Rest Reminder

Just a reminder for you to rest between strength training (resistance) workouts.  At least 1-2 days between full body workouts.  True that you could strength train every day if you are only focusing on a different muscle group each workout (upper body vs lower body for example), but this isn't the most effective to way to workout for maximum results (strength, endurance, or fat burn). 

I teach numerous bootcamp classes throughout the week and see it time and again....folks doing heavy sets of intense resistance training workouts back-to-back days throughout the week and wondering why they don't see results for all their intense efforts.  Couple of glaring reasons:  1) They are never allowing their bodies to recover from their workouts, so they are just tearing down their muscle fibers.  By not resting, those muscles are unable to build.  It is the building of muscle tissue that aides in fat burning by increasing your metabolism (not constantly torn down muscle fibers).  2) They are using tiny weights or are only partially doing each rep.  Here is what I mean by that....If you are doing shoulder presses (for example) and are using a weight that you could press all day long...or you get to the end of your third set and you could easily add a fourth or more, your weight is too light.  On the other hand, if you are eeking out the third set and are toast by the end, you are most likely at just the right weight.  If you are barely eeking through the first or second set, your weight is too heavy for you.  If you are using muscle groups you are not actually working to lift the weight, the weight is definitely too heavy for you.  Staying with the shoulder presses, if you are pushing up to full extension and then only coming down a 1/4 or even 1/2 way down to start, you are not actually doing the full range of motion and therefore short changing yourself the full benefits of your efforts.  Work smarter.  Rest smarter.  You will get better results!

Active Rest

Whether you are talking about being active between workout days or performing less intense exercise in between more intense workout sessions such as with high intensity interval training (HIIT), active rest is key to giving your body the recovery it needs so your workouts are effectively intense.

*Rest days in between days of resistance (strength) training workouts is important because it allows your muscles enough time to recover, repair, and grow stronger. Rest however doesn't mean couch time. Active rest would be a less intense activity such as a walk (even a jog), bike ride, yoga, etc. Get the idea?

*A lower intensity exercise in between HIIT gives your body enough recovery while preventing your heart rate from dropping rapidly. Without the active recovery period you would not be able to maintain the intensity required in HIIT to make it effective.