Just starting STS

[aimtobe]

Hi everyone! I am just about to start STS and I was wondering what the "active recovery week" is really supposed to include. Am I supposed to just do cardio and maybe some ab work or am I supposed to do some light weights too?

[hula_girl]

my interpretation of the active recovery week was to not do any workout videos. I went for walks and hikes. Playing a sport is also good. I didn't go for any high calorie burns, just kept it easy. It was fairly annoying to do, but my body was way more ready when i started back up again than when I've done workouts week after week with no break. Taking this week not to stress out your body is really important to letting your muscles regroup and prepare for the next cycle.

[chammer]

My interpretation was to focus on cardio, abs, cross training activities - not weights - though I assume light circuit training (cardio emphasis, a la circuit blast maybe?) would be acceptable? I'd love more input and clarification too though! Great question!

[vicki0143]

Here is what Cathe says on her FAQs re. STS:

Why does STS have two Active Recovery weeks and what does this mean?

There are two one week active recovery weeks allotted during STS. The first "rest" week will occur at the end of week four which is the end of Mesocycle #1 (muscle endurance). The 2nd "rest" week follows the end of Mesocycle #2 (hypertrophy) which is just after week #9. So your two active recovery rest weeks are week #5 and week #10. By active recovery week we don't mean that you lay around the house doing nothing, but at the same time you need to let your body and mind relax during this week. As Cathe says, "we're taking a break – not a vacation".

One of the hardest things to teach serious exercisers is that by taking breaks they will improve over the long haul more than if they had worked out nonstop. An active rest recovery week will also help to prevent overuse injuries and mind fatigue. During this week you might want to try something like a relaxing Yoga video or a Cathe stretch DVD. Perhaps you will want to do some outdoor activities like walking, tennis or hiking. Whatever you do, it should be a light activity as you're letting your body recover from the previous Mesocycle while getting ready for the more intense Mesocycle to follow.

[aimtobe]

Thanks for the input everyone...boy, I think it will be hard to not do any workout dvd's, but I do like yoga and have quite a few of those too so maybe I'll focus on those.

[jewels5]

"ACTIVE RECOVERY WEEK…Do cardio activities, yoga workouts, stretch programs , or even totally rest but NO WEIGHT TRAINING THIS WEEK!!!"

I copied the above from the sticky post: STS Cardio Rotation Suggestions (at the top of the STS Forums). This was stated right after Week 4.

I took the cardio activities to include the DVDs. Now I'm all confused!

[Bobbi-B]

Yeah, I'm not sure how our bodies would benefit less (or be harmed more) during the rest week by doing a kickbox DVD versus playing tennis, for example. Jumping around and sweating is, well, jumping around and sweating! How does our body know if there's a DVD playing in front of us or not?