Last Updated on January 3, 2021 by David Vause
So it had been about 10 days since I last lifted when I hit my deadlifts on Friday as part of a Friday/Saturday push/pull split. I had run 5 miles in the morning. Normally, this would not have been excessive, but I knew that the price lifting would exact was going to be higher because of the long period since my last work out. I did not give my legs delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), though my upper body was sore when I hit it again on Saturday with a pull/lat workout. My 5 milers on both days were completely devoid of energy.
Now it is Sunday. Honestly the 35 F weather and rain knocks some winds out of my motivation sails. But I still feel the staleness in my legs along with an overall sense of being tired. Normally, a 3 day in a row running period of 5, 5, and 10 miles coupled with strength training would not be to much. But it is that damned 10 day strength training lay off that ran me down when I hit the weights again on Friday.
Any knowledgeable lifter will tell you that it takes 48 to 72 hours to recover from your last aggressive work out. But, beyond this, you start to de-condition and backslide. If you’re not going to be consistent, it’s probably better to not do at all. I know this one primary fact: never let more than 72 hours pass between your last strength or cardiovascular work out. Mike Robertson adds another good dictum: “It’s not how hard you can exercise but what you can recover from that matters.”
So I’m cancelling today’s running effort. I know that on Tuesday, 72 hours after my Saturday run, my legs will be fresh again, even though I will have deadlifted on Monday, which is 72 hours after my push workout on Friday. If I were a younger man, I would have been able to recover faster and managed to do the 3 days of training this weekend as I had planned. 65 has to exact some price.
I’ll do some planks today, but nothing else.
