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 always feel a little bit weird to do nothing all day – so I try to ride my bike to the store, or go for a walk around the block. I was a sloth this weekend, and I totally suffered today on the treadmill – it was SO HARD!
I usually try to fit in some yoga on my rest days. I love the free 20 min. sessions on yogadownload.com!
I have been really wondering about chia seeds I only read a few blogs, yours and KERF have both been eating chia seeds! That means I need to try them!!
Thanks,
Sarah
I would LOVE to have some chia seeds, please! I’m a recent convert and would love a big stash to last me for a while :)
woo hoo!!!!!!! chia seeds!!!!!!
i’ve wanted to try these for so long now – great giveaway :)
for rest days i usually try and go for a little walk or do some light yoga in the morning or before i go to bed at night.
Angela!
What great timing! I was just having this conversation with a friend yesterday! I think that Rest days are just as important as your workout days. Runner’s world has it right! I think that everyone deserves LAZY rest days, even once a week, but if you take 2 or 3 a wekk then you should probably be moving in some sense at least one of the days. Simple, non-pounding movement, just to get the muscles working is key.
I do “on demand” yoga on tv (amazing!!) and/or walking everywhere!
Or there is always spending time working on my favorite recipe w/ CHIA SEEDS!!!!!
I tend to really focus on stretching on my rest days. I’m new to running and my leg muscles still aren’t quite adjusted. I’ve also started making green monsters recently, so hoping for chia seeds to add.
Before, a rest day was whatever day I didn’t feel like working out or felt unmotivated and I would just lay on the couch and watch tv and that made me feel totally guilty. Now I try to make my rest day more purposeful by doing something that makes me feel good! Like a spa night, bubble bath with candles, doing my nails, etc. It makes me feel pampered for all the hard work I put in on my workouts!
I’ve been DYING to check out Chia seeds! I see it on all of my fav blogs and haven’t been able to find them locally…my fingers are crossed hehe
I always try and do something light on my rest days, like go for a nice long walk.
WOW that is a lot of chia seeds! I got a little container at our health food store for like $12! :(
I think that a nice leisurely walk is great on rest days! It’s low impact and isn’t too hard on my body.
I’ve never tried chia seeds but will be as soon as I get a credit card to order some online :)
Only recently have I become okay with rest days. In the past, I saw them as an excuse, while now I’ve realized that my bod truly does need them.
I don’t like to sit around and do nothing on rest days (or on any days for that matter), but I also don’t want to head over to the gym because then it doesn’t really feel like a rest day. It’s tough to find a balance but usually I do some light activity that doesn’t feel like exercise (such as getting some errands done). I also have two jobs where I’m on my feet most of the day so I guess I could consider that my “active recovery.”
Thanks for the opportunity! A rest day for me is actually not doing any form of exercise except maybe some stretching-especially if I’m sore. I feel kind of guilty(not really the right word..) because sometimes I go on a 30 minute bike ride at low intensity and count that as a workout. But each person is different so I’m not going to worry too much.
I usually go to the gym and do the cycling class.
This seems to release the lactic acid built
up from a long run. It also seems to get the blood
flowing back into my legs. I always seem to walk
easier out of the gym then into the gym…go figure!
I’m not good at rest. I try not to overdo it on rest days, but I generally at least take a walk (since walk or bike is my primary form of transport, I walk quite a bit) or do some hatha yoga for a gentle stretch.
Thanks for the great giveaway! Chia seeds are a staple for me :)
I’ve never tried the chia seeds, I really hope I win.
I am a solid rester. Days off are days off! If I walk my dog or play frisbee at the park, it’s for pleasure purposes, not activity points.
I take 1-2 rest days per week and they are just that, rest. I do try to get in some stretching and foam rolling on those days too but I don’t count that as activity.
I ALWAYS do 2 rest days a week. And by rest, I mean total rest. Rest is imperative for marathon training as all those tiny tears in your muscles need to heal. It only makes you a stronger a runner. My runner friends who don’t take rest days are always getting injured.
Yay for Chia Seeds!!!