Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The power of rest: when it comes to fitness, sometimes less is more
FEBRUARY 14, 1995, is a red-letter date on my workout calendar. Not because it was Valentine's Day, but because for nearly six years afterward, that Tuesday was the last day on which I didn't exercise. Yes, it's true: I worked out for more than 2,000 consecutive days.
Several personal factors fueled my no-rest-for-the-weary streak, including an unexpected divorce, but the main reason I didn't skip a day of rowing, running, swimming, mountain biking or weight training was that I feared if I took one day off, it would lead to two. Then two days would become a week of sloth, which would become two weeks, then a month, until I turned into a full-fledged slug. It took a three-month, world-tour honeymoon to break me of my habit.
Somewhere between Madrid and Mongolia, I realized that if I insisted on maintaining my streak, I'd return home without my new husband. Jack doesn't quite share my commitment to exercise, so it would have caused some friction, to say the least, if I'd continued to skip chapel tours and museum excursions in favor of five-mile runs.
On a four-day train ride into Siberia, when I couldn't even squeeze in a touristy power walk, I also realized something else: My quads weren't always subtly aching and my back wasn't in spasm when I turned too quickly. Not only that, but when I finally did get to run, I felt a new burst of energy. It's crazy, but I had to travel clear around the world to realize the value of kicking back.
It's a lesson, experts say, that every fitness buff needs to learn. "One of the big fears of very active people is that they'll lose fitness if they take time off," says Cheryl Kruse Shwe, owner and head coach of Run 4 Life in San Francisco. "But the opposite is true: Rest and recovery allows you to move to a higher level of fitness."
Top athletes know well the power of rest. "There are no elite athletes who are continuous motion machines," says Gale Bernhardt, a Colorado-based coach and the author of Training Plans for Multisport Athletes (Velo Press, 2000). They all incorporate rest because they know it will make them healthier, stronger and faster. Recreational athletes need to follow suit, Bernhardt says.
Rest is essential because it allows your muscle tissue to rebuild. "This recovery phase lets your body repair tissues and synthesize proteins," explains William J. Kraemer, PhD, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. "Otherwise, your body is always in a state of breaking things down."
While you can't see these processes working, you will feel the results. Your body will feel rejuvenated, and you'll feel newly motivated. You won't have muscle aches and joint pains. You'll have fewer, if any, overuse injuries. You'll sleep better. "Rest is like a pit stop: It gives your body the time to put everything back together--even better than when you pulled into the pit stop," Kraemer says.
Before you head for the couch instead of the gym, however, know that rest doesn't always mean total inactivity. There are two types of rest: complete rest and active rest. A day of complete rest means no exercise, just going about your daily living--going to work, grocery shopping, hanging with friends or family, watching some tube. Active rest, as its name implies, involves doing some activity--either something different from your main sport (swimming instead of running, for instance) or a shorter, easier version of your usual workout.
Some coaches and athletes believe strongly in taking one day of complete rest each week, whereas others think active rest is more effective. Different athletes respond to different training programs, and the rule of thumb for rest may also vary by sport. So experiment to find out what works for you, and listen to your body on a daily basis. If you haven't scheduled a rest day but feel sluggish or achy, take the day off. It doesn't mean you're lazy; it means you're smart.
THE RULES OF REST
For endurance athletes and cardio devotees, the type and quantity of rest you need depends on several factors, including your age, sport, years of experience, personality, medical history, previous injuries and training goals. The older you are, for example, the more active rest you need. "Active rest becomes a critical part of maintaining athletic longevity," says Nancy H. Cummings, MEd, coordinator of research at the USA Triathlon National Training Center in Clermont, FL, and a competitive track-and-field athlete who just turned 40.
Cummings says younger athletes who are newer to their sports also need extra active rest because their bodies haven't had time to adjust to the demands of their sports. Runners, volleyball players and other high-impact athletes also need more recovery than people who do lower-impact activities such as swimming. As a general rule, all exercisers should take an active rest day--if not a day of complete rest--at least every seven to 10 days. Your workouts should vary in intensity and you shouldn't do more than two superhard workouts a week.
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