The day, the night.
The Summer, the Winter.
The work, the rest.
We focus on the work, the set, the rep. This makes sense, as it’s where the stimulus comes from. Where our work gets done.
In between though, we have the rest.
If the quality, intensity and focus of the work requires a particular amount of rest. Then to short change yourself on that rest is resistance and avoidance of doing the best work possible.
When I started to learn handstands, I was figuring it out solo. I would repeatedly just do them, one after another. Until I was too exhausted to try any more. My efforts would slowly decline until I was literally spent.
Then I saw some writing from world renowned hand-balancer Yuval Avalon. He mentioned that he worked with a three minute rest. Three? What was I going to do with all that time?
So, I managed enough patience for about two minutes…
Today, maybe 8 months later, I did my sets with a 3:30 cycle (so about 2:45 rest). The quality of the movement is better than it has ever been.
I get it now. I understand.
We need to focus on the work, but the rest is there to allow us to do so.
Without attention on the time in between, the stimulus itself isn’t effective.
Screw it up, and you leave a lot on the table.
