Forced Rest

Illness is a pretty average way of engaging in forced rest.  It's the first time in a year that I have been sick, and I reckon it has to do with the change in season.  Whatever.  The opportunity that is presented to me is to catch up on some movies I've been wanting to see for a while (Prometheus, Jeff Who Lives At Home & Casa De Mi Padre) and school work and study.  In the course of the latter I caught up with an old friend of mine (not personally, but certainly his website) Jim Smith, who has a terrific article on training periodization here.   Specifically, it's based around training intensity, but the same ideas apply.  It's nice to see that what he discusses here is pretty much my basic philosophy to training, that is, keep mixing it up, don't allow your body to get too used to any one particular exercise, keep working hard, keep working smart, and rest whenever you genuinely feel the need.  Note well:  'rest' doesn't necessarily mean 'lie on the couch all day doing nothing', rather, 'try doing something completely different to your regular routine'.  During periods of heavy weight lifting, throw in a few days of pure cardio.  When you're focusing more on CV fitness, add in the occasional resistance day.  And so on.  MIX IT UP!  I really like the way that Smith advises the lack of a set plan when hitting the gym.  Perhaps I'm reading it wrong, but I think that what he's talking about is take your approach to the workout in the same way that battle planners prepare for conflict, that is, make the plans, prepare for contingencies, and then on contact with the enemy forget it all and attack! 

This is exactly how I plan my workouts.  Usually I workout in the early-mid afternoon, so a couple of hours beforehand I will consider what type of work is required for my session.  Next I will think of 2-3 appropriate core lifts that are relevant and then add in a few functional techniques.  And that's pretty much it.  Once I get to the gym I'll listen to how my body is feeling, adjust my warm-up accordingly (even though my warm-up is usually pretty much the same every time, I will make the occasional modification), and then take the same philosophy to my lifts.  If I'm feeling sore or especially weak (a frequent occurrence!) I might do light conditioning instead of a volume/strength day.  Or cardio.  Or boxing.  Or plyometrics.  Or anything else.  The trick is to keep working.  Or thinking.  Or studying.  Or relaxing.  Or reading.  Or living.