Chess improvement Latency

About a year ago, I was studying chess vigorously every day (1+hours of tactics, 1+ hours of studying master games, and sometimes a few g/30+), but found that I was performing roughly the same against my peers at the local club (eg I wasn't improving very much). 

This year, I haven't been studying nearly as much (830-500 job keeping me super busy) but have had the opportunity to play more tournament chess, and over two tournaments (9 games) my rating has jumped from 1488 to 1686 (in one of the tournaments I had a performance rating of 1922!). I've played and beaten players rated higher than I thought I would even have a chance with. I was trying to figure out why I had the sudden jump in rating when my chess training decreased, rather than increased (or maintained itself).

I'm curious if recording patterns/ideas from chess studies and being able to apply these patterns and ideas in your own games has a long latency period (say, a few months). I've heard that if you study rigorously, it is typical that your rating will drop before it increases significantly.

What are your thoughts?

Hm, maybe you were trying too hard before? Too hard to the point of it actually harming you? Possibly? Maybe? I really have no clue...

studying more does not necessarily mean learning more. assimilating what you are studying takes time and continuing to study when you have not fully incorporated your knowledge may be detrimental to your goals. maturation of the information already in your mind could be just as valuable as perpetually pouring more into your brain.