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Why More Is Not Necessarily Better

robryles@onetel.

robryles@onetel.com.

Best regards

Robert Ryles
http://www.the-rehabilitation-room.com

Why More Is Not Necessarily Better
I admit I have been dying to write an article like this for
ages. The reason being that in the course of my working
life I still come across many instances of purely and
simply over training. The strange thing about this
article is that the push to write it came from an ad
claiming to be able to double your fitness gains (whatever
that means) by training for ......are you ready for
this......ONE HOUR A MONTH and yes you did read that
correctly.

Well, I consider that a little on the infrequent side, I
don't know about you. I'll wait to be proven wrong but I
consider it to be verging on the absurd, unless of course
you know better. At the other end of the spectrum we have
the habit of training everyday which in most cases is
likely to result in problems, whether they be injury,
fatigue of poor performance.

The point brings me on to an old book I accquired when I
first dreamt of being the next Mr. Universe. This book from
many moons ago is simple and uncomplicated and was my only
source of knowledge when I started strength training as a
teenager.

Now this old book of mine recommended that old favourite
EVERY OTHER DAY ROUTINE. To most of us this meant a Monday,
Wednesday, Friday session with rest days in between and at
weekends. Before I get my head bitten right off, let me
explain. I appreciate fully that since the inception of the
three day a week, every other day system things have
significantly moved on. The point I wish to make however is
that the rationale behind this system has a great
physiological foundation.

Research shows that it can take on average up to forty
eight hours (and more in cases) for body tissue to
regenerate, grow and repair following exercise and trauma.
In simple terms, it takes up to two days for the muscles,
tendons and other body tissues to repair AND HERE IS THE
KEY BIT to be fully recovered and ready for the next
training session. Basically the old three day a week
system acknowledges and works perfectly with this, hence
the reason for its success.

So what about advancements or improvements of this system?
Ok let's take a look at bodybuilding. This activity is all
about maximising muscle growth and is therefore a great
example to use. A highly successful training system is to
train two or three body parts on a given day (back, biceps
and legs for example) and then train the other body parts
(shoulders, triceps and abdomen). the next day. The cycle
is then repeated so that training can occur on consecutive
days whilst still allowing for the forty eight hour
recovery period of specific muscle groups.

Npw applying this principle to other sports is not so
simple. It demands some in depth analysis of the your sport
to break it down into its component parts. This will allow
specific aspects to be worked on at different times, thus
allowing frequent training sessions but at the same time
satisfying the necessity for sufficient rest and recovery.

This is such an enormous subject that one article like this
cannot fully do it justice but as long as you get a taste
of the idea. It is sufficient here to give you some
knowledge and ideas to work from. Here are a couple of
proven strategiies to work with and apply to your own
situation.

Seasonal or Cyclical Training Most sports have
natural seasons anyway. Understand them and use them to
plan your training so that you work harder at certain times
on specific aspects. This will allow you to work intensely
at certain times and do maintenance training at others. It
will allow you to peak and hopefully hit new levels of
success. No athlete can maintain maximum levels of
performance for weeks, months and years on end.

All top class athletes use this cyclic principle to their
benefit. At certain times you will be able to work harder
than others, stretching yourself to your limits. This can
then be folllowed by a maintenance or rest and recuperation
program until the next intense period is undertaken.

Pool Training The use of water as a medium for exercise
is awesome and proven beyond doubt to be highly effective
in many ways. In water of sufficient depth you weigh
approximately one ninth as much as you do on dry land. This
means that your musculo-skeletal system has markedly
reduced stresses on it. You can take advantage of this by
training in water.

This requires specialist knowledge as above all else it has
its dangers. Again this article is not the place to cover
this particular subject in detail but suffice to say it is
well worth investigating as a means of improving
cardio-vascular fitness, strength, stamina and as a
rehabilitative tool, I have to say it is phenomenal.

So there we have it. The basics rationale behind being
courageous enough to do less to achieve more in the
sporting arena. Good luck and trust me, in the long run it
works.

----------------------------------------------------
Rob is a successful International Chartered Physical
Therapist. He has been a lecturer, researcher and therapist
for over two decades. His rich experience of International
and Premiership Football underpins his specialist knowledge
of sports medicine. There is a wealth of insight and
experience of all such matters on his website at
http://www.the-rehabilitation-room.com

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