After working out sporadically the last two weeks of December, I started January off with a bang. I went 13 days in a row without taking a recovery day. Now I am not talking about little tiny workouts. I am talking intense training with weight lifting, heavy cardio days, lot’s of sweat and sore muscles. I am training for competitive karate with competition season starting at the end of the month. I have so much to learn as far as karate goes that I am pushing myself. But I will be of no use if I become injured. In fact I have learned that rest days are just as important as workout days.
When you exercise heavily, your muscles breakdown and your body is depleted of glycogen. Recovery time allows your muscles to rebuild and the energy stores in your body to renew. Did you know that your muscles actually get stronger when you allow a proper rest? Yes, it is the tissue rebuilding that makes for stronger muscles. Without proper rest, you are more prone to injury. There needs to be a balance between training hard and allowing your body to recover.
Rest days are not only necessary for your body to repair but also for psychological benefit. At the end of my 13 day streak, I was mentally fatigued. This lead to less than optimal performance with karate and a training session with my coach. I basically had a little meltdown with me being extremely hard on myself. I learned that over-training increases the bodies stress hormone which can lead to a depressed immune system. I certainly don’t need to get sick!
So what am I doing to ensure proper recovery?
I am planning at least one recovery day a week where I will not train. Most likely this will be Sunday. I am also going to make sure I get enough sleep. Saturday night I slept for 10 hours – yeah I was sleep deprived! Feeding my body the proper nutrients and making sure I stay hydrated are at the top of my list too. Foam rolling, icing, hot baths and stretching also help with recovery.
Now depending on your fitness level, you might need more than one recovery day a week. Since I have been training for over two years, I am comfortable with working out 5-6 days a week. Note that only two days a week are weights though. I also have my coach to monitor my workouts and help me with active recovery days (meaning days that you recover by doing some sort of exercise on a low impact level). If you are just starting a workout program, you may need a recovery day every other day.
Listen to your body and schedule a recovery day to prevent over-training!
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Nice article. I fell into that same trap when I was training for Nationals with LMKA. I became more prone to injuries, I trained through strains, sprains and pains (not such a good thing) and I stressed out. I think it was my younger brother who told me that when he was training for the Olympic Cycling Team his coach told him that 2 days a week he wasn’t allowed to ride a bike (even a stationary bike) for any reason whatsoever and that he’d never be the best he could be if he didn’t rest. Glad you figured it out, sorry it took a ‘wall’ to teach you. I hit mine pretty hard and try my best to avoid it at all costs these days. Rest = Progress.
Thanks for the comment Dave! You need to come back and train with me! I need another adult in the comp class! It’s all a learning process. I absolutely love karate but put too much pressure on myself (hard not too when you are training with mostly upper belts!).
Renae
The thought of returning to Team Intense HAS crossed my mind this week. I hate to admit it, but I almost NEED competition to really push myself. If all goes well with the return to training, I might consider competing again sooner rather than later. I always enjoyed it! Who knows, maybe going back to Nationals after 40 isn’t such a crazy idea to me anymore. :)