THE IMPORTANCE OF REST Contributed by Guest Blogger, Coach Mikael Hanson www.enhancesports.com
I wanted to begin with a discussion on the importance of rest – an area that I see over-looked all too much and which is increasingly important especially as we get older. In my twenties recovery came easy and rest days, well those were few and far between and in my opinion for the weak minded. I used to become overcome with guilt for skipping a training day. Even when I was sick, I lived by the mantra that somewhere, someone is training and when you meet them in competition, they will beat you. They say, with age comes wisdom. I no longer feel guilty for missing an occasional workout, and realize that some of my best performances have come after a period of forced rest. It may have taken two decades of lessons, but I now look forward to my recovery days and it is not uncommon for me to string together back-to-back rest days. The forty-something me is also much more in tune with my body. I take my resting heart rate and check my body weight every morning, looking for those early warning signs of not being properly recovered (perhaps bordering on obsessive-compulsive behavior).
SLEEP
As someone who has battled with the debilitating affects of insomnia I know all to well what a lack of sleep can do to not only one’s performance but also to their state of mind. Former professional triathlete and now endurance coach, Wes Hobson, believes one should not train unless they got a minimum of 6 hours of continuous sleep the night before - if that were the case, I would have had to skip the last half decade of training! Living in New York City, one complaint I constantly hear from many of my athletes is their inability to get enough sleep. Work commitments, quality family time, training, recovery, all take their toll on us amateur athletes. A close look at the training regimen for any professional endurance athlete will invariably include at least 8 hours of sleep each night PLUS a nap. Now if we could all do that, I think most of us would be able to elevate our performances!
I have battled sleep troubles for years and knew I really needed to focus on my own sleep routine if I wished to stay competitive on the racing scene as well as just plain healthy as a person with a family. This is one of the reasons I have my athletes keep track of their own sleep patterns and resting heart rates as part of their training log - to help them identify when they have not gotten enough rest and need to take it easy!
As for how much sleep one needs - that is a very individual thing. Here are some tips to help you sleep or at least find a relaxed state:
Caffeine - Yes, the lifeblood of endurance athletes - but try to go decaf after 3pm!
Sugar - Ever see how your kid acts after a post-dinner cupcake? Well - we are the same and some extra sugar in the blood stream will keep you up!
Alcohol - No, a glass of wine or beer before bed DOES NOT help you sleep!
Dinner - Avoid eating late and spicy meals and you will find falling asleep a tad easier!
Environment - Make sure where you sleep is dark and try to avoid reading or watching TV in bed as you want the bed to represent a place to sleep in your mind.
Relaxation - Can't seem to leave work at the office? Try writing down the exact things weighing on your mind on a pad of paper before bed and get into a routine of relaxation before you sleep - a few minutes of stretching and deep breathing from the diaphragm will help!
Natural sleep aids - Valerian root and melatonin are both natural sleep aids that do help some (myself not included and be warned that Valerian root has a very distinctive smell!). Also magnesium is said to help open up the capillaries and can help you relax at night. Avoid taking your vitamins at night (better taken in the AM). One of my favorites - a nice hot bath before bed works wonders!
SIGNS OF OVER TRAINING
Over-training is a word endurance athletes hear a great deal and is something no longer isolated to the ranks of Pro athletes. Even us amateurs can fall victim to over-training, especially when trying to balance training and racing with a family and full time job. Over-training should not be confused with another term thrown out by the endurance world, over-reaching. Signs associated with over-training syndrome include:
Extended decreased performance
Elevated resting heart rate
Significant change in body weight (either up or down can be a sign)
Difficulty sleeping (perhaps a source of recent insomnia?)
Prolonged muscle soreness
Frequent illness or onset of colds
Low energy level and motivation (especially toward training)
Mood swings
Decreased appetite
Several poor workouts in a row
Besides training, several other non-exercise related factors can contribute to the onset of over-training; poor eating and hydration habits (before, during and after exercise), recent illness or injury (and resuming training without being fully recovered), poor sleep habits, travel and jet lag, are among the most common non-exercise contributors to over-training. Add to this list psychological stresses like death of a loved one, new addition to the family, stress at work or financial problems and you can see just how quickly over-training syndrome can sneak up on an athlete.
Over-reaching can be a normal aspect of one’s training regimen. To over-reach is when one ‘overloads’ their training volume over a brief period in hopes of seeing significant results in a shorter period of time. Pushing one’s body to this higher limit of activity (but not going into the over-trained zone), allows for the body to enter a super-compensation mode, where upon recovery your overall fitness level is much higher than before. The key factor for over-reaching to work is pairing it with proper recovery (without, you risk over-training). While over-reaching may take several days to a week or more to fully feel like your old self again depending on the training load, over-training can take months to fully recover from. What is the remedy for over-training? Try simple, old-fashioned rest. Put the cycling or running shoes in the closet, skip some races and just chill. Let your body recover, so you can come back fresh and strong!
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