It has occurred to me, being in a new gym, that the misconception gains are made in the gym and lifting everyday is the most important part to making those gains. That is simply false. Gains are made out side of the gym in the food, supplements and sleep you get.
Granted, without training you will not make the gains you want, but training should not be at the sacrifice of the other components. If I have a choice between getting sleep and a workout, I will choose sleep and make up the session later.
It is a lot like taking care of a plant. If you spend all your time pruning the leaves and branches to the sacrifice of properly watering, timely feeding, and the provision of adequate sunlight, you will soon find yourself with a brown, wilted plant.
The roots have to be firmly planted and cared for before the plant will thrive. Same goes for your body. This is achieved through nutrition, supplements and sleep.
We have hammered the nutrition, and I think that is pretty understood. Supplements like vitamins, recovery products and quality proteins are going to help ensure the roots of your fitness goals are cared for and have the ammunition needed to progress.
Sleep is often over looked. Muscles are not ‘grown’ in the gym.They are broken down in the gym. Torn down through repetitions and sets. Muscles are ‘grown’ when you sleep.
When your body is at rest, the energy your body needs to maintain your ‘awake’ activity (regardless if you are running or vegging out on the couch) can be spent rebuilding the breakdown from the gym.
This recovery is not fully possible when you are awake, and you need more than a few hours of sleep. Even at the heightened peaks of training for a show, I will skip a workout for more sleep if I have been cheating hours or minutes from my sleep.
If you continually breakdown a muscle that hasn’t been allowed to fully recover, you are asking for injury and negating the progress of your fitness goals. Train smart and make sure that you aren’t sacrificing the roots of your goals because you are too caught up in pruning the fruits of your effort.