Easier Workouts and Rest Days?

Adopting more easier workouts and incorporating rest days on a regular basis has been something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I know, I know… it feels almost blasphemous to be talking about easing off and taking steps back but these days (well, since last year actually), I find myself experiencing mysterious body pains that have been putting a damper on the things I can do. When I have complained about it, the reply has been that I am no longer a spring chicken and my body is breaking down. Well, I’ll be damned if I’m going to take this lying down. If what I’ve been doing is no longer working, then it’s time to figure out what changes I need to make so that it does.

Some time back, I read about Jeannie Rice, a 76-year-old, long distance runner who currently holds the world records in her age category for the fastest time to complete every distance between 1500m and the marathon. Her achievements have garnered a lot of interest – mine as well – especially with regards to aging and running. How is she doing this? The initial instinct is to label her as someone who has won the genetic lottery. Perhaps she did, but even with superior genetics, there must be something we can learn from her 36 years of running experience.

So let’s dig deeper. In a case report on Jeannie Rice, researchers assessed her cardiorespiratory fitness, running biomechanics, muscle architecture, and training characteristics. Among the markers they measured, her VO2Max was at 47.9. This is the highest VO2Max ever recorded for a woman over 75 years old. When I recall that Dr Vonda Wright advises women at the age of 50 to set a VO2Max training target of 50 because we will decline by 10% each decade, Jeannie’s 47.9 at 76 years old is really amazing.

Why do we care about VO2Max?

VO2 Max is the measure of our body’s ability to use oxygen. The higher our VO2Max, the better our endurance in sport – be it running, biking, or swimming. VO2Max is an important marker because it tells us how efficient our lungs, heart, blood, and muscles are. It also predicts longevity and functional independence, which are important factors for aging.

According to Vonda Wright, if a woman’s VO2Max drops to 16 (18 for men), she will no longer be able to get up from a chair on her own. This is the “fragility line” – the point at which we lose our independence and require nursing care. If we want to preserve our quality of life as we age, then we need to make sure that our VO2Max stays higher than that and counter any age-related decline.

Another exceptional marker was Jeannie’s fractional utilisation of VO2Max. At marathon pace, it was 88% of VO2Max. Having a high fractional utilisation of VO2Max means Jeannie’s body can sustain a high percentage of her VO2Max for an extended period during a race.

What is the significance of fractional utilisation of VO2Max?

Fractional utilisation of VO2Max is the percentage of our VO2Max that we can sustain during prolonged, submaximal exercise. It reflects how close to our VO2Max we can operate before we fatigue sets in. A higher fractional utilisation means better endurance performance.

Having a high VO₂Max is good, but if we can’t sustain it, it doesn’t help us that much. Fractional utilisation is usually a better predictor of race performance, especially in endurance sports like running, cycling, and rowing. Not that I’m entering any races or in any form for it to matter but I thought it was interesting to know. Perhaps this is why my VO2Max drops whenever I do a long ride? Food for thought.

What Can We Learn from Jeannie?

What can we learn from Jeannie that we can apply to ourselves when it comes to aging and staying fit? The researchers who studied Jeannie speculate that the real reason for her amazing running performance may be the fact that she has only ever sustained one running injury throughout the course of her 36-year running career. Was this the super power she won in the genetic lottery? Possibly, but we can still take something away from it.

“As continuous years of running training has been suggested to be particularly essential for aging athletes. This seems to be due to a possibly more rapid decrease in physiological parameters with prolonged rest (e.g., due to injury) in older individuals, and subsequent reduced response to training as compared with younger individuals observed in some studies.”

Van Hooren, Balamouti, and Zanini – Journal of Applied Physiology

Being consistent with her running and avoiding injuries gave Jeannie the opportunity to continuously improve over the years. Having had almost no injuries means she did not had to start over or rebuild any lost progress resulting from time out of training. As we get older, time away from training due to injury affects us more compared to when we are younger. The more severe the injury, the longer the break, the greater the impact on our fitness. Instead of being able to continually take steps forward in the fitness journey, it has become one step forward, three steps back.

The athlete (Jeannie) attributed her injury resilience to low life stress levels, and performing most of her runs at an easy pace, with the three interval sessions per week usually not performed to the maximum effort (although she would go to very hard effort during these sessions).

Interestingly, only a very small fraction of the athlete’s training was done at intensities above the heavy-severe boundary (<1% for HR and <10% for speed), which seems counterintuitive considering the high V̇O2Max reported. If the analyzed training period is representative of the long-term training of the athlete, this may suggest that VO2Max could be maintained as age progresses via relatively high running volumes, without a particularly strong emphasis on high-intensity exercise.

Van Hooren, Balamouti, and Zanini – Journal of Applied Physiology

Jeannie attributes her low injury rate to the fact that much of her training is done at lower intensities. This could mean we can still maintain our VO2Max as we age by performing longer, “easier” workouts without having to focus all that much on high intensity workouts. Admittedly, Jeannie is a retrospective study of one so it could be a stretch to apply her experience across the general population. I believe the bottom line in Jeannie’s training protocol is that consistency is the key. She trained steadily for 36 years and continues to do so.

Go Hard or Go Home or Maybe Not

I wanted to reflect a little more on Jeannie’s training regime because I often hear this phrase: “Go Hard or Go Home”. While I know it is meant to be encouraging, I also believe it can be damaging when followed the wrong way. If Jeannie can maintain her world class performance with the bulk of her training at lower intensities, then we can surely take things down a notch without fear of losing our gains.

Dr. Vonda Wright supports this premise, reminding us that elite athletes don’t always train at maximum intensity. They follow a varied training program that includes “base training” (lower-intensity activities) as well as periods of intense, explosive workouts to build specific skills. By following this approach, elite athletes can build endurance, maintain strength, and prevent injury. 

So what are the areas of training that we should focus on?

• Base Training – A significant portion of our training time should be dedicated to base training, involving consistent workouts at a lower intensity to build our foundation. This could be activities like brisk walking or swimming for 45 to 60 minutes daily. 
• Specialised Training – Specialised training sessions target specific skills or athletic abilities that we want to improve on. They might be short, intense bursts of activity, such as sprints or interval training, to build explosive power and/or speed. 
• Strength Training – Strength training is not just for building muscle but also for improving overall health and performance. By incorporating resistance training 2 to 3 times a week, aiming for 4 to 6 reps at 80% of maximum output, we can significantly impact muscle strength and endurance. 
• Recovery – We need to get enough sleep, hydration, and proper nutrition to allow our bodies to rebuild and adapt to the stresses of training. Factoring in rest days can also help with recovery.
• Preventing Overuse Injuries – Especially as we age, we become more susceptible to overuse injuries. We need to incorporate cross-training, pre-habilitation exercises, and proper warm-up routines to reduce our risk of injury. 

What are pre-habilitation exercises?

Prehabilitation is a proactive approach to building strength, mobility, and resilience. It is usually done before surgery body so our bodies are better able to handle and recover from the physical stress of medical treatment. However, Dr Vonda Wright also advocates for prehab as a proactive defense against age-related decline and injury as well.

Prehab includes dynamic warm-ups, strength training, aquatic exercises, easy cardio (e.g. brisk walks), flexibility and foam rolling.

As I get older, I find myself incorporating more prehab into my workout routine. Things I used to skip – like dynamic warm-ups, foam rolling, and addressing muscle imbalances – I now attend to religiously. To ignore the prehab is to invite knee pain, ankle weakness, and muscle tightness. Yes, I have learned these the hard way.

Taking Rest Days

Since we are talking about looking at the big picture of training, I feel it would be incomplete if we did not address this taboo concept of “rest days”. I know, I am guilty of it, too – skipping my rest days because I want to make sure I am hitting my targets. There is a part of me that fears the loss of my gains if I rest even though I know that rest days are crucial for maximising workout benefits, preventing injuries, and supporting overall health and well-being. Rest days allow our bodies to recover, rebuild muscle tissue, and replenish energy stores. These are all essential for improving performance and avoiding overtraining. 

• Muscle Recovery and Growth – exercise causes microscopic tears in our muscle fibers. During rest, our bodies repairs these tears, allowing our muscles to grow stronger and adapt to our training. 
• Injury Prevention – resting allows our bodies to recover from the stress of workouts, reducing the risk of overuse injuries and other injuries caused by fatigue.  
• Improved Performance – rest helps to replenish our glycogen stores, which is the primary energy source for our muscles. This can improve our endurance and power output during future workouts. 
• Mental Health – we have often been told that physical activity is good for mental health, but just as it is with most things in life, you can have too much of a good thing. Overexercising can also have a negative effect on mental health. Taking time off from intense activity can help reduce stress, improve sleep, and boost overall mental well-being. 
• Avoiding Burnout – consistently overtraining without adequate rest leads to fatigue, decreased motivation, and burnout. In the long run, it becomes difficult for us to maintain a consistent workout routine. 
• Hormonal Balance – rest is important for regulating hormones like cortisol. Cortisol is negatively impacted not only by chronic stress, but also through excessive exercise. 

How many rest days do we need a week? There is no hard and fast rule other than the fundamental one that we should schedule in some rest days every so often. The actual number of rest days depends on our individual fitness level, workout intensity, and personal goals. For most of us, the general recommendation is take 1 to 3 rest days each week, but we should also listen to our bodies and rest when required. I feel this is especially pertinent for women since the hormonal fluctuations during our cycle can affect workout performance and recovery.

It is probably worth mentioning that a rest day does not mean a day with zero movement or activity. We can and should still engage in light activities and refrain from spending the entire day on the couch.

Things to do on rest days:

• Active Recovery – engage in light activities like walking, stretching, or yoga to promote blood flow and reduce muscle soreness. 
• Relaxation – prioritise sleep, meditation, or other relaxing activities that help our bodies recover. 
• Nutrition – eat a balanced diet with enough protein and carbohydrates to support muscle recovery and energy replenishment. 
• Listen to our bodies – if there are signs of fatigue or pain, adjust the rest schedule accordingly. 

Inertia or Fatigue?

There have been times when I have felt too tired to work out but if I can get myself on the bike, make it to a workout class, or hit the gym and start working out, I will start to feel more energised. On these days, I realise that it is inertia and not true fatigue that is affecting me. These are the days when I need to continue to push instead of cutting back. Perhaps you have felt this way, too.

How can we tell if it is inertia or fatigue? I like Dr. Stacy Sims’ 10-Minute Rule. Begin the workout and continue for 10 minutes. Assess your performance – if you can hit your intended intensity, continue with the rest of the workout. If you’re still feeling lethargic, underperforming, or struggling, adjust the intensity of the workout. Consider switching to an easier workout, like making it an active recovery session, or doing low-impact mobility work. If I am in a workout class, I will cut myself some slack and follow my own pace.