Comments on: Rest & Recovery Week

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:12:24 +0000

Derek,

Great little additions to what you can do on rest week. Thanks for comment, always a pleasure when you stop by comment.

By: Derek Manuel

Derek Manuel — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:21:29 +0000

Great post Jimmy! As a mma strength and conditioning coach, I’ve been personally studying up a lot more on this subject right now. I also teach hardgainers (naturally skinny guys/gals with extremely fast metabolisms) how to gain weight, and one of THE most overlooked component for hardgainers is getting enough rest and recovery. Obviously the same applies for mma fighters as well.

Three more great things to do that’s worked wonders for me:

- hiking (obviously for recreation and not for a workout)
- reading a book of your interest
- getting a massage

Derek Manuel
MMA Strength and Conditioning Coach
MMA Workouts

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:27:12 +0000

@Kravmascara (Sarah)

Thank for sharing your story. I’m feeling the gains already. Stronger, refreshed, new sense of drive from my recovery week.

By: comrade sarah 'from london'

comrade sarah 'from london' — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:13:27 +0000

A listen lived is a lesson learned.
I myself have been a bit ‘quite’ on the training front. REST WEEK.
Its only when you ‘knacker’ your self out, as we english say, that you understand the importance of rest.
AND how you can utilize it to promote growth and improve your PB or reach that goal- what ever that be.

quik story:I trained for the RKC whilst quite rundown. Apart from being a bit nuts – the hard training and much adrenaline got me thru…only to repeatedly fall ill to find out I was suffering from adrenal exhaustion!!! . U kno how it is! I always used to say ‘i’ll sleep when I’m dead. Anyway that was then this is now.

Now I teach more krav/kbs I have to plan my workouts week to week. And if I miss one it is no biggy. Tell ya it still hurts to rest- especially as I insist on reading other blogs like yours…
But the gains are good!

Chin down guard up and elbows elbows knees (are u allowed groin strikes?)

Kravmascara RKC

By: Adrian W

Adrian W — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:57:43 +0000

Jimmy, I love the freelance ninja part! You are a trip, man! I need to get to your part of Jersey and just hang with you when neither of us have any school work to do. LOL.

But seriously, over all that was a VERY good read!

By: daniel

daniel — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:44:05 +0000

active rest is so important, often overlooked. listening to your body, giving yourself a break from the daily grind, keep yourself fresh. i do sled training, amazing for active recovery and conditioning.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:47:26 +0000

@Sarah Thanks for the kind words. I can’t wait to get back into action.

@Chris Great stuff. I’ve been focusing on more geeky stuff like customizing my blog. Maybe I’ll update debian sometime before rest week is up.

@Laura Great info! I missed my weekly yoga class last Saturday because I slept in. I’m going to do some stretching today maybe a light jog tomorrow.

@Fred My buddy Gray isn’t Gray Maynard. He runs 6th-round.com.

2 days until I get back in action.

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:31:04 +0000

Hey Jimmy! Great post!
Rest and recovery is critical (especially for older dudes like me!)
One thing: I think you may be biting off more than you can chew:
“give your gym bag a good cleaning”? Now THAT sounds like work! (LOL)

By the way, your friend “Gray” would happen to be Gray Maynard, would it? [He's an awesome fighter!]

Thanks for the post!

-Fred

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:54:55 +0000

Great article, and the site looks wonderful. The new format is clean and eye-catching. Elegant, even

A recovery week doesn’t need to be completely inactive if you don’t want it to be. Light steady-state cardio at the lower end of your training zone is okay, as is yoga and flexibility/balance work generally. As long as you keep the effort well below maximum you’re not going to be doing more damage to your muscles so you won’t be interfering with the recovery process. In fact arguably you’ll be facilitating recovery by increasing oxygen supply to the muscles.

The main thing is that you really listen to your body and do what seems appropriate, whether it’s going for a light jog or taking a yoga class, or sitting back on the couch with the remote control in one hand and a nice big glass of, um, iced green tea in the other.

By: Chris J

Chris J — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:06:15 +0000

When I do the rest week, I usually get 2 to 3 hours extra a day.

I tend to watch exercise the one muscle that doesn’t get worked out at the gym.

I read more during a rest week then any other time. I’ll read novels, books for work, or anything else handy. I also try to write more, and improve my language skills. Learn new words, put them together better. Try and learn something more about math. Practice my shell scripting and perl.

Play with my pet more, and do something with my servers.