The secret to improving without training
This is not click-bait journalism. The headline speaks of a great truth about sport that many of us overlook and that has little to do with a magic formula: you can improve your sporting level without training, here we tell you how. We are still looking for the formula to eat without gaining weight, for now, pay attention to this matter.
This is an entry to talk about rest and its leading role in the process of professional and amateur athletes. Taking a break is as important as accelerating your pulse and sweating like there's no tomorrow. It sounds dissonant and contradictory, but stopping should always, without exception, be part of every athlete's training plan.
We consulted with Edwin Lara, coach of Team Bianchi, who spoke to us about “invisible training.” This term refers to active recovery activities that complement the practice of endurance sports: stretching, recovery massages, physiotherapy and psychological support. According to the professor, in this last area, it is essential to work on the emotions of guilt for those of us who suffer, punish ourselves and become anxious when we skip a training plan or when our coach draws a piece of furniture on the calendar to rest our body.
What is the key?
The body needs time to assimilate the stimuli we subject it to during training. On many occasions we are subjecting the body to a controlled level of stress in order to achieve better performance. However, even if it is controlled, it is still stress and it requires a pause along the way to be incorporated into the mind and muscles.
To achieve this, it is necessary to have good sleep hygiene, improve eating habits, go to physiotherapy as a preventative measure and clear your mind of the idea that you always have to see the light at the end of the tunnel every time you get up to ride a bike, swim or run.
Doing these things, or rather doing nothing, can be the missing piece of the puzzle to breaking that mark, increasing muscle mass, preventing injuries and going further in our goals.
You can, yes you can, improve without training.
Cristian Marín - Alternating Current