Given we live in Couch Potato Nation, you'd think it'd be easy to talk just about anyone into taking a day off sometimes, but it's not. We seem to be all-or-none around these parts. Either we're 300 pounds and reaching for the remote control causes us to break into a heavy sweat, or we're body fat obsessed and 4-pack abs, as opposed to 6-pack abs, are viewed as a bitter failure.
That's why I think, for that second group, that the idea of a recovery day can be challenging, which is a damn shame, because a good day off is a vastly important tool in your fitness Swiss Army Knife. Exercise tears down muscles. Recovery builds them up. It's that simple. But what constitutes a recovery day? Should you do nothing at all, or will you benefit from a little light work to get the blood flowing? Dr. Gabe Mirkin, whose name rhythms with "firkin," has posted a great blog asking just that question and posting studies on both sides of the fence.
Research data comparing active and passive recovery are scant. I am amazed at how few quality studies are available to answer this question. New training methods are developed by athletes and coaches. Then when these athletes win competitions, scientists do studies to show why the new training methods are more effective. A recent report from The University of Western Australia shows that runners recover faster by taking a relaxed swimming workout 10 hours after high intensity interval running, rather than just resting (International Journal of Sports Medicine, January 2010). However, in another study, runners recovered strength and power faster aftr a marathon by resting for five days compared to those who ran slowly (Journal of Applied Physiology, December 1984).I found this to be a particularly fair and balanced bit of reporting, which is refreshing considering Dr. Firkin can be a bit fringe sometimes. For example, he recently reported that saturated fats may not be bad for you after all and... oh, wait a minute. I reported that too. Never mind.
Anyway, my take on the active v. passive rest day debate is that it depends entirely on the individual. I like to set one day aside a week with no planned exercise, but I also lead a pretty active life, so that day is usually filled with swimming, hiking, playing cornhole or riding bikes with my daughter. Hell, I don't even have basic cable and it only takes so long to read the Sunday Times, so my couch just doesn't see that much weekend action.
As long as it's clearly not breaking anything down and it feels right, I think whatever you do on your day off is on the right path.
photo: mjd-s @ Flickr
That's a really interesting blog! Thanks for posting that!
ReplyDeleteI usually spend my rest day choreographing. By "choreographing" I mean sitting on the floor and shuffling pennies (I'd like to get a hold of some army men because that would be cooler) around and figuring out formation changes and counting out how long it would take them to get there. Then I write it down and hope it works. It's a very high tech and complicated process, so if that totally went over your head I understand. :)
"4-pack abs, as opposed to 6-pack abs, are viewed as a bitter failure."
ReplyDeleteHow did you read my mind? Last summer I was so pissed that no matter what I couldn't get more than I 4-pack. I know I had a baby and all, but it was still really frustrating.