Friday, August 21, 2009

Recovery Week - Active Rest

We are back another recovery week. To really get the most out of the class we need to understand the purpose of active recovery.

Active recovery is just what it says: take a proactive approach to recovery. Recovery is allowing your body to regenerate to building stronger muscles capable of taking more punishment...I mean exercise.

Another HUGE part of active recovery is the psychological recovery. Allowing your mind to relax and not worry about getting up before dawn. Let the mental stress, that comes along with really pushing your body harder than you have before, dissipate. This helps to avoid burnout.

Now to the active part. Although we are recovering I want you to do something fun, that you enjoy doing, but is active and involves motion and movement. It could be as simple as walking 9 holes of golf, hiking in the hills, going for a bike ride, or playing with your kids. But do something you enjoy.

In case you're struggling to come up with some activity, I have a challenge for you this week that I will take less than 10 minutes. Find an empty gallon jug and fill it with water, be sure duct tape the cap to make sure the water doesn't leak from it. This is your medicine ball (but don't try bouncing it).
  1. Squat curl and press x 30 (Try single arm if you DARE!!)
  2. 1/2 Pushups x 20 - lower your chest to the water jug and push back up
  3. Split Jumps x 10 each leg (20 for adv.) - take a lunge position and jump as high as you can absorbing the drop on the landing
  4. Single arm row and push x 20 each - from a bent over rowing position pull the jug up and then turn and push the jug to the sky.
On the first day you try this circuit, go around once and see how quick you can do it. The second day you try it I want you to go around as many times as possible without resting longer than :10 between exercises.

When you are done, come back and leave a comment with how many times you made it around!!

See you next week!!

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