PT Personal Trainers

The importance of rest after training

The world's Physical Activity and Health is currently facing a complex paradox. If on one hand the exercise is health promoter and physical well-being and emotional, on the other, could result in exactly the opposite effect: the onset of illness and injury.

Specialists in physical exercise have investigated this paradox extensively, concluding that the training "alone" is not the problem, the question concerns before, with insufficient rest. It appears that the quality of recovery is therefore as important as the quality of training and exercise professionals need to understand this interrelatedness.

It is now known that the practice of exercise, when well directed and prescribed, has numerous benefits in terms of health and performance. However, this works simultaneously as the stressor agent to the human body, interfering with the internal balance of all physiological and biochemical processes - homeostasis.

A training volume and intensity appropriate to the physical condition of the practitioner and specific recovery protocols, will trigger an adaptive process that allows the body rebuild itself, to repair and reinforce, reaching a higher level of performance. The opposite, namely a training inadequate physical condition of the practitioner and without proper rest, have adverse effects on the human body.

The recovery from training therefore becomes as important as the workouts themselves, and involves three steps:

1 Establish goals and a structured training plan and appropriate to them, including transition periods between training cycles;

2. Adopt a healthy lifestyle, it does not neglect the quality and quantity of sleep, food and wellbeing mental / psychological;

3. Understand how training affects the internal physiology in real time and respond with appropriate recovery times.

Developing a schedule of periodization

training plans should establish precisely the current performance levels and set realistic goals. These should follow a specific schedule, alternating periods of high intensity recovery periods within each week and over a week cycle.

Living conditions and the recovery plan

The living conditions of an exercise practitioner can disrupt an excellent workout plan / recovery.

Sleep

Sleep allows the body to rebuild and strengthen. Studies say that 7-9 hours of sleep are critical to the biochemical balance, raising the levels of substances such as growth hormone, and reducing inflammatory chemical substance such as cortisol, IL-6 and TNF-a (Dement 2000; Gonnissen, et al., 2012).

Sleep also allows an increase in protein resynthesis a relaxing the nervous system and increase immune function, promoting optimal recovery of muscle tissue (Hausswirth & Mujika 2013).

Nutrition

Improve physical performance requires a proper balance of nutrients. Each has a specific role in performance improvement, supply and recovery between training (Carbon and Fats Hydrates) and the construction and reconstruction of muscle tissue (proteins).

Physiological feedback

Get a physiological feedback can help shape a rest and recovery strategy. You can go through daily conduct a simple measurement of resting heart rate and filling out a questionnaire.

This is a cheap and easy method to apply, however has its shortcomings, such as the subjectivity of the questionnaires. Blood tests are a more viable method, measuring metabolites present in the circulatory system, giving us a more real internal feedback, however it is difficult to access and expensive.

The imbalance between training and rest can lead to overtraining, best known for overtraining. This state is the result of a repeat discrepancy between stress and recovery throughout the training process (Lehmann et al, 1993).

Signs such as depression, lack of appetite, drop in income in physical exercise, insomnia, exaggerated to rest, or changes in resting heart rate may be signs that something is wrong. Excess physical exercise, if detected in time, can be fixed in a week, but if neglected, can take months for a full recovery.

For all these indicators, the ideal physical exercise, should take into account factors such as age, sex, general health, performance levels, type of workout performed, availability for training and goals. Only in this way, the ideal combination between training and rest will be found and exercise practitioner will benefit from the achievement of its objectives.

Rui Madeira text, adapted from Ricardo Gomes in Magazine Gym Factory, edition 11.