I remember when I first started to take the gym more seriously I was scared to take rest days. I felt like I had to do something, anything every day or I was a failure.
Confession: I truly believed I should eat less because I hadn’t ‘earned’ my food. I would fight with myself whether I should eat or not.
I wish I knew sooner how wrong I was…
Rest days are critical in your training
Taking days off is vital to your bodies recovery, it’s also the only time your muscles can actually grow.
To explain… when you train in the gym, your muscle is under constant tension and stress; they cannot properly recover during that working time. It’s after the gym; the times you think you’re not doing anything that your body is actually repairing itself, rebuilding and getting stronger.
If you don’t give yourself time to do that, you may end up overtraining, you’ll start to feel tired and edgy, your performance will suffer. Worse still if you keep pushing without rest you could get injured.
Common reasons for skipping – and why you shouldn’t
1. You feel fine
You’re thinking workout have been great, I don’t feel sore or tired and won’t stop till I do.
Actually, you shouldn’t wait until you are so fatigued to take a break. Regular rest days as I said allow you to recover and can help make your workouts even better. If you wait too long you might end up pushing yourself too far and injuring yourself.
Take the break before your body forces you to take a much longer one.
2. You’re afraid of not burning calories
This one I personally resonate with. I get it.
You think if you don’t exercise, you’ve not earned your food or perhaps you think you’ve not burnt off the calories you’ve eaten.
Hear me when I say your body still needs food on rest days! It still needs calories to live and to fuel your recovery. I sometimes find myself hungrier on rest days. Old me would have been terrified by that, eating MORE on days you don’t workout!?!
Don’t feel guilty for eating more than you ‘should’ when resting. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re not.
3. It’s just habit by now
If you’ve been working out every day for a long time it might simply feel strange to suddenly take a couple of days off. Exercise is a wonderful habit to have, one I encourage my girls to develop but sometimes that makes not going feel weird.
Twist that around – you’re not loosing that time, you’re gaining. Try doing something productive or use it to spend socially with family and friends.
4. You fear you’ll loose your progress
Muscle grows outside of the gym, when we rest. While it may feel like not going to the gym is hampering your goal, if you deprive your body of rest your training and progress will likely suffer.
Lets take this lockdown for example. I have ladies who took 3 months off training and have come back with little strength losses, already back to the weights they used pre lockdown. Other ladies who kept up with bodyweight exercises and focused on tempo have come back to the gym STRONGER than before! Yup you heard that right!
Embrace the rest! Take the time to recharge, do something fun or productive. Push through the uncomfortable feelings, your body will thank you in the long run.
If you want any more support feel free to contact me!
