SATURDAY SPIN

Rest is the lever. That is what John Wakefield offered when I asked what amateurs should steal from Team Bora. He is the South African coach who ran Science to Sport and now directs coaching and sports science at Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe. I sat down with him last May and recorded the podcast.

Most amateurs are scared of rest. They go bad on the bike, panic, train harder. Go worse, panic more, train harder again. He called that the worst thing you could do.

They cannot add another training day. They cannot add another hour. So they yank the only lever left and go harder. They add extra hard repeats on top of the work they already had, and they go further into the hole.

The actual lever is simpler and harder. Stop training. Let the adaptation happen.

People think that if they are not training they are not getting better. Often the rest is when they actually get better. He did not pick ketones, massage boots, or ice. He offered rest.

And they forget that a wife, kids, and a job already take energy. A rider who gets on the bike at six, finishes the ride at eight, and sits a nine-to-five is not recovering. Those hours already belong on the ledger as load.

If a hard day is going badly, the change this week is rest, not another repeat on top of the ones you already had.

When you are getting worse on the bike, rest is the work. Adding more intensity is how you stay in the hole.

And if you want the full conversation with John Wakefield, here is the episode.

P.S. If you want help putting this week on the calendar, you can apply for Not Done Yet coaching.

Anthony