Training Tip #1

This whole tip should be titled, “It’s December stupid.” I’ve been going through this cycle for 25 years and I’m still fighting the urge to “train” hard in the short, dark days for the dumbest reasons. So I thought I’d list the three most obvious reasons to rest and recover during the winter months.

1. Tired is cumulative. You’re not beat from the last session, you’re beat from the month of training sessions that made you tired today. If you’re beat in December, it’s what you did all summer and fall that got you there, and it isn’t going to heal in a day.

2. Everything heals better at the break. Tree branches, bones and almost everything else in nature heals stronger after it’s broken. Just like your body. Stress and rest. It’s the rest that makes you better. It’s the stress that makes you go to class. Which is harder for you?

3. EVERYTHING sleeps in the winter. So often we view ourselves apart from nature. The days are short, nights long and everything about the rhythm of the world we live in says to slow down. Everything sleeps in the winter.