The Important of Rest – Psychological and Physical
The concept of rest and recovery cannot be stressed enough in anykind of fitness regime. Bodybuilding relies on the mastering of the manipulation of bodily systems, and therefore, rest should never be overlooked. Sometimes physical and psychological rest is perc
eived as weakness, in the realm of fitness, however, when executed properly in terms of amount and timing, it is actually he key to success. If the body is not physically and mentally rested, the exercise regime cannot be carried out in its entirety.
Too much rest is a mistake, as well as, not enough rest is also a mistake. Therefore, one should seek a perfect balance between the two to ensure the optimal mental and physical rest during a training program. The idea of periodization of training can also be applied to the rest within a regime in addition to the training. Periodization is actually the entire program including the work and rest; however, we can break it down by just looking at rest as an individual part for the purpose of this discussion.
Physical rest and recovery can be observed not only out of the gym, but in the gym as well. Rest intervals intra-training were discussed in a previous article and should be referred to there. The purpose of this discussion is on the out of gym rest and recovery. Rest is important for the physical being of the human body, for the recovery of the muscles and other bodily systems. Without the recovery of these bodily systems progress and/or gains cannot and will not be made. Therefore, you are technically hurting yourself and all of the hard work that you put in at the gym, if you do not take some time to step away from the gym and let your muscles recover. Mental recovery is also important. Muscles are innervated by the central nervous system, which the brain is ultimately in charge of. You can begin to see, that if you are not psychologically rested, a workout cannot be completed to it optimal potential. That is not say that you cannot workout, however, you are cheating yourself because you could be performing better had you gotten your proper rest. That is the mistake that most people make. They feel as if they can workout anyways and push through it. This is probably true, however, the smarter choice would actually be to take a rest day.
The specificity of when a rest day should occur within a training program is most likely specific to the individual that the training program is for. That is, rest days can be planned, however, when a training program is carried out, some individuals may respond to more or less rest days positioned before or
after certain workout days. For example, a person whom is trying to add size to a particular body part may benefit from taking a rest day prior to training that body part to ensure adequate rest. Another example could be that after an extra taxing workout such as a leg day routine, a rest day is taken to ensure adequate recovery prior to another workout session. Rest days being scheduled specifically for the individual whom the training program was created seems like common sense. However, in this day and age when people are pulling training programs from online and using them as is, they are not taking into account their own body and it's response to the training program. Bodybuilding is an art and that being said, half of the art is learning your own body and how it responds to your training and how to adjust it accordingly.
Chronic fatigue and acute fatigue are important to understand when considering the amount of rest that is appropriate and to avoid overtraining. Acute fatigue is the direct result of work that has just been done, say in a workout. Acute fatigue is also task specific, that is, if you had performed a leg workout, your legs are what is experiencing acute fatigue, not other parts of your body. Acute fatigue is important to understand in relation to overtraining in the following way. If you were to work chest on Monday, you most likely will not workout shoulder and triceps on Tuesday for the simple fact that this would place too much physical stress on the shoulder and would not allow for adequate rest.
Chronic fatigue on the other hand is the compilation of not only the physical stress of a workout, but the psychological stress as well. It is important to note that psychological stress also may come from additional sources other than a workout. With increased chronic fatigue the body’s ability to recover from individual workouts is diminished. This is why during pre-competition training it is important to encounter as little stress as possible. Anything that is known to increase stress on the body should be avoided such as traveling long distances, relationship changes and major life changes, should be avoided during the pre-competition phase of training. If one begins to experience chronic fatigue and experiences it for an extended period of time, performance will be affected and will decrease. That being said the slow decrease in performance is overtraining. Athletes should closely monitor their training and psychological state to avoid overtraining and chronic fatigue. By being aware of the physical stress of working out and the psychological stress otherwise added, one can reduce the risk of exhibiting over training. Dieting this can be alleviated by having periodic cheat meals, say one meal per week, to reduce some psychological stress. This may be one mechanism of action for the science behind cheat meals, which I will discuss in a future article.
When planning your next periodized training program it will be in your best interest to account for not only the training but the rest as well. They are equally important especially when you are putting your body through intense workouts. You are not being lazy by taking an off day from the gym; you are being smart!
Sources and Photo Credits
Bompa, T. O., & Haff, G. (2009). Periodization, theory and methodology of training.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
http://thespecific.com/blog/2011/07/13/tired-of-chronic-fatigue/
http://www.memorialhealth.us/services/sleep-lab
http://www.thatsfit.com/2008/09/04/the-5-ways-to-recover-from-over-training/
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