Rest and Recovery Basics

Getting Enough Sleep


Its highly recommend you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. Sleep requirements are an individual thing. Some people need more rest while others need less rest. Weight lifting and cardio do require that you get a little more sleep than you may be accustomed to. You will soon learn how much sleep you really need. Do not underestimate the power of sleep! I’ve been there. The times that I’ve had trouble getting enough sleep are the times when my progress has stalled. Lack of sleep affects everything – your mindset especially. Lack of sleep can cause you to miss workouts, lose motivation, and more! If you work on getting enough sleep to recover properly from your workouts, I guarantee your results will improve. Take naps to catch up on sleep if needed. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal. Relax and sleep well. Wake up feeling refreshed each morning. Your body will thank you for the extra sleep by giving you even better results. You can sleep too much! If you are one of those people that sleep too much, get up and get going. This can lead to laziness. Get the sleep you need and stop there. Too much sleep can do something bad for you!

Decreasing Stress


If you want optimal results, you’ll need to keep stress at a minimum. High levels of stress changes the whole environment inside your body and can stop your progress immediately. There’s no need to get stressed out about things in life. Most of the things we worry about are nothing. We can’t even change many of the things we worry about on a daily basis. Ask yourself, “In 5 years will I even remember worrying about this? Is it really that important?” You will most likely answer no to everything you’re worrying about. Don’t let others bother you or stress you out for no reason! One of my biggest stressors is driving. I have a hard time driving through traffic each and every day with people that don’t even realize they’re driving. They don’t pay attention, they talk on their cell phone, they cause wrecks, and they don’t realize they are driving a deadly weapon. I have learned to not let it bother so much. I watch out for everyone and try to anticipate actions taken by other drivers. If you pay attention, you can actually foresee some drivers making some stupid decisions. Stay calm even in stressful situations. There’s no need to get upset. This will keep your stress levels low and will help you feel better throughout the day. And it may even keep you from doing something stupid. Take breaks from life throughout the day. Deep breaths always help relieve tension.

Overtraining


Overtraining is a very sensitive subject for many people. Most of the so called Internet “experts” have never learned the true meaning of overtraining. Some people will tell you that you’re overtraining by working out 4-5 days per week. Others will tell you you’re overtraining without knowing the intensity of your workout and without knowing your recovery abilities. If you ever see anyone tell someone else that they are overtraining simply by looking at their schedule and workout, you can immediately write this person off as a “want-to-be” expert. The person has no idea what they are talking about. Overtraining is an individual thing. It depends on your recovery abilities, the sleep you get, your diet, water intake, intensity of your workouts, frequency of your workouts, amount of cardio, genetics, and more! So no one can ever tell you that you’re overtraining. Only you will know that you’re overtraining. If you are making progress in the gym, you are doing great. If you are gaining strength in the gym, you are not overtraining. If your strength gains slow to a halt and you’ve been lifting for a few months, you are getting closer to the overtraining edge. You never want to reach overtraining, so the best strategy is to take a one week break from weight lifting and cardio when the strength gains come to a halt. Spend the week resting and eating the best foods. Never take a break from eating properly. If you do, you could lose all of the progress you’ve made over the past few months. The one week break will allow your body to fully recover. You can then start lifting weights and doing cardio again. Start with lighter weights than what you ended with and work your way back up.

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Cardiovascular Exercise Basics (Vol. - 2)

Know Your Target Heart Rate Zones


Measure your resting heart rate first. You can do this now if you’ve been sitting and relaxing for some time. If not, the best time to measure your resting heart rate is first thing in the morning upon waking. To measure your resting heart rate, you need a watch with a second hand. Find your pulse. I use my right index finger and find the pulse directly under my left jaw bone. Count the number of pulses in 60 seconds. That is your resting heart rate. Write it down.


Now you need to estimate your maximum heart rate. The easiest way to do this is to subtract your age from 220. Maximum heart rate equals 220 – Your Age.


Some more calculations and you will have your target heart rate zones for medium intensity steady state cardio…
· 
Reserve = Maximum Heart Rate – Resting Heart Rate


60% of your Reserve = Lower Target
80% of your Reserve = Higher Target
Lower Range = Resting Heart Rate + Lower Target
Higher Range = Resting Heart Rate + Higher Target
Go through the calculations above and write them down as you go.


Here’s another example:


Reserve = 191 – 60 = 131
Lower Target = 131 x 0.60 = 79
Higher Target = 131 x 0.80 = 105
Lower Range = 60 + 79 = 139
Higher Range = 60 + 105 = 165


So, my target heart range zone for medium intensity cardio is 139 beats per minute to 165 beats per minute. I would use a heart rate monitor to ensure I stay within those target zones throughout my cardio session…

Heart Rate Devices In Market


A heart rate watch allows you to monitor your heart rate throughout a cardio session. A heart rate watch also tracks the number of calories which you have burned along with other important pieces of information. The best thing about a heart rate device is the fact that it gives you a common point of reference between activities. You don’t need those fancy machines telling you how many calories you have burned. Some machines will grossly overestimate while others will tell you you’ve burned next to nothing. You don’t need to use the displays on machines when you have a heart rate monitor. You can go jogging one day, swimming the next, cycling the next, and you’ll be able to compare what you’ve done between all activities with a heart rate watch. You can’t do that any other way! You need a heart rate watch to ensure you stay within your target zones throughout your cardio session. This makes it very easy for you.

Approved Activities for your Heart


Its highly recommend you alternate cardio sessions between a few different machines or a few different activities. 2 to 3 different activities should do the trick and will keep your body from adapting. If you need a good list of cardiovascular activities that keep your cardio workouts fun, challenging, and interesting, please see the list below.


Rowing Machine

Elliptical Trainers

Treadmill

Stepper Machine

Spinning Cycle

Recumbent Bike 

The machines shown are not the only activities you can do. Machines in your home are very convenient and allow you to do your cardio workouts at any time. They are very helpful! But you’ll probably want to get outside with the fresh air and sun every now and then. Outside activities keep cardio fun and interesting!


Here are some other great cardio activities :


Rowing
Climbing Stairs
Jogging
Running
Walking
Swimming
Cycling
Roller Blading
Jumping Rope
Skiing


Any of the above activities are great cardiovascular activities. Have fun with them.

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Cardiovascular Exercise Basics (Vol. - 1)

Cardiovascular exercise is one of the most important types of exercise that you can do. Yet, I see the so called “experts” tells people they don’t need to do cardio if they want to gain maximum amounts of muscle. Please do not listen to those people! You need to include at least 3 cardio sessions per week into your program for at least 30 minutes each session up to a maximum of 1 hour per session. You can increase/decrease cardio as needed to continue progress. Cardio is a requirement of the Fitness Program because it’s important foryou and your health. If you choose not to do cardio, you are making a huge mistake! Cardio keeps you healthy, helps you recover faster from workouts, increases your appetite, increases your energy throughout the day, burns extra body fat, and more! There’s just too many awesome benefits not to include cardio in your program.


3.1. Types of Cardio


I divide cardio into 4 different types. These are my definitions as others may divide cardio into other categories…
  
Low intensity, steady state
Medium intensity steady state
High intensity steady state
High intensity interval training (HIIT)




I highly recommend medium intensity steady state cardio along with some high intensity interval training when needed. In order to perform medium intensity steady state cardio, you need to know your target heart rate zones for the medium intensity range. You also need to know how to easily monitor your heart rate throughout a cardio session. 

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