Sleep, Rest, Results - Part 2

In the first part we looked a little more at sleep. Now, let's peek into rest. Rest is included between exercises, on days off,  as relaxation, as an easy day, on a stretch day or opposite (direction) day where most muscles that were flexed now favor extension, as an example.

Rest Between Exercises
You yearn for it, but the more it occurs the longer the workout. Good for when power moves call, but the current trend and mode of effectiveness favors a short rest period. Places that agree with the short rest period include, well, TEEM, for one; CrossFit; and any other professional that understands it's goal. Even though each entity that believes in it is different, the overwhelming result is that short rest periods garner an individual with good results.

Does the long rest period between exercises still exist? Yes. As a matter of fact, you better believe it. Without longer rest intervals, there would not be any time for coaching. Coaching is still an artful skill. But, unless a coach can speak at the speed of light and have his/her clients understand everything, longer rest periods will embrace it. For example, track and field athletes gains a lot of reps around the eight-lane oval they run; but their coaches offer plenty of advice between rest periods to help with more speed.

Days Off
It is highly neglected. In short, a day off is what it should be...a day off from the normal routine. Even the most elite athletes take days off, and they compete for physical competitions that put food on the table. So, why do days off continue to de-normalize with some individuals? Not sure. But, fear of escaping a routine could be a reason. Just the same, not having a decent routine could be to blame.

Relaxation
Plain and simple. Relaxation is what it is. When we relax, we should be in total rest mode. We really should allow our entire body to replenish itself a lot like a day-off. In fact, relaxation resembles a short version of a day-off. To the point and candid.

Easy Days
Incorporate these into your workout plans. An easy day is not a lazy one. It is, however, a movement day with less intensity. For example, if a heavy leg day is completed on Monday, then Tuesday might be a balance day or a cardio day. Or, if a heavy volume of sprints is completed on a Monday, then Tuesday might be devoted to technique.

Stretch Day and Opposite Day
I almost want to say that gymnast, contortionist, and acrobats are exempt. But, everyone else has stretching issues for various reasons. In some cases, stretching multiple times a day is needed. With TEEM, there are certain stretching prerequisites such as: it is a goal to have everyone touch the toes, bending at the hip (at least big improvements are necessary, depending on how long we are together); and the pretzel stretch is a nice one to almost entirely be able to perform. But hey, everyone is different and the degree of difficulty is understood.

Make It Happen,
Derek