Happy 2013 to everyone. I hope you all had one amazingly memorable New Year's celebration, or are possibly reading this while the party keeps-a-rockin', but nonetheless be safe so you're still around to be part of the BigFellas experience as it kicks into high gear this year!
Before we get started with today's topic, there's a quick bit of housekeeping we need to attend to first:
As a site, The BigFella's Guide is gearing up to dig deep into what it means to be a large and in charge dude over the next twelve months. Are you a BigFella? Do you have experiences you'd like to share or thoughts on what it truly means to be one of us? Gentlemen (and the amazing ladies in our lives), you now have a place to call home and voice whatever it is that is on your mind. Beginning today, January 1, 2013, The BigFella's Guide is starting an open contribution policy. ALL topics are welcome and encouraged. For example, we're in progress right now of proofing posts on gym questions, beards/facial hair, resources for clothing and style, and yes we're even readying another article on sex and the big guy as well. Send your emails to bigfellasguide@gmail.com and we'll get them published for you as soon as space is available. Please be sure to include your name (or indicate that you want to remain anonymous) so we can make sure that credit is given where it belongs. (A tiny legal note: all contributions become the property of The BigFella's Guide and its management team unless clearly indicated otherwise in your email. Similarly we reserve the right / pretty much guarantee that entries will be proofed and edited unless requested otherwise. Should any entry need heavy modification for any reason, you will be contacted via email prior to publication for your consent.)
Moving on to the good stuff then...
Let's take a minute today to talk about the two R's: rest and recovery. Now before you immediately tune me out and assume that I'm only talking to my fellow gym monkeys out there, hold your horses and pay attention for just a few minutes. This won't take that long, I promise.
I'm sure most of you are aware that there is a direct correlation between your size and how hard your heart has to work to circulate blood. Whether you're large due to obesity, musculature, or you're just goddamn overgrown like I am, our bodies are supplied with roughly the same size bio-mechanical pumping system as everyone else. Hopefully you're also clear on the fact that this little miracle muscle (I mean your heart genius) is only going to pump but so many times. Obviously taking care of yourself helps to lower the speed at which your heart has to thump to get the job done, but there's one little thing so many of us can do to help ourselves out that we don't do nearly often enough: get our nightly eight hours of sleep. Studies have shown, particularly in Sweden and Norway where they tend to grow slightly larger younguns, that taller men in excellent physical condition that do not get at least six hours of sleep nightly can face the same levels of cardiovascular disease as a man of normal height who is grossly obese. Rest: you have to get it, pure and simple. My favorite argument against getting enough sleep is that there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. My favorite response came from my doctor almost ten years ago when I tried to toy with a cardiac event: if you're dead and gone, how much of that crap will matter anyway?
Now let us shift our focus a bit and get to those gym addicts. Rest and Recovery. We all know the terms. Some of us even hear them just about every workout when our training partner pretends to be allergic to oxygen breaks when lifting heavy. What I'm referring to more though in this segment is on incorporating rest and recovery into your training regimen. For example, how many days a week do you lift? 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7? How many days do you allow between heavy lifts that target similar body parts? 0,1,2, or more? When is the last time you just took a week flat off from the gym when you weren't training for a show, contest, or the like? The truth is a very simple one that you can find all over the interwebs with very little effort: not allowing yourself adequate time to rest and recover can lead to overtraining. Overtraining is one of the most frequent causes of injury, just behind stupidity and bad technique, but is also one of the leading causes for those frustrating bastards we all deal with called plateaus. How do you plan for rest and recovery in your workouts? Let me introduce you to the best resources in your gym: all the other big guys around you. Find the guys who know what they're doing and have been at it a while and ask them how they do it. Chances are if you're serious about what you're doing there in the first place they'll be happy to help you along. My two cents of suggestion are simple: slow down your workout, plan for a light or off week at the end of each training cycle, get your sleep at night, and just be smart about how you plan your workouts. How did I learn this stuff? Hey bud, I'm not a personal trainer. I learned it the same way most of those other big guys did: stupidity, exhaustion, overtraining, and finally manning up and asking a damn question!
Have a good one BigFellas!
Moving on to the good stuff then...
Let's take a minute today to talk about the two R's: rest and recovery. Now before you immediately tune me out and assume that I'm only talking to my fellow gym monkeys out there, hold your horses and pay attention for just a few minutes. This won't take that long, I promise.
I'm sure most of you are aware that there is a direct correlation between your size and how hard your heart has to work to circulate blood. Whether you're large due to obesity, musculature, or you're just goddamn overgrown like I am, our bodies are supplied with roughly the same size bio-mechanical pumping system as everyone else. Hopefully you're also clear on the fact that this little miracle muscle (I mean your heart genius) is only going to pump but so many times. Obviously taking care of yourself helps to lower the speed at which your heart has to thump to get the job done, but there's one little thing so many of us can do to help ourselves out that we don't do nearly often enough: get our nightly eight hours of sleep. Studies have shown, particularly in Sweden and Norway where they tend to grow slightly larger younguns, that taller men in excellent physical condition that do not get at least six hours of sleep nightly can face the same levels of cardiovascular disease as a man of normal height who is grossly obese. Rest: you have to get it, pure and simple. My favorite argument against getting enough sleep is that there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. My favorite response came from my doctor almost ten years ago when I tried to toy with a cardiac event: if you're dead and gone, how much of that crap will matter anyway?
Now let us shift our focus a bit and get to those gym addicts. Rest and Recovery. We all know the terms. Some of us even hear them just about every workout when our training partner pretends to be allergic to oxygen breaks when lifting heavy. What I'm referring to more though in this segment is on incorporating rest and recovery into your training regimen. For example, how many days a week do you lift? 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7? How many days do you allow between heavy lifts that target similar body parts? 0,1,2, or more? When is the last time you just took a week flat off from the gym when you weren't training for a show, contest, or the like? The truth is a very simple one that you can find all over the interwebs with very little effort: not allowing yourself adequate time to rest and recover can lead to overtraining. Overtraining is one of the most frequent causes of injury, just behind stupidity and bad technique, but is also one of the leading causes for those frustrating bastards we all deal with called plateaus. How do you plan for rest and recovery in your workouts? Let me introduce you to the best resources in your gym: all the other big guys around you. Find the guys who know what they're doing and have been at it a while and ask them how they do it. Chances are if you're serious about what you're doing there in the first place they'll be happy to help you along. My two cents of suggestion are simple: slow down your workout, plan for a light or off week at the end of each training cycle, get your sleep at night, and just be smart about how you plan your workouts. How did I learn this stuff? Hey bud, I'm not a personal trainer. I learned it the same way most of those other big guys did: stupidity, exhaustion, overtraining, and finally manning up and asking a damn question!
Have a good one BigFellas!
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