Finding success in the gym could be defined many different ways. Improving your flexibility and mobility, increasing the separation between your upper and lower body, or improving your overall strength and power are common goals for the golf athlete. To give yourself the best opportunity at achieving these goals, you first need a plan outlining how you will reach them. Our plan in the Performance Zone at GPC is mapped out for the duration of the academy year using a periodization model designed to help each athlete reach their potential without crossing the line into what we would refer to as overtraining. According to the Journal for Sport and Exercise Science, overtraining occurs when training exceeds the body’s recovery capacity, indicated by both physical and mental fatigue, resulting in decreased of your performance (in the gym, on the course, or in life.)
To avoid overtraining the athlete must give just as much effort and attention to adequate rest and recovery as they do to “getting after it.” Rest and recovery begins immediately following your workout as you refuel your body with the proper nutrients that were just depleted. Getting to bed at a decent hour also allows the body enough time to recover, repair, and rebuild to help your muscles grow stronger. On active rest days, you should do just that – rest! Focus on hydration and getting enough sleep, for starters. It is also important to move! Take your time foam rolling, going through a deliberate dynamic warm up, before working on some mobility and flexibility. The purpose of this day is to continue to help the body recover from the rigor of the workout the day or two before. Going all out, all the time, will do nothing but force you into a chronic state of fatigue resulting in poor performance and potentially more serious health issues. I look forward to hearing how you feel once you start to give your body the rest it needs!
