“Jump in the shower
And the blood starts pumpin’
Out on the streets
The traffic starts jumpin’
With folks like me on the job from 9 to 5”
I bet you’re singing along in your head with Dolly as you read.
At the time Dolly was starring in the film 9-5 office working hours for many were morphing into 8-6 and beyond.
And, at the same time, we were seeing the start of the first real fitness boom. (Funnily enough helped along by her fellow star Jane Fonda.)
But with time through the week in short supply more and more people started to double up at the weekend.
And the idea of the weekend warrior was spawned.
Unfortunately throwing the kitchen sink at the weekend and trying to cram all your activity into two days is a bad idea.
One that is likely to set you on the path to injury.
So I had to laugh when I saw a piece in Runner’s World about “crash training”.
Crash training has its roots in cycling and is where you do 2 or 3 days of harder than normal training.
This can mean longer or harder sessions or longer AND harder. The idea is to do more than normal for a very short period of time.
But this is done off an already solid base of work.
And every now and then it wouldn’t be the worst idea I’ve heard.
Yet the article was talking about it being a good idea if you have a job that makes big time demands on you.
That chucking in a couple of big days at the weekend to make up for doing nothing through the week.
And it’s one of the more stupid things I’ve heard.
It’s a terrible idea for anyone in that situation.
The last thing you need if you’re putting in long hours is a crazy hard weekend of activity.
Far better would be to “Micro-Dose” your training across the week.
If you are time poor through the week I’d much prefer you did daily short sessions with a little bit more at the weekend.
Cut things right back.
And, ideally, get the sessions in before work.
If you’re lifting pick 2 big movements, 1 lower body and 1 upper body, and do some solid but not hard work.
Conditioning? A 30 min easy run before work and you’re done.
Then at the weekend, you can put in a single bigger session if you want to…
Or you can relax with your family knowing you’ve hit the bases through the week.
