National Healing Month

One thing that's hard to accept about exercise is that less is sometimes more.  Rest is a necessary and crucial component of any fitness program.  Yet two things appear to be working against incorporating sufficient rest into any program:

• Doing something is usually more fun than doing nothing
• There is no profit to be made from telling someone to rest

I remember reading how Mike Mentzer would often advise new, overtrained clients to take off a month from the gym and then restart with his program.  Of course, he got immediate pushback because the people didn't want to stop.  It's hard to accept that in some situations doing nothing is superior to doing something different.

The body can continue in an overtrained state for a very long time.  And putting the brakes on this overtraining can even lead to a person feeling worse in the very short-term.  For example, even if a person is overtrained and they go to work out, they can usually still get a hormonal boost from it.  Over the long term, they are digging an even deeper hole, but it's a quick fix nonetheless.

Something else I've noticed is that there appears to be a hierarchy to the body's healing process.  Primary injuries or spots of wear-and-tear are healed first.  Then secondary spots are healed.  These secondary spots can be physical problems that have been swept under the rug so long a person didn't even know they were there.

For me personally, I have designated May as National Healing Month and I will be doing no heavy exercise this month.  I've taken various months off in the past, and it doesn't really set you back that much in terms of fitness.  National Healing Month would probably be very beneficial to some, especially recreational athletes who are saddled with minor injuries.  At the very least, it would remind people to give their bodies and themselves a break.

 

Comments

[CranioBrian]

I would like to suggest that during one's health month (if not every month) a really good massage will be very helpful with healing.
A well trained therapist can give a session that will help reduce muscular trigger points and release fascial restrictions. All will help your soft tissue to be as healthy as possible.
I guarantee you will notice a difference when you go back to your heavy exercise routine.