Did you realize that your rest days are just as important as your actual workouts? If you didn’t, you aren’t alone! So many people skip rest days because they think they will reach their goal faster. The problem is, it isn’t true! In this post we are going to talk all about rest days and why you need them!
I remember being on this journey eight years ago starting out and I had my two kids and I wanted to make all of this progress. I had these huge goals in mind. In my head, I just thought if I could put in more effort I would get my results faster. I mean, it makes sense, right? Like when you put it on paper like that, the more work you put in, the quicker you get to your goal. Except it doesn’t typically work that way when it comes to fitness. You need rest so we can’t just skip them. You are not being lazy when you take a rest day. You need to drill that thought into your mind because for some reason we think it and I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t care if you have to write it on a post-it and stick it on your mirror so you could read it every single day. Do it, put it in your planner. Put it as a background on your phone, do whatever you need to do to get it into your head that a rest day does not equal you being lazy. Take those days when you need them.
A lot of the time this mentality starts when we are starting off on this journey because we are so excited to reach those goals and we don’t want to take those rest days. I’ve totally been there too. You think, I feel fine, I don’t need a rest day. Except you do and for so many reasons that you’re not even aware of at that moment. I know you might feel good, and I know that excitement is there, but the more you keep pushing yourself harder the quicker that excitement is going to fade.
Why Do You Need Rest Days?
What are the benefits of taking a rest day? For one, your training is successful when you take time off. Your body needs time to recover. Your muscles need time to repair themselves. You have to build back up all of that energy that your body produces from the good foods that I know you’re eating. Your body needs time to do that. You can just expect it to always be there, so your body needs time to rest and recuperate and get better.
Another important reason for rest days is to help you prevent overtraining and injuries. I know this is always a tough one because everyone’s like no I feel fine, but the thing is the more tired you are, the worse your form is going to be. When you’re lifting weights or you’re doing any type of physical activity, you may not even realize it yet, but the more overworked and tired you are the better the chances are of making a mistake and getting hurt. We want to try to avoid that. So when people say that we’re trying to get you to prevent injuries, that’s one of the reasons why, and there’s actually tons more, but that’s the big one that I wanted to focus on for today. You need to rest.
Rest days do not have to mean that you sit on the couch and watch TV and not move. It’s not all or nothing here. You don’t have to have these two extreme things. You might have really high intensity workout days and then maybe your rest is some kind of an active recovery day. Maybe you’ve heard that phrase thrown around a lot, so with active recovery you are doing a workout or doing some type of movement at a really low intensity. This might be stretching. Maybe you spend 20 minutes stretching. Maybe you do yoga and I’m not saying yoga is not stressful, so don’t come at me with that. It totally is, but it might be a lower intensity yoga that you do.
The whole point is you’re not doing a movement that is extremely stressful. Anything light like that can be an active recovery day, so I know the idea of keeping that momentum going and you don’t want to stop working out. I can appreciate that and I’ve totally been there and the thought of active recovery days really helped fill in those gaps when I have that thought. I’ll have four to five days of my week that are high intensity workouts, then I might have a yoga day or just some stretching, or just rest where I don’t do any of that, which is fine too. It’s entirely up to you, but I wanted to give you those options because I didn’t want you to think it was all or nothing. It’s not. It’s not an all or nothing thing, and that’s actually one of the biggest points that I like to make across nutrition and fitness, none of this is all or nothing. It’s not. I workout or I don’t. You can have different types of workouts. You can have different types of intensity of workout. And there is still nothing wrong with taking days off completely if that’s what you feel you want to do or feel you need to do.
Making The Most Out Of Your Rest Days
Remember, I just said this is not all or nothing. This healthy lifestyle that you’re trying to build or maintain needs to be more than just I’m trying to eat better or I’m trying to workout more or get in more self-care. They’re not separate containers that you’re trying to fill. Those 3 things make up one big container and all of them count when you’re trying to fill it. So on a day where you maybe take a step back and you take that rest day, you’re going to fill that container in other ways. Maybe you’re going to focus more on your nutrition. Maybe you are going to spend more time with your family to build up that part and fill your container that way. One thing I like to do is include your kids on an active rest day. Go for a walk with them. Go outside and play soccer, play baseball or go for a swim. I mean, it’s pretty cold in New York now so you might not want to do that, but maybe you’re somewhere in the country where it’s really warm. Do something fun with your family!
You could also focus on your mindset, maybe you just go and get a massage. Maybe that’s part of your active recovery or your rest day. Maybe once a week you go for a massage and that’s your rest. Fantastic, I mean that sounds great. Maybe you spend time with your family or your friends. All of those things are part of a healthy lifestyle and all of that helps fill that one bucket. So just because you are taking a day off from a workout doesn’t mean you’re not focusing on your health that day. You’re just focusing on your health in a different way, and it’s going to look different every single day, and that is really fine.
That was the biggest point that I wanted to make with you. You’re not being lazy. I don’t know how many times I’ve said it so far. At least five, and I’m going to say it again before this post is over, so don’t worry. I’m going to say it again because I really want you to believe it and the more you hear it and the more you tell yourself that maybe then it’ll finally sink in.
You are not going to lose all of your progress because you took a day off. You’re not going to lose all of your progress because you took a week off, so let that sink in. You’re going to be OK taking that time for your body to rest.
I love connecting with all of you. I think that is such a big part of this Community that I’m building here and I love hearing your input on things. Since this topic came from a bunch of you out there, I would love to hear your take on rest days so make sure you head over to Instagram at @coffee.donuts.fitness and join the conversation. Send me a message, comment on a post. Do whatever you feel you need to let me know what you do for rest days or your take on them because I’d love to hear it and I hope you are having a fantastic day resting. And if not? Pick your day this week and make sure you get in at least one to two days of either active recovery or rest!
