Let’s assume you’ve started your year off with an awesome fitness kick. You’re working out daily, eating right and you wake up the next morning finding your muscles cursing at you. Or, we could also assume you are continuing being fit-focused, continuing to workout regularly. No matter what end of this spectrum you fall on, you have to make sure you include a rest day into your weekly routine. I literally begged my classes this past week to not do too much, overdo it and then burnout and give up on their 2015 resolutions. Yes, I am the weirdo instructor who tells her students to not come back to class. But seriously. Rest days are just as important, if not MORE important, than your workouts. What?! Yes, it’s true. Here’s why…

1. Prevents injury from overuse. You don’t want to do too much to your body too frequently so that it overcompensates in a way that could hurt you. Once while training for a race, I increased my mileage too fast and had pain in my IT band whenever I passed a certain mileage during my final month of training. I should have listened to my body and given myself an extra taper week or dropped in mileage to regain strength, rather than push through. Over training simply was not worth it.

2. Allows for glycogen stores to restock. Imagine a car being driven for a long trip. At some point the car needs to stop, refuel and let the engine cool down. Same thing goes with you!

3. Prevents mental burnout. If you are trying to make fitness a part of your regular routine, the best thing you can do is give yourself a day where you don’t have to go to the gym and let yourself do something else with your valuable free time. That way, the next day you are refreshed and ready to up the intensity.

4. Lets muscles rebuild and minimize fatigue. You literally tear muscles to make them bigger, and it’s crucial to allow them proper time to rebuild so they can get stronger.

Now, the key is to remember that it is a rest day, not week or month. If you are very sore after a workout, sometimes you really do need to rest and let your body recover. But, if you workout one time and take the rest of that week off because you are too sore…well, you can see how that might not be beneficial to your fitness regimen. Working out can help get rid of that lactic acid buildup in your body, and actually help you be less sore faster. SO rest days are not always the best solution when you’re sore, but rather working out IS the solution. Crazy, right? Just listen to your body, and do what’s best for you, but don’t be afraid to take that rest day.

If you’re one of those weird people (such as myself) that just don’t know what to do with themselves on a rest day (see accurate picture to the left), you can always go for a walk or do some gentle yoga or stretching. Whatever it is, just do something light depending on whatever your fitness level is. True story; today is my rest day and I just got back from walking my dogs because I just had to do something.

Keep that rest day a part of your weekly routine, and remember that the best rest day is a rest day well earned!

Happy sweating!

Warmly,

Dani