C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Some Thoughts and Ideas on Layoffs (Hint: It’s More Than Just Taking it Easy)      We all need layoffs from time to time.  They allow us to rejuvenate, recover, and “refill” our energy reserves.  Our muscles need them in order to recover sufficiently after many weeks of hard training.  Our nervous systems need them.  It is, in fact, often our nervous systems that require them the most.  But layoffs are good for more than just the body.  Our minds need them just as much as our bodies.  A mental break from training, and even thinking about training, helps us to return to the gym “fired up” for another few weeks or months of hard and heavy barbell sessions.      You may wonder why I’m writing an essay on layoffs.  Isn’t it just about lying around and taking it easy?  Well, sometimes that’s the case.  There are decidedly times, depending on what “intensity” of lifting you’ve been training wi...

       I started writing this essay as much for myself as for anyone else.  The truth is that, despite the fact that I should know better, and in fact do know better, which makes it all the worse, I am entirely guilty of not giving my body (and mind) enough rest and recuperation.  Or, at the very least, not wanting to give my body enough rest.  Most of the time, I have to remind myself to take off for a day, or to do the things required to make sure I’m recovering properly.  Part of that is the fact that I love to train.  I know that there are a lot of people out there who have to force themselves to go to the gym.  I have to force myself to not go to the gym (especially since my gym is only a few feet away from me at all times, in my garage).      Before we go any further in this, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I think, overall, more training is better.  As I’m fond of saying—or writ...