Week 5: Deloading. Is rest…good?

 

June 3rd:

In the same way that drained batteries need to recharge, so do our muscles. After rigorous activity, the muscles need adequate nutrients and rest in order to recover and comeback stronger. Lark.com (among many other sites) even says that rest could help break plateaus; a core struggle faced earlier in the program. That doesn’t mean however, lying in bed and doing nothing.

During week 5 I was in Calgary on a friend’s trip to celebrate a convocation. During this time I participated in a form of active recovery which is a process after exercise where you are still doing activities but at low intensity. Examples usually include walking, swimming, gentle cycling, and yoga. Essentially its activity that still keeps the muscles moving and engaged but not enough to heavily fatigue them. With a break from work and the gym and having the training replaced by hiking and rock climbing, it will be interesting to see what next week entails for progress.

June 7th:

As you can see from the picture on the left, I was a man on a mission during our time in Calgary/Canmore. Reflecting on the mini-vacation I had, I unfortunately can’t say I completely rested. With an average of 5.5 hours of sleep a night with no daytime naps, and a LOT of hiking/walking, I came home exhausted. Luckily while playing our final playoff game on June 6th, I did not notice any decline in my jumping ability so I hope that the active recovery was worth it. Next week we will see if it paid off or not!