REST

Having enjoyed a wonderful rest day yesterday and dealing with the reality of going back to training, school, come monday morning i thought I would explain my thoughts on resting.

Until a few months ago when I began working closely with a exercise physiologist I didn't believe in rest days.

My (own) theory was that as long as i was working my body in different ways each day it wouldn't need rest. For example if friday was a hard gym and technical judo day then I would work my cardio and randori more on saturday. It seemed logical to me but it did mean that i was constantly jaded and operating at about 80%. I thought that was no problem because given a little taper I would be firing 100% come competition.

Unfortunately as time dragged on I started feeling the effects of over-training more and more. I would have chronic muscle soreness, feel lethargic most of the time, struggle to concentrate, have real issues getting to sleep and many other things which are really not fun to be dealing with when you are trying to peak physically and mentally come competition.

Eventually I had the benefits of complete rest explained to me and it was something I started to work on. If I was able to train 12 sessions a week at 90% of my maximum and have a day off. Then that would lead to much more improvement in my abilities then 13-14 sessions at 75-80%.

When that is mapped out over an 8-16 week training cycle it makes for a considerable difference in the end result.

I have now been operating with 1 day off a week for about 5 months now and I can say it has really been of benefit to me. I have been able to improve my performances in training, my concentration has been better and aspects off the mat have been helped too. I get to have long lunches with the family at home, get to spend couple of hours completing uni work and even get to veg out on the couch and watch tv for a change.

I do sometimes feel restless and revert back to meat-head mode that I could be doing more training (haven't broken a sweat in 24 hours!) but it just means I put that much more effort into my sessions on my work days.

I assure you that come sunday morning there is absolutely no petrol left in my tank.

Monday mornings still suck cos there is a hell of a lot of huffing and puffing to be done before my next day off!

Ivo

UPDATE

haven't posted anything for a bit so i thought i'd throw some info in about my next few months.
Well, after winning nationals with a tear in on of my shoulder's ligaments i took a couple of weeks to rest up, re-introduce myself to my family and slowly ease back into training.
it's now 5 weeks since i dislocated my shoulder in brasil and the doc says it's a 6-8 week recovery. i can't afford that sort of time off with the stuff i've got coming up so 5 will do.
have been back training 100% for a week now and it's amazing how quickly your body adapts to not getting beaten up and pretends each breakfall is the first you've ever done! having my arms blow out after 30 seconds of gripping hasn't been too much fun either but oh well, such is life (judo)

Next few months..........

I have 5 weeks until the AIS training camp which serves as preparation for the Oceania Championships august 15. a week later is the NSW Open.

This next part is depending on whether i am confirmed for the World Championships team or not, I should be but there's always a reason here or there why people are left out of these teams.
So assuming I am on for worlds............... Miami World Cup on Aug 28 and US Open at same venue on August 30. From there it's off to Japan for short training camp in preparation for Worlds and of course the World Championships which my division is contested on September 12.

Once that period of events is over I will see how i stand with national rankings, world ranking, uni marks and finances to then hopefully have a big crack at the IJF events in nov-dec.

That's all for now, i better get my gear together and head to training!

Ivo

Home....

Got home yesterday from Brasil. It's not easy picking yourself up after such a failure like Brasil was for me.
It has been good to be back home and sleep in my own bed. My training has been really battered in recent times. after posting 10-12 weeks solid since Feb i got really sick before going to Brasil and then at training camp in Rio i hurt my shoulder and was unable to do much from then on.
It is really frustrating to look at the best lead up to nationals i had been involved in for a long time and then have to accept that a good portion of that was compromised. At this point i have just over a week to prepare for the National Titles and instead of tapering off i am going to bust my butt with some really hard sessions running right up to next weekend to see if i can sharpen up my judo.
Given that i started my preparations for the nationals 16 weeks ago it is an understatement for me to say that i am pumped up to fight next week. A good result (winning) will be a massive milestone for me given the ups and mostly downs i have had with my judo in the last couple of years.
Next weekend will be very interesting, fingers crossed i can put it all together and win my first nationals since 2007!

I am pretty excited too at the prospect of a little bit of time off, staying in and watching tv and being able to work properly and save some $$$ for the second half of this year

P.S. CHECK OUT THE JUNE ISSUE OF BLITZ MAGAZINE I AM ON PAGE 15, 68 AND 69!!!!!!!!