Rest Day! Do You Need One?

General Posts

Helloo friiiends! Welcome to the rest day blog. Some people look forward to it all week, some do everything they can to avoid having one. Whichever you are, let’s get to talking about them :D. There’s a video at the bottom if you’d rather listen to that 😀 Please excuse the first 3 minutes of overly lit-ness!

Do you need a rest day?

Short answer: Yes! I recommend 1-2 a week depending on the person and the type of training being done and your fitness level.

So let’s get in to why rest days are important. You work you body all week and put it through tough training sessions while working towards your fitness goals! When you’re working out intensely, you’re creating small tears in your muscles. This is good because they repair and grow back stronger! In order for them to repair they need rest. You can’t work your glutes (or any muscle) morning and night 7 days a week and expect progress. The muscles have no chance to recover, repair and grow! This is where rest day comes in. On a rest day, your body should be allowed to fully recover from all the training it went through during the week.

A good thing to remember is that rest day allows for a nice mental break too! You spend the whole week sticking to your plan, chasing goals and getting that workout in (even when you may not want to) and it’s nice to allow your mind a break from the constant dedication and goal focus. That way you’re even more ready to go at it again the next day!

What should you do on rest day?

Short answer: Whatever helps you most with recovery!

Rest day is all about promoting recovery! Sitting on the couch the entire time may sound like a great rest day idea, but it’s actually not the ideal situation, especially if you’re sore (though if you have the chance, spending the majority of the day on the couch watching Netflix is sounds amazing:D). Even if the rest of your day is lounging around, it’s great to spend 10-20 minutes stretching, foam rolling, taking a walk or doing some light stretch oriented yoga. Getting your body moving in a gentle way will help promote muscle recovery! Whatever activity you do, just make sure it’s nothing strenuous or taxing for your body!

If you do nothing but sit around on rest day, you may end up tight during your first workout back. That’s why it’s awesome to do even just 10 minutes of the things mentioned above!

What do I do on rest day?

I like to keep it super simple. Most rest days I spend 15-20 minutes stretching and foam rolling before bed! It helps me to relax before I go to sleep and gets me away from the TV, my Phone etc. Of course there are times when it doesn’t happen and it’s amazing how I can feel the difference the next day!

I like to take my rest day on Sunday but it can be whatever works best for your personal workout schedule!

One last important note!

Remember, rest day is something that you need. It helps your progress. Your body needs to recover! Don’t feel guilty or lazy for taking time to rest. If you go non stop all the time, there’s a much better chance of burning out, getting injured and slowing down your progress! So, you need rest:) don’t feel guilty for taking it!