Rest - Right and Wrong
Rest can go wrong for anybody. Sometimes, a short break can take a long time to 'break' away from. Especially when the activity you take a break from does not figure among the top ten on your favourite list, even though the benefits you could reap from it are amazing. Then, that little holiday extends from being a brief interlude into a long hiatus. What you did before seems like a vague memory. Often, we tend to forget it till someone we meet in a public place like a restaurant or the shopping mall, looks like she recognizes us, but cannot quite place who we are. Then you smile. Sudden realization dawns like the sun bursting out of grey clouds and she says, "Hey, aren't you the person I used to meet at the gym?" You nod happily and wanting to be nice, say "you look absolutely fabulous!" She replies "thanks. Have been working out religiously. But where have you been? You seem to have put on a lot of weight!" Your smile freezes and you nod, trying to slink away. Well, you've just had the Rest Gone Wrong experience. The thing to do is begin working out again. Go at it like you love it. And slowly you will realize you actually look forward to your tryst with the machines all over again. Somehow, even inanimate objects have a way of weaving their magic over the mind. It is a lot like having a favourite car. You will find yourself gravitating towards a particular treadmill or the EFX where the hand grip fits you perfectly.
Initially you will feel the time you spend at the gym is a bit of a drag. "Besides," your mind will reason, "it takes so long to get there." It will begin the calculations. "I spend five minutes getting into my workout clothes, another ten driving to the gym, where a couple of minutes are gone in putting on my workout shoes. Then, I have to warm-up, stretch and finally the hour-long workout begins. By the time I return, at least two hours are gone," it will justify. "Instead I can spend those two hours doing something more constructive." The workout is gone. Thrown out with a single justification. Again rest just went wrong.
This is the case with anything you do not do in a long time. Even things like writing or reading or cooking - you name it, and it there. "It is often just getting started. An object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest tends to stay in rest. I used to write daily tips, then I switched to writing them weekly. It was so much harder to write weekly than it was to write daily. Then I switched to writing books and a daily writing pattern. It became easy because there was a momentum there," says Michael Neill, a famous author, screenplay writer and teacher who lives in Hollywood. It's the long gaps in between that get even longer and soon you find what used to be easy and very 'doable' becomes difficult with long intervals in between. One tends to lose touch. The very machines that seemed to work well under your expert handling, become sullen when you go back. Your calorie consumption that was a cakewalk - whatever that means - becomes a loose sandy-beach walk. "You must prioritize. You must change your angle of approach!"
"It is very critical that we give our body those resting moments just as we give ourselves the Saturday / Sunday routine to re-energise our minds before we get to work again," says Rajeev Balakrishnan, who is very regular with his workout and has seen some amazing results. What happens when the two days extend into two weeks and then you find yourself slipping into months without a workout?
"It could happen. In fact, it does. I still take a brisk walk for at least half hour even on those days," says this dedicated gentleman.
I was a classic example of rest gone wrong. Quite religious with my workout, every evening would find me heading for the gym with hubby in tow. Come rain or shine, with or without chauffeur, every evening we would head to the gym. Then we went on a vacation, where great demands were made on our physical condition. We coped quite comfortably for long hours thanks to our exercising. When we returned, the vacation from our workout never ended. I was the object at rest that stayed at rest. Till I forced myself to stand stood on the weighting scale and realized I had put on ten entire kilos in as many months. Although I did have some inkling when people commented about my looking 'a little rounder'.
I decided to be the object in motion that stays in motion. In other words it was time to get moving. Again. Till the time I rest - two days a week.
Detroit stadium laid to rest - Houston Chronicle
This year, no rest for the lefty - Boston Globe
Boston Globe This year, no rest for the lefty Boston Globe, United States - 26, DeCarlo is dedicating the rest of the summer to improving his control on the mound and catching up with former teammates and opponents off the field. ...