In today’s toolbox article, I wanted to spend some time focusing on an aspect of our fitness that all too many cyclists neglect: stretching. Since I tend to also neglect that aspect of my fitness, I consulted a good friend of mine, Elise Yanover, who has been a registered physiotherapist in Toronto for the last 29 years to gather some more detailed information.

As you continue to put in weeks of solid training, you might be finding it difficult to understand when you can keep pushing yourself, or when you need to back off and allow your body to recover. 

We know training is essential to improving fitness and performance, but we often neglect recovery and adaptation. What happens when we get that balance wrong and veer into overtraining?

The list of recovery tools the modern day cyclists has access to is quite long, and now there are tools promising to monitor and quantify your recovery. But we’re missing the best one, that’s right under your nose.

Concussions are an unfortunate risk in cycling despite advances in helmet technology. Can hyperbaric oxygen therapy help to accelerate recovery?

Caffeine and cycling go together like few other things in life, and the coffee stop at the end of the ride is often the whole reason for many of us to clip into the pedals to begin with. Can we further justify the caffeine as a recovery tool after a hard ride?

A popular trend in recovery has been the use of cold water immersion or ice baths. They may improve your sensations of soreness and short-term recovery after hard training, but are they the best thing for long-term training adaptation?

Heart rate variability may be useful as a guide to your recovery and readiness for training, and that it may improve fitness compared to a traditional periodization plan. How does it compare to a block periodization approach?

Toolbox: No bike racing and indoor training are not the end of the world - and neither is this break in your cycling fitness. Here's what to expect and how to make the most of the recent change in plans.