Cycle or drive to work "rest" days?

This topic contains 7 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by  sw600 6 years, 10 months ago.

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  • I was about to start to cycle to work AND start HIT. But Michael’s book says the REST a day between sessions is important. That makes sense as the heart is a muscle, and as a former weight lifter my improvements were only made with rest days – 1 or 2 days off a particular muscle group.

    I read this to mean I should probably consider NOT cycling to work on days in between my HIT sessions. I was intending to cycle in the morning/evening to /from work (it’s only 5 miles each way). Then do 3 x 20 second sprints at lunchtime for the HIT part.

    I was thinking on the days in between it may be better to drive (well ride, the motorbike) to work on alternate days and maybe do weights or yoga at the gym instead of intensive cardio.

    Thanks for any advice or thoughts.

    The question is do you cycle as fast as you can for short periods of time interspersed with lower intensity intervals.

    If you cycle at a steady pace there is no reason why you can’t cycle to work on rest days.

    Being active every day is a good thing for recovery. Walking or easy biking is ideal.

    ditto. If cycling is part of your usual routine, no need to stop it. Cardio is good for you, up to a point. You do realize that the HIIT is all you need, don’t you. keep cycling to work — good for you and the planet.

    I cycle at a steady pace, however I’m in Bristol and start at the highest point in the city, down to the lowest, then back up to the second highest. On the way home it’s a STEEP hill (used on the Tour of Britain. So I don’t get to do short high intensity bursts, only one 1 mile uphill in the morning, then one 1/2 mile killer on the way back.

    So I’m thinking I should do my HIT at lunchtime on the day(s) I cycle, so 3 times a week.

    Thanks, that’s what I thought. Given the terrain (huge incline on the way to work or on the way home) ‘easy’ cycling isn’t an option. So I think it’s on the moped on days I don’t HIT.

    Agreed. I think the concensus is that you should rest between HIT days, which I can’t do on the bike due to the terrain.
    But can keep active by weight training on the days I drive in.

    Thanks for all the advice!

    Keep cycling to work.

    I have never done HIIT but I am currently doing some fairly hard threshold/sweet spot/vo2max turbo trainer sessions 4 mornings a week (60-120 mins), which would probably approximate the physiological effects of a HIIT session. I also cycle to work each day (35km round trip).

    I have settled into a routine of:

    mon: fast, turbo
    tue: turbo
    wed: fast
    thu: turbo
    fri: neither
    sat or sun: turbo

    I am taking it a little easier on the commute now, but don’t forget that a gentle ride to work (the odd hill notwithstanding) isn’t stressing your body in the same way that a HIIT (or in my case threshold) session does. My commutes keep the muscles from getting stiff, and also burn some calories.

    I do the turbo sessions early in the morning (6am-ish) and so I find it’s the day *after* a fast that I find slightly more difficult.

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