It is now clear that muscles have to recover after heavy exertion. But how long does that really take? And how can you tell whether a muscle is ready for the next training session?
Is one day as training break enough for regeneration?
I’m afraid it’s not that simple, because: The different muscles need different lengths of time to recover after hard training. Example: The lower back takes the longest, the calves are among the fastest.
So is one day’s rest enough? For a hard trained muscle, which is also slowly recovering, certainly not.
Can regeneration be measured?
You can measure everything today, can’t you? Smart watches or clothes with sensors supposedly know everything about your body. Why should regeneration be any different?
It’s true: Using procedures such as HRV measurement (heart rate variability), you can tell whether you are stressed or relaxed. This works quite well for the body as a whole. But how should such a system recognize which muscles are in which condition? Want an example? High stress level due to heavy squats yesterday, but the shoulders could be loaded again today: Not so easy to measure.
What does my personal regeneration look like?
You want to know how your muscles are doing today? Which still need recovery after the workouts of the last days? Or even more important: Which ones are ready again today for the next training session? Because these can be specifically loaded again today.
Help with regeneration-based training planning is provided by myTRS: You get an overview of your personal situation. And with the preview of the coming days you can plan what to do today.
