Use an “alternative means” on the day of rest: the varied world of preparation also offers this. In increasingly advanced frontiers, which seek the hair, there are many athletes who on the day of active rest choose to get on a mountain bike, a time trial bike or in some very rare cases even swim (see Wurf who is often involved in his triathlons) or those who ride gravel bikes.
Go slowly
James Notari, preparer of theAstana-Qazaqstan he explains to us the reasons for these choices. «Let's start from the assumption that the unloading day and the total rest day are important, if not more, of training or loading days, because if you don't recover well then the subsequent workouts won't be as good, nor will the previous ones be assimilated, so whatever activity you do, it must be undertaken well.
"If you like alternatives to the racing bike," Notari explains, "like mountain bikes or time trial bikes, it's right to use them. Things are different today than they were a few years ago. We're more open to certain variations. Once upon a time, you didn't have to walk, you didn't have to stand… Today, a 30-minute walk is even possible. But if you're hiking in the mountains or going for a run in the middle of the season, it's certainly not ideal. We are always talking about an elite sport, extremely specific."
«MTB, gravel and time trial bikes are fine, provided that, especially on mountain bikes, you don't climb too muchBecause no matter how slow you go, in the end the climbs, especially the off-road ones, make you tired. And the same goes for the time trial bike, but in relation to speedYou can even stay there for an hour and a half, but at a slow pace."
Regarding swimming, Notari does not say he is against it, but even in this case the low intensity rule applies. «And the attitude that the rider has towards swimming is very important, because If he's good and does it regularly, he might even be able to swim there, otherwise it's better to avoid it.. Especially if it's the height of the season. It would be too different a gesture."
The “other” muscles
And this last concept related to swimming projects us towards thethe theme of using different muscles. What are the advantages of riding a time trial bike, a mountain bike, or, as is increasingly the case, a gravel bike?
Though Gravel, by virtue of a position that is almost identical to that of the road, is the best in some respects, such as mental and driving technique, is less efficient than others, such as muscular… if the goal is to clearly vary.
«The advantage – continues Notari – is that of varying one's usual activity. It is said that other muscles are involved, but this definition is not precise. If I use the time trial bike or the mountain bike the muscles are the same, but by virtue of different angles we can say that the same muscles are used differently. In mountain biking, but also on time trial bikes, the further forward you ride, the more you use your quadriceps."
Notari insists above all on the time trial bike. According to him, using it on the unloading day is important as the athlete gets used to changing bikes: A useful step in stage races. The day after the time trial, it's not uncommon for riders to feel the effects of it, to have muscle pain, and if they're stage racers, that's clearly not a good thing. But it's also not a good thing if you're a stage chaser and the day after the time trial there's a stage suited to that rider, whether they're an attacker or a sprinter.
From muscles to mind
But as he recently explained to us Germans (and not only him), or listening to the stories of DancersUsing another means of transport, in this case a mountain bike, is also a mental relief. It's no coincidence that we chose Germani for the opening photo during a backpacking excursion with fat tires. You're breaking new ground, it's not your "own sport" and you experience everything differently. In many cases, neither heart rate monitors nor potentiometers are used.
"Using another tool," says Notari, "is also a mental release, and that's fine. It's often thought that we coaches lobotomize kids with numbers and tables... but for everything to work you need the head, the motivation and this is also found like thisOtherwise, if only the numbers mattered, it would be enough to figure out who has the highest threshold and the finishing order could be drawn up even before the start.
«It's fine to use an alternative means of transport, in this case I'm referring more to the mountain bike which varies more from the daily routine. But I'll go further, If an athlete knows this tool well, he can also do specific work or endurance rides with it. (see Ballerini, ed.). So, the alternative means at the mental level is welcome."
