Haddonfield Boot Camp Instructor Jim Bompensa: Keep Your Workout From Stalling by Incorporating Active Rest!

Haddonfield Boot Camp Instructor Jim Bompensa: Keep Your Workout From Stalling by Incorporating Active Rest!

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I have the opportunity to work with many people from a variety of backgrounds and lifestyles.  Despite their differences, most people I work with at my private training facility are focused on similar results.  Their goals typically center on general fitness with a focus on weight loss and muscle tone.  I’ve found the best workouts to help my clients reach goals such as these always include a cardio-resistance training component.  Cardio-resistance training utilizes strength training exercises performed one after another with continuous movement.

When performing this type of workout, it’s very important to correctly use a workout method called active rest.  Without active rest, muscles will fatigue quickly and the workout will stall.  When active rest is properly incorporated into the workout, exercise can continue indefinitely with an elevated heart rate and without a need to completely stop motion in order to rest a particular muscle.
Before I worked out of my private training studio, I worked in a large gym with many members.  I was surprised to see how many people waste their time by taking long periods of rest between sets.  After this long period of rest, they follow it with another set of the same exercise and then rest again.  This cycle may repeat for one or even two hours.  These workouts did not seem very time efficient to me.  I quickly realized that workouts could be completed in half the time if those rest periods were taken out of the workout.  It was then that I began utilizing active rest.
The best way to implement active rest is to work opposing muscle groups on alternating sets.  For example, if a chest press is performed, the muscles of the chest and triceps are fatigued and the heart rate is elevated.  If a complete rest period is included after that set, not only will the chest and triceps muscles get a rest, but the heart rate also decreases.  Instead of stopping completely, I recommend moving to an exercise that uses opposing muscle groups. This will allow the chest to rest, but the use of the opposing muscles will maintain and elevated heart rate.  When performing a chest press, a great opposing exercise would be a seated row.  The seated row works the muscles of the upper back as well as the biceps.
A workout correctly outlined to incorporate active rest while working opposing muscle groups will effectively fatigue each muscle to the point of muscle failure.  It will also maintain heart rate elevation without a complete stop in movement for 30, 45, or even 60 minutes.
I recommend you try this effective exercise method for result-oriented, time efficient workouts.
By: Jim Bompensa
Jim Bompensa has been a health club owner and manager, personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and nutrition specialist for the nearly 15 years. He is currently the owner/operator of Body Physics Fitness Center in Haddonfield, NJ. Jim has appeared and contributed on ABC and NBC in Philadelphia, PA as well as Designing Spaces on TLC.