Coach Oliver writes: Hands up who knows what a Rest or Easy day is??

Does it start out with an easy spin where you catch up with a mate and end up in the hills pushing the egos as well as the heart rate? Do you do that run you missed midweek in the evening of your day-off as well?

Basic physiology tells us that the body repairs and rejuvenates itself during rest. The typical athlete, although knowing this in principle, will find the application of rest and recovery slides down the list of priorities during race build up and preparation.

In this article I will outline some basic methods and regimes you can use to optimise your recovery needs during a training week.

Active Rest and Recovery

Now we all know how pre-occupied we can be with the Triathlon and Multisport events and somehow end up thinking that "if we're not training, we're not gaining". For those that want to still keep active on their rest day, try a simple yoga or stretch session - the non-impact side of this can be very beneficial physically and mentally. Some easy swimming can also be very rejuvenating, as can relaxing in the spa for 15min afterwards!! Just remember to take a water bottle and not a six-pack - there are some athletes around that praise the medicinal and recovery benefits of alcohol; most of us though will end up getting the wrong prescription so this method should be discarded until post race!! If you have these easy sessions planned as part of your weekly training you are more likely to complete them (and hopefully you think you are still training when doing them). Once you get into a weekly habit of doing these recovery sessions, your body will begin to recognise the benefit of these days.

Massage

Another alternative to active recovery is to have a massage. Massage may not be the cheapest strategy to alleviate the aches and pains, but I have yet to meet one athlete that has not found benefit from a good rub mid-week or on a rest day.

Use a HRM

If you do have exercise scheduled for your easy / rest days, it should generally be done alone and with your heart rate monitor (HRM). If you know your steady-state zone you'll surely know your easy zone and be able to stay within the limits for that particular session. The HRM can be your leveller; it will slow you down when you want to speed up.

Training Intensity

Recording your easy days intensity in your diary will further allow you to monitor the benefit of the session. Understanding that lowering the intensity for that day is what's needed to maximise next week's volume is critical. Tom Evans - winner of IM Canada 2004 - completes all his easy days or "unload" weeks in solitary, with no other egos around, no expectations and no distractions - by doing this, he gets the maximum benefit from the session. This helps to make a clear distinction between what is an easy session and what isn't. Let me say that his harder days are exactly that, hard! You will hear a lot about how hard athletes sessions have been, but you never hear about the really good rest days they've had to get them to that point.

If you are training with a partner, make the desired intensity very clear at the start of the session - the other person may have the illusion that they're in for a hammer session whereas you want an easy spin with no hills - if you have to go your separate ways, so be it.

Sleep and Nutrition

If you are finding your rest days are making you tired, think about how much sleep you have been getting (you should aim for at least 8 hours a night). You must also be meeting your nutrition requirements based on effort of training (less energy expended = less calories consumed & vice-versa) and your individual requirements.

Post Race Period

The post race period should be treated with an amount of respect too; doing it properly will enable you to start back into your easier sessions sooner. Although you see the pro's do it often, too many times age-group athletes, after having the week off after a race, will get straight back into a regular week - not something I would recommend! Saying that, those athletes that had do a post-race warm down, some easy cycling and pool work and have a couple of massages that week, will be in a far better position when it comes to putting the foot back down. Having a planned week after the race will help with this.

The key things to take from this article are to have specific easy/rest sessions in your training cycle, utilize them effectively, make the activity low/non impact based and understand that if your buddy's want a hill or hell sessions on that day you won't be joining them, not even for the beer afterwards!!