Unloaded

When was the last time you took a week off from your workouts?  I mean a planned week of recuperation, not the unexpected binge eating, drinking, vacation kind.  I bet if you did, you'd come back and the gym would still be there, you'd lift a little more, you'd feel better, and maybe even set a new PR.

In the last month, I've talked to a few people about this, and if you are paying attention, usually that's a good indicator to go with it.  So here goes.  The unloaded week.

The first person I talked to approached me and said, "I haven't hit a new PR in months."  To which I responded quickly and confidently, "take a week completely off of training, then try again."  This came a such a shock, there was an awkward moment of us staring at each other.  I'm more comfortable in these situations than most people so i just kept staring until they started to tell me about how much they LOVE CrossFit and could never take a week off.

"That's fine.  But until you rest, you probably wont progress or hit new PR's.  You're tired and you need to rest."  They didn't like that.  

I got this from Mike Mentzer; most people make the mistake of thinking in economic terms.  $1,000 is better then $1, so more workouts are better then less.  But fitness is NOT economics.  They have different rules, or as Mike and Ayn Rand would say, they have a different Identity.  Muscles have to act like muscles, and muscles need cycles of stimulation then recuperation to progress.

If you find yourself sleeping terrible, irritable, stagnating on your fitness progress, take an active rest week, go for a walk each night for 30 min. (that is your workout programming for the week, that's $39.99 please.  I'll invoice you.)  I promise the gym will still be there when you get back.  You will feel better, you will progress better, look better naked, 6 pack abs shooting through all because you took a week to recuperate.  Single best test to know if what you are doing is working or not...is it actually working?  I mean are you progressing?  If you're not, then your current method is not good, ditch it for what does work.  I'm telling you; workouts + rest/recovery = progress 

You're annual programming should look something like this: 4-6 weeks of hard workouts (I like to focus on a single attribute), then 1 week active rest (easy walks each night or unloaded bars).  Repeat.  Progress.  Remember; workouts + rest/recovery = progress.  They are both equally important to your progress.  Here is an interesting caveat to leave you with.  What takes more disciple, to walk into the gym and do your unloaded work and not get sucked up into the competition, or to keep going hard and seeing no progress?  Think you're tough?  Prove it.  Do the unloaded work with the rest of the gym racing each other, that's tough.