REST DAYS
By: Heather Perren – Senior Master Trainer for Lagree Fitness and Co-Founder of Lagreeing at Home
Rest Days. Our bodies need them, but for many people, the mind makes us feel guilty for taking them. So, do we take them or do we push through?
Our society is ingrained in telling you that you need to work out. Many are left feeling weak for taking them (I’m looking at you Peloton and your blue dots!) Yet, what most people fail to mention is how important rest days are for you both physically and mentally. Maybe, if we changed the name to recovery days, people would be more likely to take them…
For many years I struggled to find the balance between exercise and rest. I rarely share my personal struggle I had for many years with over exercising, but during my recovery from over exercising, I learned how important rest days actually are for each individual. I would love to share this with you, so you can keep you body strong and healthy.
So do you need rest days? Simply put – YES! You need at least one rest day every 7-10 days, but if you’re just getting into an exercise program, 2 rest days a week are recommended.
A rest day can include stretching, a light walk, or simply just relaxing with a mediation (for my Peloton lovers, use the meditation app or walking feature to get your blue dot), but it means you should be taking time off your strenuous workouts.
Let’s take a look at the top five reasons you need rest days to actually improve your mental and physical health.
Top 5 Reasons for Rest Days
- Muscles need to repair themselves. Challenging workouts cause the muscles to breakdown. When you rest, it allows the body to repair the muscles and strengthen them while building the muscles back up. Continually pushing through without a rest day will eventually lead to injury because the muscles don’t have the chance to repair themselves.
- If your body is feeling sore, a rest day can allow your cardiovascular system to deliver the oxygen and nutrients used to help repair damaged tissues.
- If you find yourself skipping rest days and feeling very fatigued, your glycogen levels may be too low. Taking a rest day helps your body replace the glycogen levels in your muscle cells so that you are fully charged for your next challenging workout.
- Rest days are also very important for your mental health as well. Exercise should never take over your life where you find yourself giving up other plans because you need to workout.
- When you’re mentally fatigued this can lead to an injury due to being easily distracted or making mistakes because you are mentally exhausted.
Remember to remind yourself that you’re not being lazy, but rather focused on the recovery phase of your workout program, which is just as important as the rest of your workouts! I’ve personally been able to change my mindset about rest days and I hope you will too. Give yourself permission to incorporate the rest days your body needs into your fitness program, whether it’s Lagree Fitness, Peloton, or any other workout.
XO