Hello ,,
The most effective recovery strategies aren't always the most fashionable ones. While "three weeks on, one week off" or "two weeks on, one week off" might seem like a nice plan, the reality is that recovery patterns are highly individual and often much more nuanced than popular approaches suggest.
3 Insights on Recovery Patterns
I.
Consistent daily routines make it easier to spot meaningful patterns and make targeted adjustments. When your basic schedule stays relatively stable, changes in fatigue levels become more noticeable and interpretable. Remember also that adjusting one part of your routine (like adding a midweek high-intensity session or moving your recovery day) will affect recovery patterns throughout the week – often in ways that aren't immediately obvious.
II.
Recovery monitoring is most valuable when used to identify patterns, and only rarely to make daily decisions. By tracking your response to different training loads over time, you learn to recognize your personal recovery rhythms. This understanding helps you plan future training blocks more effectively, rather than making reactive changes to individual sessions. For day to day decisions it is often best to try the planned workout and only adjust it if it isn't working at that point, unless you are ill of course.
III.
Regular review cycles at different scales help optimize recovery planning. A quick weekly review helps maintain schedule effectiveness, while monthly reviews reveal deeper patterns. For many athletes, a few strategic recovery days often prove more effective than full "down weeks." For example, an easy start to the week can set up a strong weekend of racing, testing or key sessions. For female athletes, tracking monthly cycles can add another valuable layer of pattern recognition – though response varies significantly between individuals, making personal pattern recognition crucial. In my experience, for many female athletes it is best to have a flexible approach and be ready for an easy few days before your period starts.
2 Questions For Your Reviews
I.
When you look at your most successful training blocks, do you see a pattern in how you structured recovery? Pay particular attention to the days leading up to your best workouts and events.
II.
Have you looked at how your work and life commitments affect your energy patterns? For instance, regular evening commitments often impact both sleep quality and next-day fatigue. Understanding these patterns can help you adjust both work and training schedules to optimize overall energy management.
1 Real-World Example
While coaching Karen Darke to Paralympic Gold in handcycling, we discovered that the standard "one week easy every three or four weeks" approach wasn't optimal for her. We found that Karen recovered effectively in just a few easy days and that it was hard to predict when fatigue levels would impact on training. For that reason, we adopted a more flexible approach and incorporated a few easy days once she was unable to hit target powers before moving back onto the original plan.
We didn't make changes to the plan, just accepted that a few sessions would be compromised.
Similarly, although Karen had a regular monthly cycle, we allowed for a flexible recovery period to accommodate the down time she experienced before her period. We didn't need to make other adjustments to her training over the monthly cycle due to her individual responses being fairly consistent.
This pattern allowed her to maintain training consistency while managing fatigue effectively. The key was having a consistent routine and interactive relationship that made it easy to spot when these recovery periods were needed, due to these being only a few days we maintained the overall plan and only adjusted things to meet the demands of major events, using a standard and proven taper period.
