The American exercise industry has changed over time. In the past, the industry often pushed a “no pain, no gain” model of exercise. The idea suggested hard, painful effort was needed to make progress.
The current popular word in American fitness, however, is “recovery.” Now the goal is taking time, getting rest, and doing light activities until a person is ready to exercise again.
Changes over time
Tony Horton is an exercise trainer known for P90X, a program that used difficult, 90-minute workouts. Horton now recommends more rest and warns against overdoing exercise.
Horton spent the 1990s training famous people. Recently, Horton told the Associated Press, “I didn’t know then what I know now."
Horton added, “If you don’t get the recovery and the rest part right, then you’re never going to be able to be consistent with the fitness end of things."
A different view of exercise
Before Horton, Jane Fonda had pushed home exercisers to “feel the burn.” That meant to exercise until muscles are affected by a feeling like pain.
Now, the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) pay a lot of attention to recovery methods.
NASM’s “Fitness and Wellness” certification program includes training in “holistic health and wellness including physical, mental, social and emotional well-being.”
The industry has learned from research that shows the good effects of correct rest, said Stan Kravchenko. He is founder of OneFit personal training.
During deep sleep, the body repairs muscle tissue. Studies show that well-rested people perform better and are less likely to get injured.
But rest is only part of recovery. Kravchenko said personal trainers used to pay attention to exercises a client could do during their workout. Now, personal trainers are more like life coaches who also give exercise advice.
“It’s more about your lifestyle, how you eat, how you sleep,” he said. “Are you stressed? What do you do for [a] living? Are you working from a desk? So it’s taking a little bit more like a broad approach.”
It depends on the goal
The “no pain, no gain” idea is great for athletes who can survive difficult workouts and are looking to get stronger. But not everyone needs to push themselves that hard, Horton said. It depends on the goal.
Michael Zourdos is chair of exercise science and health promotion at Florida Atlantic University. Zourdos told the AP that lifting weights “until failure” may build bigger muscles. But training to failure is not needed to increase strength. “There is a difference between training for health and training for elite performance benefits,” he said.
To realize the health benefits of a workout, it is still necessary to push yourself. Horton said: “In the muscles, the lungs, your heart, there’s gotta be a certain amount of strain.”
There is a big difference, however, between discomfort and pain. If sharp pain affects joints, tendons, or muscles, then exercisers need to stop what they are doing.
How long to rest?
People’s needs for rest depend on their goals and bodies. But Kravchencko offered a few simple rules:
For lifting weights, he recommends 48 hours of recovery time for each muscle group that is exercised. He also suggests doing an upper limit of 10 sets, or groups of repeated movements, per muscle group per week. During the workout, Kravchencko said, it is best to rest for two to three minutes between sets.
In between workouts, it is not necessary to stay still.
“You’re welcome to do walking, jogging, very light yoga, stretching, pilates, core exercises,” Kravchencko said. “That’s all fine, because it’s not specifically targeting the areas you’ve targeted before.”
Mindfulness
Horton and Kravchencko both discussed a recovery activity not usually connected with weightlifting — meditation.
Horton and Kravchencko believe that taking a few quiet minutes every morning helps people deal with the physical and emotional stress of life that can get in the way of wanting to exercise.
Horton recommends establishing a mindfulness routine even before deciding on an exercise plan. This is because the mindfulness routine will support the consistency of the exercise routine.
I’m John Russell.
