Wednesday, June 10, 2009

REST ALREADY PT. 2




HOW MUCH REST?

Healthy muscles will recover from workouts on their own, with no special prompting other than a proper diet and adequate amount of REST. Generally it takes three to five days for a body part to RECUPERATE and GROW after an intense weight-training session.

Averaging this to four days means a muscle trained on Monday should be ready for another session on Friday and then again on the following Tuesday.

Let soreness be your guide. Mild muscle soreness the day after a workout is a good thing. It highlights you had a productive session. Muscle cells have been depleted, and they'll need time to recover and grow back stronger.

Don't train that body part again until the soreness has all but disappeared. If a muscle trained on Monday is still sore on Friday, skip a day or two until the soreness abates. If soreness is extreme, or located anywhere but your muscles or if it persists without diminishing for a week, it is something other than a precursor to muscle growth and you should consult a doctor.

SOMETIMES the best thing you can do for your body is skip going to the gym. But please inform your INSTRUCTOR via email your current issues, perhaps there maybe some helpful advise given to hasten your recovery. If you continually stress a body part before it can recover, it will merely get weaker and smaller. If you allow it to RECUPERATE after such stress, it will grow stronger.

Always guard against over training. THE HARDER YOU TRAIN, THE MORE REST YOU NEED

SLEEP
As an adult, it's important that you get approximately eight hours per night of continuous or nearly continuous deep sleep to experience enough body and mind to properly be refreshed. Nearly everyone suffers from occasional insomnia, especially during periods of increased stress. More than 75% of all insomnia is caused by ANXIETY.

If you have trouble sleeping, avoid CAFFEINE and other stimulants in the evening and develop a pattern of going to bed and waking at the same time each day. MILK, which contains the sleep assisting amino acid TRYPTOPHAN, may be of some help, as may natural supplements and over-the-counter medication. Please be cautious using such drugs on a regular basis so you don't become dependent on them....If sleep disorder persists...Pray about it, then consult your doctor.

STRESS
Stress depletes your energy reserves and slows down your body's RECUPERATION. Stress can come in the form of anxiety or it can be caused by physical hindrances, such as drugs, alcohol, illness or an improper diet. The physical hindrances are the easiest to combat. You must simply eliminate or minimize such problems.

A healthy lifestyle void of drugs or alcohol and with plenty of WATER, PROTEIN, NATURAL FOODS, VITAMINS & MINERALS will allow your muscles to quickly recover from workouts.

Working out when sick even if you're suffering only from the common cold, is often counterproductive, because illness saps your ability to recover from workouts.

ENHANCING RECUPERATION
There are things you can do to aid RECUPERATION beyond getting enough sleep and nutrients and keeping stress in check.

STRETCHING...not only keeps your muscles and joints pliable, but it can also increase blood flow, assisting RECUPERATION. If you wake up sore, STRETCH the ACHING MUSCLES. Massage helps loosen tight and sore muscles and increase blood flow. Heat can also aid RECUPERATION whether it's applied in the form of a whirlpool, a sauna, heating pads or a warm bath. Whirlpools are often the best method, because they provide both heat and a water massage. Warmer than average temperatures bring blood to the skin and the muscles, thus keeping your body loose and RECUPERATING. Warmth can also help to alleviate minor joint pain.

RELAXATION TECHNIQUES...such as meditation, yoga aid muscle RECUPERATION. These techniques help alleviate stress, and stress may be impeding the speed at which you recover from workouts.

REST & GROW
Just as you can't grow without enough exercise and nutrients, you also can't grow without enough rest. Pay close attention to how your body is RECUPERATING from workouts and how you can improve this crucial element of your regimen. Don't think of the time you spend out of the gym as resting. Think of it as GROWING!!!


2 comments:

veronica said...

Good stuff!

Jackie said...

Thank you for this clarification. Last week, I really did overdue it. I put in an hour class of Tae Boe on Monday, an hour class on Tuesday of muscle conditioning with up to 10 lbs weights which I hadn't progressed to and then on Wednesday, I exercised for two hours, one hour as step & sculpt and the second hour of Tae Boe. By Saturday, my chest muscles were still sore. I've learned my lesson.
Jackie (JC)