A client of mine remarked about NJ governor John Corzine’s speedy recovery from his horrific vehicular accident. She said,
“Well, if I did 4 hours of physical therapy a day, 7 days a week like he did, I’d get better just as quickly .”
No, she wouldn’t have. You can bet your bottom dollar that while the PT helped some, it was Corzine’s mental state, motivation, and overall insanity that brought him back to his duties so quickly (hey, he was CEO and chairman of Goldman Sachs in a former life).
If you’re like most exercisers, you spend a great deal of time researching what the best diet or nutrition is. You’re concerned with putting together the perfect exercise program. You read about meal timing, macronutrient ratios, undulating periodization, and myostatin. And yet, there’s likely one thing that would never cross your mind at all – rest.
Rest. It’s almost a forbidden word in American culture (at least in the non-stop town I work in, good ol’ New York City). In a training context, it’s assumed that like other things, more exercise is better – more reps, more sets, more workouts, more weight…
…well, more weight generally is better. But the other stuff deals with recovery issues; in other words, rest.
Understand this: Exercise is merely the stimulus for change. It is not the agent of change – your body is.
Example: Pick up a heavy dumbbell and begin to curl it. Curl it until you can no longer even lift it. Then set the dumbbell down.
Is your biceps muscle stronger now?
No – in fact, it’s weaker. Strength training is a systematic process of weakening (damaging) muscles, so that the body “fixes” them and ends up making them stronger afterwards. All you’re doing with the exercise is causing trauma to muscle tissue, which your body will repair and reinforce (if a strong wind knocked down your fence, wouldn’t you reinforce the fence posts so that it wouldn’t happen again?). Only after this repair process occurs are we actually stronger.
Most folks don’t give themselves enough time to allow this recovery process to occur. The scientific consensus is that 48 hours is a good time frame for muscle recovery from an intense work bout (after 48 hours, muscle glycogen is fully replenished – the fuel tanks are topped off). However, some newer research involving mRNA suggests that full recovery doesn’t occur until closer to 72 hours post-workout.
Whatever the actual case may be, allowing at least 48 hours between strength training bouts will ensure that your muscles are adequately recovered to receive their next bit of “gentle coaxing and persuasion” to become bigger and stronger.
Skip a day, get results faster – what a compelling concept.
Filed under: Exercise Science, Recovery
