THE X FACTOR: ACTIVE REST! WHAT IS IT & HOW YOU CAN USE IT!

THE X FACTOR: ACTIVE REST! WHAT IS IT & HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO MAXIMIZE PERFORMANCE!

Active Rest is something many of the top sports performance coaches have been using for some time now. Active rest basically means just that, being active during rest intervals. The uses of active rest can be many and if done right can add tons of positive benefits to your training program.

 

Active rest 1st came to me by accident

At Key 2 we have training times where we fit clients and or groups of clients into time slots. With in these time slots we have to get as much done as possible without overloading our clients with too much training content. A few years ago while working with a group of athletes we were doing maximal effort lifting for one of our training sessions. Now anyone who knows about true maximal effort lifting, there needs to be fairly long rest intervals between sets. This simply gives the body time to go through the different chemical phases necessary to lift at true maximal effort. Well, part of our business is also confining our workouts into time slots as I mentioned earlier. So in this case we had 90 minutes and 12 athletes on 3 squat racks. While this set up seems perfect for athletes to maximize work:rest ratio’s, remember that i’m dealing with high school level kids. Their attention span is about as short as my pinky finger and sessions can quickly go from serious to giggly joke sessions if action isn’t taken. Also, many of them are paying me because they feel like there is too much standing around at their respective high schools and I didnt want to lose them due to the same issue.

So I had the athletes cycle through some joint mobility exercises while they were waiting for their next turn to either spot or lift. It worked like a charm! Athletes were required to focus on areas of poor mobility like hamstrings/achilles or shoulder mobility. This brought back the attention to detail we needed to work efficiently and also helped the athletes receive the dual benefit of also getting stronger and more mobile. In addition, their heart rates stayed at a level we needed being as the work was not strenuous and everyone was happy. The athletes were happy because they were performing constant work & I was happy because we economized time with out taking away from the desired effect of the goal for the day.

This got me to thinking…

What ways can I manipulate A/R to maximize not only time for strength training (given our short window) but also other areas like conditioning and speed development? The answer was much deeper than I thought. In order to fully understand the complexity for using and manipulating A/R, one has to develop a clear understanding of the cardiovascular and metabolic system. These systems play a large role in everything we do from strength development to speed development. The adaptations that occur from our training is based primarily on the intensity, volume, frequency and variety of what we do. So understanding the biodynamics of training and its various types was critical to planning how to use A/R.

That being said, I felt that if I could get a good grasp on A/R, I would see performance levels go up and injuries go down. So I started investigating ways to incorporate active rest into every facet of what we do. Working with hundreds of athletes all with different levels of strength, power and conditioning, I had to have some gauge for who could handle what and how it would benefit them.

So I started incorporating A/R into everything;

For strength classes we mixed in either active isolated mobility work for the hamstrings, groin, abductors, glutes and achillies. We also mixed in pre-hab type drill during heavy lifting sessions and or low grade strength exercises like band pull-aparts, TKE’s, heel touches etc. This proved to work well with many exercises.

For speed classes we run 60 minute sessions. Raw speed is developed much like raw strength. There must be maximal effort with long rest periods. For these classes we shortened our old warm-up leaving out some of the pre-hab exercises we would have usually done and opted for more ballistic movements incorporating more movement prep. During rest periods we used these pre-hab exercises that were taken out so that the routine didnt get stale and we could keep healthy rotation of drills to pick from. In addition, this gave us variety matching up linear days with more frontal/plane pre-hab and multi-directional days with more transverse plane pre-hab. The results have been nothing short of spectacular.

 

On conditioning days we have a ton of fun. Because conditioning can cover so many different aspects of fitness we can really get creative. During sprint work outs we started using more low grade abdominal & low back work. Examples include:

Plank, crunches, dead bugs, super man’s, side plank, kneeling push-ups, glute bridges and so forth…. The list literally goes on and on.

For the more fit athletes we incorporated things like:

Jump rope, mountain climbers, frogs, jogging, shadow boxing/kicking, lunges, jacks and so forth.

Here is an example of a exercise we did with a soccer athlete who was perparing for her senior year of college.

Its KEY to know the client or athlete that you are dealing with. You should know their levels of mobility/flexibility and choose exercises that are doable for them and have progressions.

Why is it necessary? What are the benefits?…

Active rest simply gives athlete’s an added advantage in the area of aerobic level fitness and more importantly mobility/stability (or injury prevention). We predominantly use “pre-hab” exercises that almost require no energy at all to perform. After all we are resting…

In a recent email exchange between myself and Expert MMA Trainer Joel Jameison of 8weeksout.com he had this to say about active rest:

“Active rest is important because it generally allows for faster recover and thus more training within a given time. The more training you can do, the stronger the stimulus and training effect. I use a lot of active rest with low to moderate intensity aerobic work in between more intense parts of the training session and I think it helps improve aerobic fitness and increases work capacity in general. There’s quite a bit of research showing greater recovery between bouts of repeated high intensity with active recovery compared to just sitting there doing nothing. I think the clients also feel more productive when you’re using active recovery well.”

 

There you have it…

Try to begin incorporating A/R into your training or into the training of your client. Where I would begin is by getting two very important pieces of equipment.

 

#1 A Heart Rate Monitor – If you are going to maximize your training you should absolutely have one of these. You have to have a reading on what your heart is doing. With this information you can rally take advantage of training and see gains much faster.

 

#2 A GYM BOSS interval trainer. I fell in love with this little timer years ago. We use them for almost everything. This along with a Heart Rate monitor will allow you to program your training and make the most out of your down time. More importantly, you will not have to guess. Having the timer set and adjusted for the specific time needed between bouts of work, along with a hear reading will give you great comfort in programming and executing training programs. We FORCE all of our clients to get one or both and you should too!

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN MAXIMIZE ACTIVE REST TO BUILD BETTER LEVELS OF STRENGTH, POWER AND OVERALL CONDITIONING CALL CORNELL KEY @ 732-749-3093

GET STRONG BE EXPLOSIVE!