An athlete defines his or herself by the workouts that he or she completes.  A swimmer, a sprinter, a marathon runner, and a power lifter all have a different routine, a different idea of a hard workout, and a different idea of performance.  However, all athletes shares one common element in their training- rest.

In order to improve performance, athletes rely on the "principle of adaption," the idea that the body adapts to the stress of exercise by becoming more efficient.  Once the body has adapted, it can handle more- more speed, more volume, or more weight.  An intense workout essentially breaks the body down, causing microscopic tears in the muscle, and depletes energy stores.  It is only during a period of rest that the body can heal from the "micro-traumas" of training, rebuilding and strengthening itself. 

By adapting to the stress of the training, it can emerge stronger than before.  During recovery, the body repairs its tissues.  The muscles and the heart become stronger, and the bones and joints heal.   The body also refuels its energy stores that have been depleted during the exercise. 

Skipping out on the rest component of a program can actually weaken an athlete, hurting both performance and overall health.  The body cannot rebuild itself, so it continues to breakdown.  Overtraining has many consequences, such as headaches, elevated resting heart rate, and fatigue.  Other signs include insomnia, aches and pains in the muscles and joints, decreased immune system response, and a loss of appetite.  It also increases the risk of overuse injury, which can occur when the bones or muscles are repeatedly subjected to the same "micro-trauma" of training.  The "micro-tears" can easily turn into much larger tears if there is no chance to heal.

Besides the physical effects, there are also psychological effects of overtraining, such as feeling unmotivated, lacking energy, depression, and "burnout."  A break is necessary to recharge the mind, just like the body. 

Taking a rest day is essential, yet it can be a bit of a challenge for diabetic athletes who are used to training on a daily basis.   Exercise often has a large influence on my insulin needs, so mixing up my routine requires me to pay extra attention to my blood sugar and insulin.  I have found rest days to be some of the most unpredictable days of the week.  No matter how my needs differ from usual, I know that I cannot expect it to be the same as a training day.

For most people, moderate exercise lowers blood sugar.  Therefore, it would make sense that someone would need extra insulin on their rest day, in order to compensate for the lack of exercise.  Taking a little extra insulin is not a bad thing!  In my last blog, I discussed the importance of insulin as an anabolic hormone in terms of sports recovery.  The same principle of short term recovery also applies to long term recovery- the body needs insulin to create an environment for growth and repair in the muscles.  Seriously restricting insulin on rest days could definitely hamper the recovery process by limiting the nutrients that the cells have access to.