Good morning!
It isn’t always easy returning to school or work after the last long weekend of summer. So to cheer you all up, I am having a fun chia seed giveaway this morning!
Read on to find out how to enter. :)
Rest Days: What Exactly Do You Do?
Over the years, my thoughts on rest and recovery days have been all over the map.
In my late teens and early twenties, I rarely considered the option of even giving myself a so called rest day. I did too much and I felt burned out. No surprises there.
After my injury this year, something sort of clicked inside me and I started to appreciate taking rest days. I realized that if I was going to give my best performance, I needed to let my body heal itself.
Over the past several months as I have been training for my summer races, I realized even more how important a rest day can be and how much it improves both my physical and mental energy. As my mileage has increased, I appreciate and look forward to my rest days more and more.
What do I do on my rest day?
I typically take the term ‘rest day’ to heart. I don’t exercise or really even move much during my rest days. I see it as a well deserved lazy day when I don’t feel a workout nagging in the back of my mind. However, I will admit, some of my rest days I am left feeling fidgety. Some days I want to exercise a bit, but I feel like I would be harming my body and not giving it proper rest. I am also questioning if I should be doing anything else on my rest days. More stretching, sleeping, icing, eating, etc. Truly, rest days couldn’t be as simple as resting, could they?
Given this dilemma, I was quite happy to see my Runner’s World arrive in the mail. One of the featured cover stories, ‘Rest Right: Make the most of your days off’ caught my attention. Like always, the fabulous people at Runner’s World read my mind.
Here is the kicker:
Exercise physiologist, Dr. Stephen McGregor says to make the most out of your recovery days doing absolutely nothing all day is not ideal.
I’m telling you guys, I almost threw this magazine in the garbage! I said to myself, ‘No one can take away my lazy rest days! Noooooooooo!’
Wait, I’m supposed to move on my rest days? AreyoujokingIhopeyouarejokingme.
Dr. McGregor says that having an active recovery (have you ever heard of a bigger oxymoron!?) can sooth aches and prepare you for stronger workouts better than an inactive recovery day.
Still not liking where this is going. But, I read on. ;)
The article went on to give some tips for increasing the benefit of recovery days.
1) Move It
Do very light activity like walking your dog or riding a bike for about 30 minutes. “Keep the intensity low…you shouldn’t be out of breath.”
2) Loosen Up
We don’t always have time to stretch properly after tough workouts, especially if they are long in duration. Use your rest days to focus on stretching out your tight spots. Research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine finds that yoga boosts running performance.
3) Eat Smart
Focus on eating the nutrients that you don’t get enough of during the week. If you normally spend 45 minutes on exercise, take some of this time to plan out proper nutrition.
3) Tune In Early
Our bodies and brains need sleep to heal from the mental and physical stress of training. Try to get 7-9 hours of undisturbed sleep.
My thoughts:
Ok, so some light activity might not hurt me, in fact it could actually improve my recovery. I think I am going to be more open to the idea of doing some light walking on my rest days if I want to.
However, coming from my obsessive past with exercise, I know that information like this can be used in a negative way by some. I think it is important to stress that even though some light activity may improve recovery, it is still 100% FINE and DANDY to just sit on the couch during our rest days. We earned the rest and we can spend it however we please.
So of course, take this article with a grain of salt. The take home message here is if you want to do some light exercise and find yourself fidgety when sitting still all day then by all means do some. But, don’t allow yourself to fall into the ‘I should be doing more and more’ trap. If you really want to veg out on your rest day, then veg the heck out!
How do you approach rest days? Are you an all out rester or do you prefer to get in some activity? Have you found that activity helps your recovery?
Leave one comment below by midnight EST for your chance to win a 3 pound bag of chia seeds, graciously donated by Chia Seeds Direct. Contest open to US and Canadian residents only please.
I hear that Chia Seeds Direct also has free shipping within the US.
Chia seeds…the wonder seed!
Goodluck and Happy Short Work Week!
See you later for a breakdown of what to do immediately after an intense workout from minutes 0-45. Have I been doing it all wrong? Stay tuned to find out!
{ 352 comments… read them below or add one }
I try to take at least one rest a week, but I’ll take more if my body is telling me I need to.
I love chia seeds and my stash is getting low!!
Angela-
I have been following your blog obsessively! You’re beautiful and such an inspiration to live a healthy life. It looks like you’ve truly found your niche!
Keeping my fingers crossed for the chia seeds….;)
Just found and started reading your blog – thanks so much for this valuable resource!
My rest days are for resting! I always take one weekend day off and one week day, the funny thing is is that I am still working on those days so I am on my feet for at least 7 hours. After work I still come home and sit on the couch and relax and read!
OH chia seeds would be great to try!!
I mix it up, but a lot of the time it depends on what else I have going on with work etc. Sometimes I’ll ride my bike (easily) or do some strength training. But if I truly feel tired (for example, I did a long rung yesterday and since I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, I am not going to do anything today), I’ll stretch and that will be it. I think you’re right about listening to your body – it can make the world of difference!
Interesting article! On my rest days I usually do some deep stretching and light yoga. I think rest days are important and the days after a rest day my runs are much stronger, especially my long runs.
I try to listen to my body when it comes to rest days. If I’m absolutely wiped and sore, I do nothing. If I’m feeling pretty good, I’ll do some walking or some easy biking. I definitely have the days where sitting on the couch doing nothing is a “must”. I generally try to stretch on rest days regardless of how I’m feeling.
I tend to mix it up. I run and lift heavy, so my workout schedule is really varied, but I do work to include two rest days each week for muscle recovery, and don’t do the same type of workout back to back. I ran yesterday, so today I’ll be lifting, and tomorrow may be a rest day, but it may not be.
On my rest days (which I totally feel guilty about), I will at least stretch, or do yoga, or make it a really light day at the gym. I like to eat exceptionally healthy on those days and drink lots of detox tea. I need to work on NOT feeling guilty about this:) Oh and I like to sit around watching lifetime movies! He He!
Chia seeds rock!
Good timing on this post, Angela! I usually take a rest day after my longest run of the week. This weekend, though, after doing my 10K on Saturday, I tried to sneak another 7K in on Sunday. The sun was shining, and I was feeling a bit down about the end of summer, and the fact that too many outdoor BBQs and wine drinking had increased the middle-age spread! BIG MISTAKE! I got home tired, flustered, with aching knees, and tense back. And that has set the tone for the week – I feel stiff, and out of joint, and have had to scale back my gym workouts (and cancelled my Tuesday run). So now I am going to take rest days much more seriously, and actually REST. For me, that’s usually a short stroll to the local farmers’ market on a Sunday to buy organic vegetables and admire the flowers and just have some down time to myself.
Usually I bike, so on my easy days I just take a nice walk!
I love your info Angie….thanks!
Haven’t tried Chia seeds, so it would be nice to give it a whirl.
I take 2-3 rest days each week. Right now I’m training for a half marathon. On rest days, I take a short walk or some long stretching. I admit, I always feel stronger and my body has more energy after rest days.
I rest but I also get out and walk, etc. I really try to make sure I don’t over do it on rest days but at the same measure I try not to be too lazy!
I hope I win the chia seeds – I’ve been afraid to try them!
I’d love to try Chia seeds!
In all honesty – rest days are something I’ve never had a problem with. lol
I notice a significant difference in my running and athletic performance when I take meaningful rest days. By meaningful, I mean that I THINK about it, try to move, walk, etc. Sometimes, moving means “walking around the mall trying on fabulous clothes I can’t afford on a Sunday afternoon!” :)… and that’s ok too. But, often a great Hot Yoga class on rest days is really beneficial as well.
I try to remind myself that rest days are just as important as the days working. Not only physically, but mentally. NO ONE is going to die or (gasp!) gain 10 pounds because they take a day or two off… and sometimes we all forget that. :)
p.s. I love Chia Seeds!
I like the idea of stretching on a rest day, and my dog never says no to a walk and walks with him are slow and leisurely, he has to stop and sniff everything.
I think rest days are key, but I’m not good at taking them until I’m burnt out and then I rest many days in a row.
Another informative post. Thanks!
I am currently recovering from an over-training injury so this is a very important article. I typically do a yoga class on my rest days. I walk a lot everyday because I don’t have a car, rest day or not I have to get to work.
I am need of chia at the moment so this would be fantastic timing!
on my rest days i like to go to the grocery store and just walk through all the isles thinking about possible meals/food combos and doing some price comparing. this gets me up and moving to loosen up my muscles but isn’t really working my muscles. and i typically walk out with some healthy food to help me recover even more.
thanks for the great giveaway!
I tend to not to anything on my rest days either – I feel I earned it! :)
I usually end up doing a little bit of walking in the form of shopping though…haha I will never complain about that!
I tend to avoid anything that I would count as “exercise” (running, biking, fast walking, etc) on rest days, just because I know I would go out too hard. I’ve recently begun using the extra time in my day to run errands and things, though, so I end up walking anyways!
Oh and I would love to try those chia seeds.
I think the type of rest day really depends on the exercise before. If it was a really intense or lengthy day of exercise the day before I like to have a day completely off. If I’m taking a rest day from exercise because it has been too long since I took a day, I like to make it an active rest day.
I’ll be honest in saying that now that I’m in a routine, I’m not the best at TAKING rest days. In general I go for the ‘active recovery’ option, and still exercise a bit but slow my pace or do something non strenuous. Sometimes I’ll turn on a good show and run my elliptical on the easy setting at an easy pace. Other times I’ll find a good movie to watch with my little boy, make some air-popped popcorn, and spend the movie sitting on my exercise ball and playing with it with him so I keep moving a bit through, and have fun at the same time – it doesn’t FEEL like exercise when I do this, and I get to spend some Mommy time with my baby! :) Window shopping and exploring for new products to try at an easy pace is another of my favorite off-day activities. I guess I change it up depending on my mood!
I always take one weekend day off, and on all of the other days of the week, I try to do some type of workout. Some days are more intense than others!
LOVE chia seeds!!!
I always like to stretch out on rest days. My father was a serious athlete until he injured his back, and after his surgery makes sure he stretches every day-he even has a yoga mat in his office (it’s not so weird, he works for a gym!). I took this lesson from him, and always stretch out, just to keep my muscles loose, so my next workout feels better.
I also have a built in excuse to exercise…my dog needs to get outside, so a light walk doesn’t feel like working out, just quality time with the pup!
On rest days I try to get in an easy walk during my lunch hour at work – or do some yoga at home before bed time. Not anything strenuous, but enough to get the muscles loosened after being at the office all day. I’ve found that my most tired day of the week is Wednesdays – I think because I typically do my long runs on Saturdays or Sundays and workout pretty hard Monday/Tuesday. That, coupled with working and I’m ZONKED on Wednesdays. I’ve found that taking that day is really helpful to my body and mind to get through the rest of the week. I’ve found rest days are absolutely essential for running and yoga.
I’ve been wanting to try chia seeds for a while now! Thanks for the giveaway!
i almost never have 100% inactive days and will almost always at least do ~1 hour of easy walking (mostly because walking and biking make up a large part of my means of transportation, so it’s hard to just not do anything)
a day after a really really long + hard run though (or a race), i might only just walk around the block and do a bit of stretching.
active recovery definitely helps soreness go away quicker.
I do nothing on my rest days! I can’t wait until I can move into a more walkable area to go for easy walks though- I love walking around the neighborhood when I visit my parents!
I’d love to try the chia pudding I’ve read so much about :) I hope I win!
I usually do nothing on my rest days, but I have been trying to get into that “active recovery” mode, especially since I know I need to get back into the habit of stretching more! So yesterday on my “rest day” I hit the pool for a few easy laps (and some sun!) and then spent about 10 minutes doing some light stretching. The verdict? Well, I’m about to go on a 7 mile run so I suppose I’ll find out!
OMG! i love chia seeds and i just ran out please pick me!!!! they are great on oatmeal and yogurt!
I PREFER all out rest days or some light stretching/yoga. However, a lot of times on my so called rest days I find myself catching up on household chores and cleaning, and sometimes I end up MORE exhausted than if I would have worked out! LOL!
Chia Seeds!! Cha cha cha Chia!
I try and keep rest days low key, but if I get an urge to be out and moving, I enjoy taking a walk or doing some light stretching.
Sheduling a rest day never works for me, because I`ll usually spend that day resting… then the one after that… and the one after that (not sure how something always comes up). So I try to just at least walk on my “rest day,” maybe not the full amount, but a little bit.
I love Chia tea, but never tried the actual seeds. I`ve heard a lot of great comments though.
I generally like to walk or stretch on rest days. I’ve found that if I don’t do anything I get incredibly stiff. However, I never do anything too strenuous.
Thanks for the opportunity to win such a great prize!
I just listen to my body and decide when I need a rest day and when I have one, I usually take walks!
I usually take 2 rest days per week. Like you, I take it to heart and dont do much. However, I find that inactivity makes me eat significantly more, so sometimes I try to get some light activity in for the sake of not eating all the food in my house!
I take at least 2 rest days a week, with my busy schedules that is just the way it works out. If there were more hours in a day I may actually have “scheduled” rest days like other people! ;)
I have a hard time taking an ‘all rest day’. I usually end up doing some easy yoga or walking. But some times, I just want to sit on the couch with my book and relax. I get really fidgety though and need to do something. Those days I end up doing chores around the house!
On my rest days, I do absolutely nothing! I have the same feelings towards resting as you… I deserved this rest day, so I’m going to really take advantage of it! I might not even leave the house at all if I don’t have to work that day. Perhaps I take the term “rest” to literally, but I don’t care… it is my reward for hard work, and I’m not giving it up!
I would love some chia seeds…I have been dying to try them!!!
For me, some rest days I lightly jog for 1/2 an hour, sometimes I do a little strength work, sometimes I do a little yoga, but if I’m really tired, I give myself the day totally off! and it feels goooooooddd…
i would really like to try chia seeds, i can’t find them at any stores near me
On rest days i still do take at least a 30 minute easy walk (mostly outside but inside if its bad weather) I just feel better when i walk, walking is such a stress reliever for me!! Yay for chia seeds!! That would be an awesome gift!!
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