Around ten years ago, I watched a YouTuber saying that the best training cycle for amateurs in acrobatics and similar high-intensity disciplines is one day of heavy exercise and one day of resting.
– WTF? I asked myself.
I was training all the time, day by day. Like a machine, no rest, workout before my job and the second one after. This was my idea of a valid training regime. And I was wrong. It wasn’t the path to glory. Instead, it was an intensely dark place. Was it depression? Was it stupidity?
A few important events happened in my life then, but the most powerful hit came from the COVID lockdowns. I had more time to think, to take a step back, and to breathe. I was devastated that the gym was closed, and I didn’t have enough space for my movements. Then, the injuries I had collected in the previous years appeared. I gained weight. But I learned that when there is no training, the world doesn’t end. That was the first lesson. I started caring for myself. I learned from my physiotherapist that my muscles suffer, I had a lot of micro-injuries collected throughout the years, and my body has adapted to pain in a way that was ultimately blocking my progress!
When lockdowns were lifted, I realized that after a few training sessions, I started making moves that were outside my capabilities in the past, even when I had more power and was stronger! Without resting, all those micro-injuries were like brick walls blocking my path. I had strength, but my joints were damaged, and I couldn’t use my power.
The third lesson was that my mood improved when I didn’t fixate on training. This wasn’t my job, but I treated myself as an imaginary professional. But professionals rest! Resting has the same importance as workouts for an athlete! Why couldn’t I understand it as an amateur? Because I had a false image of how to be an athlete. And it wasn’t easy to see how wrong I was until some external event didn’t stop me!
Let’s jump to the present. Now, I don’t underestimate resting.
One day of training, one day of rest! – YouTuber and Me (right now)
It took me almost 20 years of workouts and one global pandemic to understand this simple fact. I’m probably not the brightest person on the street! Don’t be like me if you are in your 20s, and give yourself a break! Now, I have fewer problems with my body, I grasp movements faster, and no barriers are blocking me from learning the skills I want.