Training Tripod part 2
2 Rest & Recovery
Rest and recovery is actually the most important aspect of any training program. But it is also most ignored and underutilized aspect. Most people don’t take rest and recovery very seriously. Whatever your training program and goal is you must need sleep in order to recover and train again. Sleep helps in increasing growth hormone levels, repairing muscles and recharging brain. We will see about the benefits of sleep later. Let’s talk about how much does sleep one need. For an adult who is training 5-6 days a week irrespective of strength or cardiovascular training (endurance), minimum 8 hours of sleep is important. Now this sleep should be uninterrupted. In most cases sleep is adequate but it is interrupted so the sleeping cycles get disturbed. Sleeping cycle is the transition our body goes through during sleep. 5 sleep cycles are important to recharge brain, recover muscle breakdown and restore energy levels. Each sleep cycle is of around 1 hour 30 minutes. During each cycle our brain goes through 5 levels. First 4 are non REM sleep and 5th one is REM (rapid eye motion) which is also known as deep sleep. On the 5th level our brain is at complete rest.
Every athlete who wants to optimize training and anybody who wants to improve their overall fitness and lifestyle should know about the sleep cycles and how they function. Many times it happens that we wake up very tired, exhausted or feel drowsy even though after a goodnight sleep of 8 hours. This happens because we disturb this sleeping cycles. So you should plan your sleep accordingly. Suppose you are going to sleep by 10 pm you should be waking up around 5.30-6. If you wake up at 5.30 and again go to sleep for half hour or so you are starting new sleeping cycle. This cycle should be completed for which you have to sleep 1.30 hour more. If you don’t do this and wake up after half hour you are breaking the cycle. This will result in feeling tired and drowsy. One needs to understand this sleeping pattern to schedule sleep accordingly.
Let’s talk about the benefits of sleep for training purposes. There are many benefits of sleep for athletes. During sleep your energy consumption is at minimum level. This helps in restoring energy stores and repair muscle. 2 main functions occur during sleep are digestion and muscle cell repair & recovery. Also during phases of deep sleep brain rests completely and recharges itself. This is most important during the day to function normal bodily functions and especially during training sessions.
Rest and recovery are two different things. But are inter related. Most of the recovery happens during rest which is in sleep. Muscle recovery is also depends on the amount of time given to a muscle to heal. Advanced level intensities require 7 days of recovery time to recover particular muscle. So you have to consider recovery to create training plan. If the muscle is still fatigued and not recovered from the previous workout your body will underperform and you might also get injured during workout.
In today’s world there are many supplements and tools to recover from intense workout sessions. However spending tons of money on them is only logical for serious and elite level athletes. Protein also plays crucial part in muscle recovery.
So to conclude rest and recovery is very much important for growth and repair of muscle tissues and to recharge brain cells. But training and rest only will do nothing if you have poor nutrition habits. Body needs adequate fuel to repair and grow.