with CL that doing the same time and intensity on bike / run wouldn't constitute rest -
That is what they call Cross Training, keeping the training pressure on the Cardio Vascular system but varyng the demands on the musculo-skeletal system.

To answer the original question I'd suggest that anything that does not feel like an effort constitutes active rest
quite simply "take it easy"

If you are tired think about the nature of the tiredness and what the solution is.
Is it sore muscles ?
Is it low energy ?
is it general tiredness ?

options for recovery include; do less, do something different, eat more, sleep more.