The way I see it, the two most vocal groups on the recovery/rest issue are 1) the no pain, no gain folks who think you're weak, and 2) the your-body-is-always-right folks who think the former are steroid abusing neanderthals. I'm just starting to formalize my thoughts on this issue, so chime in if you have a different opinion.
I just wrapped up a week's worth of travel that included 48 hours of driving to and from Colorado, and little to no sleep on a floor in between. To boot, I ate like crap - sporadic and convenience oriented. During that week, I had what I feel were my two strongest lifting days to date. No PRs mind you, but the reps were higher and I simply felt stronger, like I brought more to the bar. I took the day off yesterday to "rest up", which included a ton of sleep, paleo friendly food, and no training. Today, I'm lethargic, I feel weak, and I generally feel like I've been drugged. But I laced up for my training anyway. I put up the prescribed weight for my progression, yet if felt as if I'd doubled up the increase. I'd slated some conditioning work to follow up the lifts, but by the time I got to that point, I was tapped. So I called it.
This brings me to my point - sometimes, your body is right, and sometimes it isn't. There is absolutely a difference between overloading and overtraining. Overloading is good, overtraining is bad. Assuming you don't have a good coach who's calling it for you, telling the difference between the two can be tough. I have some guesses as to what category the various personalities our clients and athletes bring to the table might fall under, but I'd rather discuss my own experience and how I manage it.
I'm a type AB personality - I fall into both categories, sometimes swinging into type A, and sometimes into type B. When my motivation is up, I can find myself on the edge of overtraining. That generally leads me to burn-out and a subsequent shift into no training at all. Then I'm fighting for the motivation to get my groove back. In the past, I've fallen victim to thoughts like, "Man, my body is begging to rest, so I should lay around for 3 months." Ok, maybe not that dramatic, but you get the point. I've since learned to manage my training and balance the ebb and flow of recovery needs. It's not perfect, but it's getting better.
Given the outline of my last week, it's no wonder I feel beat down. Poor food choices, poorer sleep, and general work/life stress to boot have simply primed me for overtraining. So today, I made some choices for the week: 1) condense my strength sessions to two days, 2) change my conditioning sessions to skill work and 3) move that skill work to non-strength days. This buys me a lighter load (no metcons), and more time for recovery over the course of a given day. I'm also forcing myself to be in bed at a particular time ensuring at least 8 hours of sleep. My workouts will be in the afternoons (normal for me anyway) so I'm not forcing myself out of sleep earlier than necessary.
I feel like these choices are a good middle of the road - I'm not giving all training, but I am scaling back. The general intesity of the week is lower. This isn't new to anyone, though, is it? It's called deloading. Deloading is an important tool in the arsenal of a strength/fitness coach and any athlete looking to improve their performance. Digging around, it seems most coaches are calling for a deloading week every 4 - 6 weeks. Seems fair, but I think it can/should be dependant on the athlete. This week marks the 6th of my 12 week summer strength cycle and given how shitty I feel, I think a deload is called for. But if you've got a good rhythm, if you're making gains, by all means, stay in your groove. So long as you're getting adequate nutrition and rest, ride that horse.
The issue arises, though, as to when you are actually in need of some dedicated recovery time and when you might just be feeling lazy. Here's the questions I came up with for myself:
- Am I sick or injured? If yes, then it is probably in my best interest to rest up.
- What's going on elsewhere? Is my nutrition and sleep up to snuff? Critical factors in many a good coaches opinion.
- How long have I been feeling sub-par? If it's just today, am I just being lazy? If it's been a few days in a row, or if my previous 2 or 3 sessions have suffered, I should consider some deload/recovery time.
- How long has it been since my last recovery/deload week? If it's been awhile, even if I'm feeling strong, I might want to consider some deload time. It could ward off a future burn-out.
- What does my programming look like? Am I overdoing it with conditioning work? CrossFitters are notorious for metcon addiction. Be wary. If you've just gone through several months of chippers, maybe it's time to take a step back and re-examine your goals. And take a break while you're doing it.
This isn't rocket surgery, but it helped me to examine where I am this week. I'm comfortable with my decision to deload this week, but I'm eager to kick it back up a notch next week.
DGF
