It's been a few years now since I decided to do something about my health, my weight and my sanity. I've been visiting the gym consistently for over a year now and I'm finally starting to notice a difference. One of those differences is how much I can lift and how long it takes to recover from doing it. I have been working out 5 consecutive days, taking the weekends off and then Monday through Friday for 60 to 90 minutes of weight lifting. Now I'm finding that as I lift heavier I simply can't do it 5 days in a row. And that's normal. Muscles get stronger because when you work them you essentially tear the fibers and they regrow stronger. But they need time to regrow. If you don't give them that time you don't get stronger, you over train, you burn out..... Bad things happen. So you need rest days. Or at least days when you don't lift heavy weights repeatedly. Thus the change.
One problem that I have is that I NEED my time in the gym. It keeps the depression from climbing back up and swallowing me. I don't go to the gym and I get.....grumpy. But if I keep going the way I am it will become counter productive quickly. I simply can't put out the effort two days in a row, my body won't let me. I don't want the "off days" to become "cheat days" or to just sit around and do nothing. So, I think I'm going to start working in cardio and body weight exercises two days a week. Monday will be weights, Tuesday no weights, Wednesday weight, Thursday no weight, Friday weight, Saturday and Sunday off. It is rest that makes you stronger, because it is the rest that allows the muscles that you have broken down to heal and recover. It is the rest that allows you to recover so you can be strong, and thereby handle the increased weight, and increased number of reps and sets needed to gain further.
Up until recently I didn't need those extra rest days but as the weight increases, the sets and reps increase, I'm finding it takes longer to recover. I suppose this means I'm getting stronger, in theory anyway. But these two days away from lifting won't be spent doing nothing. It's time to work on a few things. Recovery, corrective exorcising and (my least favorite) conditioning, also know as cardio. Corrective exorcising includes things like stretching, foam rolling, balance work. My daily time at the gym is somewhat limited so I don't get much time to do these things and I really need to. Especially the cardio. My endurance needs some help. So does my flexibility. I need to work on my core too and this will provide time to do so. There are literally hundreds of exercises you can do that don't require weights or machine. Now to pick some and get them done. Ugghhhh, and cardio too.
Sources:
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2015/07/30/what-should-i-do-on-my-off-days/
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/behar2.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/make-the-most-of-your-rest-days.html
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-tips/rest-your-body-grow-your-muscles
http://greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere
http://travelstrong.net/bodyweight-exercises/
