Rest, we all need it!!

Rest and breaks, we couldn't live without them. We all need rest and breaks from a lot of things, from work life to home life.  But when it comes to training, the right amount of rest and taking a break at the right time and for the right amount of time can make a huge difference in making the gains (or losses) you desire.  I will go into a bit of detail on the importance of rest in your training and what can be accomplished with the amount of rest you take.

Let me first start of by saying, as a trainer, rest is a tough concept to get through to clients.  I find it much easier to get through to athletes the important of rest, than I do to the non-athlete population, who hire you to pretty much kill them (at least most do).  When they do not "feel it" at the end of a workout or the next day, they don't think they worked hard enough.  Though that is a topic for a different post, it does lead into the topic of rest periods.

Now, when training, you must know what your goals are and what you are training for.  Are you training to run a marathon? Are you working to increase your speed? Are you working on your conditioning level or are you training for power?  These all play a big factor into the amount of rest you should be taking in between sets or in between bouts of sprints.

Let's take a look at the different energy systems so we can better understand the amount of rest we need.  The three main energy systems are ATP/CP, Glycolysis and Oxidative.  Now, at no one time is only one energy system working and it is important to train all three.  I have made a small list of a few sports their primary energy source by percentage:

Sport                    ATP/CP         Glycolysis          Oxidative
Basketball               60                       20                       20
Distance Running     10                       20                       70
Hockey                    50                       20                       30
Gymnastics              80                       15                        5
Soccer                     50                       20                       30
Sprints                    90                       10                         0
Tennis                    70                        20                       10

Depending on what energy system you are training and depending on what sport you are training for will have a big impact on what your rest times should be.  Training for speed...actual speed, involves proper recovery.  Doing sprints for speed training requires at least 3 minutes to allow for full recovery and allow for you to do the next sprint at full capacity.  The same goes for power training and maximal strength training.  If you are doing a set of cleans or a set of heavy deadlifts, that means you should be resting for at least 3 minutes in between sets so that you can fully recover and you can lift that same weight the next set.

The biggest need for rest intervals is the replenishment of ATP and creatine phosphate.  That is the main energy system used for power, maximal strength and speed training.  The following is an outline of different rest intervals and their impact on the ATP/CP system:

• 20-30 seconds of rest will allow for approximately 50% recovery of ATP/CP
• 40 seconds will allow for approximately 75% recovery of ATP/CP
• 60 second will allow for approximately 85-90% recovery of ATP/CP
• >3 minutes will allow for approximately 100% recovery of ATP/CP

Though other factors, such as your nutritional status, fitness level, training experience and muscle mass can all play a role in rest intervals, it is important to schedule proper rest intervals and take the proper rest intervals in order to achieve your training goals.