Break before you’re broken… Rest Days.
No days off? That’s cool, until… you’re burnt out or you develop some overuse injuries because your body can’t keep up. When it comes to strength and conditioning, more is not always better.
I’m going to talk about why you should take rest days, when to take them, and how.. Let’s begin.
WHY?
When we exercise or “train” our bodies we are essentially taking it through a stress. We break the body down. Once the workout is over your body will begin to repair itself. Your body begins to build itself back up. Two of the biggest factors to recovery are nutrition and sleep. Your body uses up a lot of fuel to get through your workout so you need to replace that fuel with food. Preferably whole unprocessed foods. Sleep aids in hormone regulation including those to stress response. A good night of sleep can help your muscles grow and repair themselves. These are two major keys to recovery that you do every single day. After several days of putting your body through “stress” your body will need more time to get back to 100%. This is where rest days come in. We want our bodies to function well, but if we don’t give it time to recover then we will never really get to 100%. If you carry on with no rest days then you could even see negative results and risk injury to yours muscle, tendons, and/or ligaments. That would not be fun.
When?
If you’re new to working out then you may need a few more rest days than others until you build up some capacity.
2 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 2 days off. Try this routine out for a few weeks until you feel like you’re recovering well from your workout and you mentally feel like you can do more. Listen to your body on this one.
If you are someone who works out consistently then you may schedule in your rest days to fit your training schedule.
3 days on, 1 day off. This option works well for people who can be flexible on what days they work out since each week looks a bit different.
5 days on, 2 days off. This follows the work week. This isn’t always the most ideal since many people will be quite fatigued by Thursday and Friday but it is still a good option.
3 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 1 day off. This option is great because it is consistent week to week and allows you to have a break in the middle of the week so you can continue to train hard.
HOW?
Now that you know why and when. Lets talk about how. Here is a short list of things you can do on your rest day.
Go for a walk. Great for extra movement and can be relaxing.
Meal prep. Instead of an hour of exercise spend an hour getting some food prepped.
Stretching. Stretching can help bring blood circulation to your muscles and help with some soreness.
Get a massage. This one cost money but who doesn’t love a good massage?
Spend time with people you love. I believe that one of the best things in life are the relationships you have with others. Spend some quality time with people you love. It’s good for the soul.
Conclusion
Train hard. Eat clean. Sleep a lot. Take rest days. Get gains. Repeat. What more do you want?!
Fitness is a journey, Coach Alex.