Non Scale Victories This Week
During last night's LIIFT 4 Shoulders workout, I saw an improvement over last weeks shoulder presses. I was unable to do the 2nd and 3rd sets last week overhead after about 3-4 presses. My left shoulder would literally fall like I'd lost all muscle control with 10 lb weights. Yesterday I used the same 10 lbs and it wasn't until the 7th rep on the second set that I started to feel bad fatigue but pushed through. On the third set my shoulders were shot but I was still able to push overhead even if slower. I pushed to fatigue but didn't have that dangerous muscle drop I had before. The zinnias I grew from seed are mostly in full bloom and I took some pics before cutting some to put in a little vase. What were your non scale victories so far this week? ==================== Get posts sent straight to your inbox on Follow It . Some posts may contain affiliate links that help keep this blog running at no cost to you. See the Disclaimer page for more info....
I think doing this will be very beneficial for us in the long run. Some times I feel like my muscles are in constant soreness and giving them some rest while still getting some movement in should be the key.
ReplyDeleteI already feel the benefit between that and the massage and stretching. I think we need to make this a "thing" once a month or every other month as needed.
DeleteI don't intentionally do active recovery weeks, but sometimes they just happen. Usually when life gets really busy or I have other priorities. I am actually in one now. I have been regularly increasing my running distance and my body started to rebel. I woke up in the middle of the night Sunday night with a pain in my toe and yesterday I could barely keep my eyes open last evening. Nothing looks wrong with my toe, but touching it hurt. So I decided to take it easy, wear open toed shoes so nothing touches it, and monitor how it feels. So far so good, the pain is gradually reducing. I'll keep up with my regular Pilates classes, will take easy walks, and do some swimming this weekend instead. Hopefully I will be on the mend quickly and it will give the rest of my body a chance to rest and recover too. I have found that when I take a short break from running, I will come back stronger than ever.
ReplyDeleteGood plan. Glad to hear the pain is reducing and you seem to be on the mend!
DeleteYour active recovery week probably looks a lot like my normal week.
ReplyDeleteGo see the chiro even if you feel better. He helped you so much before, I bet even if you are on the road to recovery he can speed you on your way.
I have not been good at taking rest days even ... I just always worry that something will happen (and injury or illness, me or the kids) will come up and force me to, but so far we've been quite lucky (the kids and I did get hit with the flu back in February ... I DID take a week or two off then). I generally find I feel MORE rundown if I don't workout out some, so even on Sundays ("rest" day)I do try to get a couple sessions on the elliptical in. My exercise endorphins :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your recovery! Strength training is hard though, I sweated it up with it yesterday (so resting from weights today!)
I remember when I was training super hard that my personal trainer would tell me that I needed an active recovery week every once in a while. So much stress on your body, you need to give it some rest so it can continue to perform. Of course, with my lack of consistency in that area right now, I might not be the person to take advice from!
ReplyDeleteMy travel schedule (work or pleasure) creates natural breaks for my weights workouts. I still walk or bike during those times, but I don't worry about times and distances. It never fails, I always come back recharged and ready to go!
ReplyDeleteI have regular interval recovery weeks. I still do regular walking, but at a slower pace (more for movement than speed and calorie burn) and I do lots of stretching exercises I learned when I worked at the physical therapy place. As odd as it might sounds, I work my I-T bands the most down the sides of my legs during the recovery times (I'm NOT good about doing that after my regular exercises). I love the feeling of my hip flexors feeling like they've been greased and my legs are like loose rubber bands. Interestingly, I notice my back feels better and less tight when I do good stretching.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great plan! And I kind of do active recovery when it comes to running, but not for the rest. I think this is something that is going to be more strongly incorporated into my training in the future though thanks to your recommendation/reminder!!
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