Rest & Recovery

Last blog, I talked about how important it is to utilize our Athletic Trainers and take advantage of opportunities to receive treatment on our injuries. I also included an example of how much receiving treatment and help from athletic trainers had a drastic effect  on my efforts to stabilize my injuries to keep them from getting worse. Treatment is without a doubt one of the most important factors of injury prevention, but it is not the last. The final ingredient to injury prevention is rest.

Rest involves various methods of recovery. Rest includes the following:

- The amount of hours spent asleep at night.
- The amount of recovery received in between workout reps.
- The amount of time in between workouts.
- How many off days or light days you take in a week.
- How often you take naps.
- How long your naps are.
- Do you walk, stand or sit in between reps.
- Active or inactive recovery.
- How long do you go without physical activity once your season is over.

Why is sleep important? Here are a few reasons why:

- Poor sleep is linked to unhealthy weight gain, depending on a person’s eating habits.
- Poor sleep leaves a greater risk of heart disease and/or stroke.
- Sleep affects glucose metabolism ( Diabetes type 2)
- Poor sleep can cause depression, thus hindering your productivity.
- Lack of sleep retains major fatigue.
- Good sleep improves concentration.
- Good sleep improves productivity.
- Good sleep can maximize athletic performance.
- Sleep improves your immune system.

These are factors that can hinder the success of athletes and/or people with fitness goals. It’s obvious why we need and want sleep. Not to mention, your body heals much faster at its resting state, and there is a possibility of the healing process not starting at all without rest because the injured muscles are still being used.

I personally, have much better days when I get good sleep. My sophomore year in college, I decided to do an experiment to see just how important sleep is. I’ve always had a daily and weekly routine of workouts. I know that what I’m able to do one week, I can always do that or better the next week. I spent the first two weeks getting good sleep and tested my one rep max on bench and squat for. Week three, I chose to practice bad sleeping habits and went back to my normal sleep routine for the 4th week. These were my results:

                      Bench         Squat
Week 1           275              360
Week 2           280              375
Week 3           265              345
Week 4           285              370

I found those results very convincing. From what I can tell, the muscles you use the most take the undergo the bigger deficit.

                                           
                                                       References

1.10 Reasons Why Good Sleep is Important. (2014). Retrieved June 20, 2016, from https://authoritynutrition.com/10-reasons-why-good-sleep-is-important/

2.5 Ways to Be More Efficient with Your Rest Period During a WOD. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2016, from http://boxlifemagazine.com/5-ways-to-be-more-effecient-with-your-rest-period-during-a-wod/