Why recovery beats intensity
Ever feel like you need to go 💯 every single workout to see results? When it comes to weight loss and, more importantly, your health, recovery often beats intensity. Love a good pun but the secret is in the beats and less can be more!
In the gym, while lifting weights, we are intentionally putting your muscles under stress, and causing micro-tears (microscopic damage) to muscle fibers. This damage is actually the stimulus for muscle growth and repair, which occurs during rest and recovery, not during the workout itself. So, in that sense, we are technically at our weakest during the exercise, as our muscles are being broken down, but this is a necessary step for becoming stronger (and at our getting-stronger during recovery, when our muscles are being built back up). But without the breaking is there building back or what can be broken if it’s not built? The old chicken or the egg! Going hard in the gym or harder in the recovery stakes, which gives you more bang for your buck?
So, how do you know?! While I’m not really into all these wearables to tell you how to feel about your body, one measurement I do love is HRV - heart rate variability - which briefly is how quickly you recover your heart rate. Love a good pun but beats are the key!
While your heart rate might be a steady 60 beats per minute, the exact time between each beat isn't always the same (sorcery!). HRV is the fluctuation in these time intervals.
HRV is an indicator of how well your autonomic nervous system (is functioning. This system regulates things like heart rate, breathing, and digestion, and it's divided into the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) branches.
A higher HRV suggests your body is better at switching between these branches and adapting to different situations. It can be a sign of good cardiovascular fitness, resilience, and stress resilience
Low HRV can be a sign of health problems, including heart conditions, mental health issues like anxiety and depression, and other imbalances in your body.
HRV is typically measured in milliseconds using specialized devices like ECGs / wearable trackers or feel your pulse and the subtle variations in heartbeat intervals while breathing, noting how the intervals change with inhalation and exhalation
The Takeaway: Your body gets stronger, fitter, and healthier during rest. It's not about being lazy; it's about being SMART (and feeling good when you do either is the seagull’s knees!). So, listen to your body, prioritise sleep, and embrace those rest days. Your future self will thank you!
Got questions about recovery? Drop 'em here. https://www.fitbynature.org/contact
