6 Weeks out - Active Rest

Well what a start to the week.  Meal planning is on track, since I was slightly ahead of schedule with weight and Body Fat % measurements, no new adjustment to my meal plan at this stage.  Training is going great, with 6am cardio sessions every morning and weight training every night.  The one thing though, early this week Grace noticed that we almost forgot to send in our registration forms for the competition in Kelowna.  Now wouldn't that be the way things go, after all of this training and preparation, only to forget to register for the event?  I can't say it often enough, but I don't know what I would do without Grace there beside me every step of the way!


One question I am asked quite often, is "how often do you workout?"  My answer is usually 13 times per week.  Grace and I do take a rest day, but this rest day will still include at least a 30 minute "steady cardio" session, just to keep up moving.  It is kind of strange, but we found that when we did take an entire day off from the gym before, we would be thinking about it all day, wanting to go anyways.  Grace was reading through some studies found in the Guide to Sports Medicine and found that not taking a full day off from training, not only is not as bad for you as once thought, but it actually is found to be beneficial.

The term “active rest” or “active recovery” applies to training

schedules used by athletes.  In the recent past, athletes were
encouraged to rest completely after a competition or on a day off.
But newer research shows that engaging in low-intensity exercise
during “rest” is better for maintaining fitness levels.  Low-intensity
exercise flushes out lactic acid and delivers healing oxygen to the
muscles.  Any activity that keeps the target heart rate in the 60 –
65% range is low-intensity exercise.  Active rest activities are easy
recreational movements like going for a bike ride or a hike.

  I guess the one change I have made to my routine at this point, is in training, I have moved to less conditioning workouts and have focussed on more strenghth building workouts with heavier weights.  I still need to add some more size before competition, so I am doing all I can at this point, before I begin the next stage of preparation (the cutting phase).  Confidence is still high, with excitement and a bit of anxiousness setting in.


  Looking forward to training next weekend (which will be 5 weeks out), as the guys from our team will begin weekly posing practice, so we look like we actually know what we are doing once we get on stage.  This is definitely something I am looking forward to.  I have watched a few shows so far and no matter what category a person is compeiting in, nor whether they are male or female, I have found those that stand out the most (in a good way), are the ones that have the physique, but also great stage presence!  You can easily see who has worked with a coach in this area and who has not.  I would hate to work so hard in my training, only to step on stage and miss this key element.  I will let you know more next week how the first class goes.


  I guess until next week, I will share more with you then.  Have a great week and stay focussed!


Thank you,


Andrew Bukowsky
#TeamRippedFreak