In this series of articles we have covered many of the key training principles, including base training, lactate threshold and VO2 Max – however, it’s important to note that without adequate recovery all the training you do is effectively useless.

It is during recovery that physiological adaptations to training are made. Training only gives your body the stimulus to adapt and get stronger, and so it is after exercise – when recovering – that those adaptations are made and you will become stronger and fitter.

As a result, it’s very important to find the right balance between training and recovery. I was once told by my ex-team manager that it is impossible to over train but very easy to under recover.

After an increased period of training it’s important to balance this with an increased block of recovery. Every training session you do gives your body a certain stimulus to adapt to, but also induces a certain amount of fatigue. If you train and train without sufficient recovery then the level of fatigue increases at the same rate as your level of fitness. This means that your fatigue level will mask any improvements you are making and you won’t actually get any stronger on the bike.

However, if you find the correct balance between recovery and training then you should get stronger with each block of training. With that in mind, how much recovery do you need?