Day 30, A Day Off

Well, damn, I have a cold now. Nothing major, but I was feeling really weak and tired today.

I called Chen and asked what I should do. He said, "don't do anything, just rest."
I protested. "Not even jumprope? Nothing?"
He said "The inside of your body is very weak now, just rest."
I finally got him to allow me to at least do some ab work and some pushups.

This was when it hit me. I was actually fighting my trainer so that I could do more exercise. I just don't feel the same now if I don't get out the jumprope during my lunch hour. I guess I might be a little hooked on the endorphins?

So, anyway, I tried to do some abs, and fell out about halfway through my routine. So I moved to pushups, but couldn't get more than ten out before my arms failed me. I didn't jumprope at all. Chen is right, what I need is rest, so that I can get healthy faster and back on track sooner.

So today for the first time in 30 days I didn't train. But I realized that knowing when to take it easy is also part of being in Peak Condition. When I got home I looked around the web for what bodybuilders do when they get colds, and I found that they all take it easy too. A few mentioned that the real pros take such set-backs with ease, and know that they can't be at 100% all the time. And in fact small breaks can be helpful to overall muscle growth.

The good news is I could concentrate on my stretches today, and have attained a nice front split in the past 4 weeks!