SteveB
04-29-2004, 01:04 PM
It's a good idea to keep track of your body's personal overtraining signals. Mine? Aching joints, energy crashes in the afternoon, difficulty sleeping, mental confusion. Yuck. The cure? Cutting back IMMEDIATELY on volume and intensity, increasing active recovery. Yoga and WW work wonders (I consider Yoga a "step down" in intensity from Body Flow, sort of like putting my body "up on the rack" to look at what's wrong.
Other possibilities: increasing water intake. Examine protein and complex carb intake. Cut simple sugars. Increase sleep time. Additional WW during the day.
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The most important point is to be aware of your body's signals. For many folks, they can tell if they have an elevated pulse rate in the morning--a sign that their bodies haven't finished recovering. If you keep your eyes and ears open for your body's signals, you have a much better chance of staying healthy--and in the game longer.
My personal goals? First, a 100-rep deathmarch with the Bruiser. First up, the Clean to Order. I'm currently on eight sets of 13 (four sets with right hand dominant, four sets with left) with 30-second rests in between sets. On alternate days, I'm working GTG with Gama Casts--or, more precisely, working my way UP to Gama Casts, "sliding" the Bruiser over my traps to the back position. Lots of active recovery, BF, low-intensity aerobic work. The 100-rep work is incredibly intense, and I think it's smart to follow it with about 15 minutes of low-intensity aerobics to help flush the toxins, give your body a chance to reconvert lactic acid to ATP. Ah, that old Kreb cycle.
And WW work twice a day. Every day. Every damned day. And yoga in the morning, a special 15-minute ashtanga routine with 5 "A" sun salutes, 3 "B" Sun salutes, spinal stretch, spinal twist, back arch, and full lotus. This is the first thing I do--followed by a little martial arts work, then either Bruiser work or Body Flow. Finish with WW.
Seems to be working...my 52-year old body is eating it up!
Steve
Other possibilities: increasing water intake. Examine protein and complex carb intake. Cut simple sugars. Increase sleep time. Additional WW during the day.
###
The most important point is to be aware of your body's signals. For many folks, they can tell if they have an elevated pulse rate in the morning--a sign that their bodies haven't finished recovering. If you keep your eyes and ears open for your body's signals, you have a much better chance of staying healthy--and in the game longer.
My personal goals? First, a 100-rep deathmarch with the Bruiser. First up, the Clean to Order. I'm currently on eight sets of 13 (four sets with right hand dominant, four sets with left) with 30-second rests in between sets. On alternate days, I'm working GTG with Gama Casts--or, more precisely, working my way UP to Gama Casts, "sliding" the Bruiser over my traps to the back position. Lots of active recovery, BF, low-intensity aerobic work. The 100-rep work is incredibly intense, and I think it's smart to follow it with about 15 minutes of low-intensity aerobics to help flush the toxins, give your body a chance to reconvert lactic acid to ATP. Ah, that old Kreb cycle.
And WW work twice a day. Every day. Every damned day. And yoga in the morning, a special 15-minute ashtanga routine with 5 "A" sun salutes, 3 "B" Sun salutes, spinal stretch, spinal twist, back arch, and full lotus. This is the first thing I do--followed by a little martial arts work, then either Bruiser work or Body Flow. Finish with WW.
Seems to be working...my 52-year old body is eating it up!
Steve