Healthy Me

My husband is a cyclist. He was racing before I met him and he continued to train regularly and faithfully for most of our marriage. He raced for several years into our marriage (with way too many to count First Place's) but now just keeps himself in training mode without the races. I don't have any interest in cycling myself but I did learn something from his training - to train every other day to give the muscles you've worked recovery time. They need time to repair what you've done to them. In other words, don't exercise the same muscle groups every single day.

I looked it up at Wiki since people are more apt to listen to a well-known source and not my husband's ideas through me, lol. Here is what it says:

"Too much exercise can be harmful. The body parts exercised need at least a day of rest, which is why some health experts say one should exercise every other day or 3 times a week. Without proper rest, the chance of stroke or other circulation problems increases, and muscle tissue may develop slowly. It has also been noted by the medical field that expectant mothers should never exercise two days consecutively.

Inappropriate exercise can do more harm than good, with the definition of "inappropriate" varying according to the individual. For many activities, especially running, there are significant injuries that occur with poorly regimented exercise schedules. In extreme instances, over-exercising induces serious performance loss. Unaccustomed overexertion of muscles leads to rhabdomyolysis (damage to muscle) most often seen in new army recruits. Another danger is overtraining in which the intensity or volume of training exceeds the body's capacity to recover between bouts."

There is also the nutrition factor:

"Proper rest and recovery are also as important to health as exercise; otherwise the body exists in a permanently injured state and will not improve or adapt adequately to the exercise. Hence, it is important to remember to allow adequate recovery between exercise sessions. It is necessary to refill the glycogen stores in the skeletal muscles and liver. After exercise, there is a 30 minute window critical to muscle recovery. Before doing anything else, one should drink something for recovery. Liquids are ideal after exercise and there are several studies that show low-fat milk and chocolate milk as being effective recovery beverages because of its ideal 4:1 combination of carbohydrate and protein that fuels and replenishes our muscles the best."

Here's another article on the World Fitness Network.