Importance of Rest and Recovery

Importance of Rest & Recovery

At Fit Camp we are here to help you be the best you can be. Whether you are training with us to get in shape or take part in an event we want to make sure that you achieve your target, but we want to make sure that you do it in a balanced way that’s healthy and maintainable.

It’s very easy, when you start to see your target getting closer, to do more of what’s been working. Maybe eating less or training more to get there quicker. This is where we want to step in and guide you to long term success with a more holistic approach to your health and training and make sure that you don’t over train, do take enough rest and recover properly.

At Fit Camp most of our sessions are based around a type of training called HIIT (high intensity interval training.) This is excellent for improving stamina and endurance and also for shifting body fat quickly as it does a really good job of revving up your metabolism so you burn more fat calories after the session has finished.

However it’s not the type of training that we would encourage you to do five or six times a week. You need to allow your body to rest between sessions so that you get great results without the problems of over-training and fatigue.

During exercise you are breaking down your muscles and using up your muscle glycogen (energy) stores. The muscle fibres tear as they are put under strain and it is the rest phase when the rebuilding and repair occurs. It is also the time when you can refuel your body to provide it with the optimum level of nourishment and hydration to be able to go off and train again a day or so later. If you train daily and continually work to exhaustion, never giving your body time to recover you won’t see the changes in your body as it never has time build stronger muscles.

This doesn’t mean that you are confined to three sessions a week and that’s it. But it does mean that on days when you don’t do Fit Camp, or even on a Fit Camp day, you can do something different that challenges your body in a different way.

You may want to walk, cycle, swim, take a class or go for a steady paced run. If you want something more sedate practising Tai-Chi, yoga or Pilates are excellent classes to balance the body and mind.

This isn’t to say that you can’t do weight training or Boxercise or train for an event, but you need to make sure you don’t fall into the trap of over-training.

So what are the signs of over-training?

Feeling constantly tired, apathetic about your training, getting frequent illness, plateauing with results or progress, having a lack of energy in sessions and getting injuries are all signs that you are training too hard.

How do I recover?

• Mix up your training. Do some cardio, take a yoga class, play a sport.

• Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation will add to the overload of hard training and lack of recovery.

• Eat and drink ‘clean’. Good recovery is helped by good nutrition and hydration. You can’t out-train a bad diet, but you also can’t train well on an inadequate intake. Even if your target is weight loss, you still need to eat!

• Take a 1-2 days off per week. Enjoy having a rest day. You’ve earned it!

You can download this article here –> Rest and recovery.