Prescribing the proper amount of rest is an often-forgotten part of planning a training session. The amount of time you take between sets can greatly change the anticipated outcome. Whether you are focused on strength, power, hypertrophy, or endurance- adhering to recommendations of research is a must
But if you consistently have 2 minutes or more between sets, and 10+ sets in a session that’s a minimum of 20 minutes where you are in a gym doing… Nothing. That’s where the idea of active rest comes in to play.
Active rest is the idea of incorporating low intensity exercises to keep yourself engaged between sets and knock out accessory work. You’re working on qualities that are important but would never make up the bulk of your training day, without having a negative effect on your ability to perform the main exercise. Examples could be core training, shoulder mobility, neck strengthening, etc.
An example programming strategy for an athlete:
A1) Trap Bar Deadlift 4x2
A2) Seated Box Jump 4x4
A3) Foam Roller Fire Hydrant 4x5ea
A4) Foam Roller T-Spine Rotation 4x5ea
Exercises A3 and A4 serve to work on hip and t-spine mobility while recovering from A1 and A2. Depending on how long it takes to complete this supplementary work, you can either hop right into the next set of the complex or wait a little longer to recover. Either way, you have greatly cut down on the amount of time you are standing around in the gym.
You can play around and implement active rest exercises any way you see fit. I typically program between 1-3 per complex depending on the training goal or how long they take to complete. Below are examples of you can put in your training plan immediately:
Hip Mobility
This is not my video, but I stumbled across it recently and its quickly become one of my favorite mobility drills:
Ankle Mobility
I really like the band tension, the elevation with the plate, and the added pressure with the kettlebell- but half kneel or standing ankle rock will do just fine as well
T-Spine Mobility
Core
It's important to note that if you use core training, certain variations can be strenuous enough that they just add to fatigue that was cause by the main exercises. If I am using "core" as active rest, I prefer lower intensity options such as shoulder taps and a classic pallof press (both shown below).
Rotator Cuff
Band pull apart variations have long been some of my favorite exercises to help target some of the smaller musculature and build sturdy shoulders.
Groin Strength
This exercise has probably shown up in about 10 of my blogs now. Simple effective way to hit the musculature of the groin.
Neck Strength
It's hard to "prevent" concussions, they typically occur from an awkward hit into boards or blow to the head, but strengthening the neck is a way to attempt prevention.
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