Is Rest Binary?

[Nee-2-No-Bases]

By that I mean, in a given day, do you either rest or not-rest. Is there an in between?


So, I have worked out the last 6 days, including today. Days 2 and 3 were relatively mild, but days 4, 5, and 6 were pretty balls out in preparation for the Vegas trip.


I planned on mostly resting tomorrow to let my body heal, regardless. However, I felt like maybe I should do some cardio and abs or something tomorrow. Just to squeeze out a little more before the trip, and burn a few more calories.

I lifted upper body days 4 and 6, and legs day 5. But did some full body conditioning work all 3 days.

So I definitely am not planning on doing any upper body tomorrow. That definitely needs rest.

So, the question is, will going for a run and/or some ab work take away from the rest I am trying to give my upper body? To really rest, do I need to take a day completely off, or is it sufficient to rest the specific muscle groups that need the most recovery?

[Quasi]

Are you sort of talking about active recovery? If so, sounds like studies say it's fine.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/t...verecovery.htm

[Nee-2-No-Bases]

Originally Posted by Quasi

Are you sort of talking about active recovery? If so, sounds like studies say it's fine.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/t...verecovery.htm

Yeah, that's definitely relevant to what I am talking about, although that article had most of it's detail on doing a "cool down" immediately after working out.

I am more talking about the days following, which it barely addressed.


And as far as all that about lactic build up removal, that's old news. My coaches in high school made us do cool downs after practice for just that reason. So, apparently, the idea has been around for quite some time. I still do cool downs after aerobic exercise.

It seems pointless after anaerobic exercise, given that the lactic build up in the muscles is much lower.

[Quasi]

Originally Posted by Nee-2-No-Bases

Yeah, that's definitely relevant to what I am talking about, although that article had most of it's detail on doing a "cool down" immediately after working out.

I am more talking about the days following, which it barely addressed.


And as far as all that about lactic build up removal, that's old news. My coaches in high school made us do cool downs after practice for just that reason. So, apparently, the idea has been around for quite some time. I still do cool downs after aerobic exercise.

It seems pointless after anaerobic exercise, given that the lactic build up in the muscles is much lower.

I grabbed the first link that popped up when I searched "active recovery" but it probably wasn't a good one. This one is probably better

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magaz...verecovery.htm

....Countless hours of scientific research have been dedicated to optimal recovery from DOMS. Active recovery, once again, shows great promise to the elite athlete. Consider the following studies:

It has been established that a highly effective mean for reducing DOMS is through active resisted exercise of the affected muscle groups. Hasson et al. [19] investigated the use of light exercise in the treatment of DOMS 24 hour’s post-eccentric quadriceps training. A significant reduction in symptoms was demonstrated.

Tiidus et al. is a major advocate of AR for DOMS. Through several experiments [24,29] he has shown that for elevated muscle blood flow through low intensity exercise would be of great benefit, and would “thereby enhance healing and temporarily reduce delayed onset muscle soreness. [29]”

Here is an additional study from President Wilson’s [22] excellent article, Hippocrates - Was He Hardcore?:


”Sayers et. al compared a lighter training session (active recovery) compared to pure rest. Eight subjects rested after a taxing elbow flexor workout, while nine performed a lighter training session to aid recovery. The results showed that strength recovery was better after light exercise when compared with just rest. This study confirms, that even if you do not perform split volume training, that a light training session while the muscle is recovering can be very beneficial.”

The results are clear: performing AR during recovering periods is of great assistance for alleviating DOMS, expediting recovery, and improving athletic performance. .....

[Nee-2-No-Bases]

Originally Posted by Quasi

I grabbed the first link that popped up when I searched "active recovery" but it probably wasn't a good one. This one is probably better

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/magaz...verecovery.htm

Awesome.