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!
I love chia seeds, but haven’t had time with my two kiddies to replenish my stock! So here goes nothing.:-)
I find that if I do *nothing* on rest days, it is a lot harder to pick up and work out the day after. I try and do something very light, like walking or using the elliptical machine at a more leisurely pace. Yoga is a great recovery activity for me too.
Thanks for having this contest!
:-)
Wow cool new layout! Guess it’s been awhile since I’ve stepped away from Google Reader :-)
I take one rest day a week, ideally…but sometimes less. I’ll walk my doggie on a “rest” day, but it’s not a stroll…we hike it up a big hill and it gets my HR going. I want to try to take more rest days in the future, but with my current exercise plan and weight-loss goals, it seems I’m moving as much as I can…and so far it’s been ok.
On rest days I like to do short, quick runs and stretch A LOT. I think active recovery is spot on–keeps my muscles from tightening up from the mileage and speedwork.
Mmmmm chia seeds. I usually take a rest day and lounge, watching tv, cooking, etc. Occasionally walking the dog too- nothing too extreme!
I agree, rest days can be tough!! I’m currently training for a marathon while dealing with a nasty IT band and resting has become WAY more important than the actual running! As much as I know I need to keep my feet out of my running shoes, I can’t help but stare at them longingly every chance i get! :) Thanks for the great giveaway. LOVE your blog.
I just read that article over the weekend too!
I’m training for my first marathon and it took a few weeks for me to really appreciate the “rest day”. I’ve always been the type of person that feels like they need to exercise (at least a bit) everyday so the idea of not doing anything was crazy to me. But now that I’m logging more miles… I have embraced the rest day and definitely rest (although I leisurely walk my dogs).
I find my performance definitely improves when I take regular days off from running. I usually do some relaxing yoga or pilates on my rest days.
I would love to try those chia seeds! :)
Its about 50-50 with me! Sometimes I’ll go on a short, easy walk (to the post office and back) and/or stretch/do some easy yoga. Other times the only active thing I do is stretch out on the couch and read!
I feel rest days are really important! I use to shun them like they were the worst thing ever but now I see the benefit of them. I too, coming from an obcessive background, feel that I shouldn’t “have” to force myself to do activity on these rest days. So if I don’t want to…I don’t. But often I do find if I do some type of activity then the next day I still have energy. It keeps me more stable I suppose. So I guess it depends on the person…depends on their fitness level. For me I just let my body decide.
PS: Sooo excited about the Chia…like OHMYGOSHHHHH excited! Thanks.
Maggie
I have a hard time just doing nothing all day. While I do take a recovery day from running, I will go for short walks or do yoga.
I’m like you – on rest days, I like to REST! I typically will do no “exercise” but keep to my usual light activity (walking to the grocery store, taking a nice leisurely stroll, etc) that I do everyday anyway. I love love LOVE my lazy days and wouldn’t trade them for the world!
I don’t consider myself an avid exerciser but still firmly believe in rest days. As you’ve mentioned many times in the past, the most important point is to listen to your own body. Magazine articles can tell us otherwise, but in the end it’s you that has to live with the repercussions.
On another note, I’ve been dying to try those chia seeds but can’t seem to find them in stores here.
Instead of resting, I cross train, do yoga or do a shorter workout :)
sometimes I think I take too many rest days! But, I also think that it’s important to listen to your body. If I feel like doing something easy, i will, but most times I just chill out and read. AHHH, reading!
I take TOO MANY rest days! Hahaha!!! On my rest days, I don’t do a thing.
I just got the new Runner’s World-I’ll check it out soon!
I love rest days…maybe too much! Lol!
Thanks for an awesome giveaway!
i’m a type of person who cannot sit still even for a sec. So on my rest days, i do yoga and walking with friends. It’s always fun to have buddies so you could talk and enjoy beautiful sunshine together!
I used to get obsessed with exercising and not giving my body a needed rest at all. This definitely led me to INJURIES and now I learned the hard way that recovery days are ESSENTIAL in healthy lifestyle.
It really depends on my mood! Some days I love being lazy, other days I can’t stand not getting some sort of exercise. On those days, I do something like yoga. I really just listen to my body the best I can :)
hooray for chia! I really try to stretch it out on rest days as to avoid injuries!