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!
hey!! on my rest days, i most definitely veg out if i want to! no guilt here on this end! i love chia seeds and my supply will soon need replenishing, so i’m so thankful for your giveaway!!
I’d love to try chia seeds! I don’t usually plan for rest days, but let them happen naturally when I’m too busy to fit in a workout!
Love love love chia seeds! I like to joke about naming our next daughter Chia (we already have a Zia)!
Thanks for your awesome site- always a pleasure to read!
Mia
I have been trying to get my hands on some chia seeds for weeks! This would be amazing!!! Thanks for having such awesome give-aways, Angela!
I think the approach to rest days should just be to listen to your body. Most likely, that is why you’re taking a rest day in the first place because you body is sore, fatigued, or you have worked out multiple days in a row and need a break. I like to practice yoga on my rest days because it really stretches my muscles and helps me to honor my body.
I have been searching and searching the local stores for some chia seeds-with no luck! Awesome contest!
I usually swim on my rest days, I take it nice and slow and really enjoy the low impact on my joints.
I usually do nothin’ much on my rest days. But if the opportunity comes up for a walk or something like that, I take it, because its usually a nice slow walk with family and what could be better than that?
And I’d love to try some chia seeds!
I’ve been wanting to try chia seeds forever and I can’t find them anywhere!
I too like to use my rest days for pure laziness.
I love me some chia seeds, they are pretty pricey, so a 3lb bag would be a delightful loot to win!
I try to take one rest day a week but it all depends on how hard I push myself that week, I may end up taking two.
I usually have a total lazy day if I’ve worked hard that week but when I’ve been eating bad (like this weekend) I get a little anxious and have a bit of an active rest day. Yesterday was a rest day and I ended up going for a 25 minute run/walk, baked bagels, baked cookies, made hummus, made energy bars and cleaned the whole kitchen…but I gotta admit, this is pretty rare.
I probably have more rest days than workout days :( I am curious about the chia seeds because when I hear chia, I think of Chia Pet.
i have to make sure and take 2 rest days each week – otherwise i burn out and have crappy workouts. i hate not enjoying my workouts so rest days are really key.
I really love the idea of using the time you would have been working out to prep healthy foods for the next week. I love to cook, but I just don’t fit the time into my busy schedule to do it.
I rest two days a week from workouts! it’s nice and relaxing! :D
I would love to try the chia seeds!!
I workout 4-5 days each week and let the rest days fall where they may. They’re not pre-scheduled and are taken based on what I have going on and how my body feels.
I take 1 day a week for active recovery day, this is where I’ll walk slowly for 3-40 min, nothing intense. I used to ignore my rest days but you get so much stronger when you let the body rest…it’s pretty amzing!
I’m just one of those people who needs to move around everyday.I don’t like the way my body feels if it doesn’t get
movement for a full day.I like doing aerobic breathing or stretching of some sort.It’s a good day for me to run errands,too.That is me,though.I feel that the individual needs to do what their body tells them to do.cc
Ugh I hate rest days… I get too figety!
I’ve never tried chia seeds but have been reading about them for awhile on all the blogs. Would be nice to try them out.
I’m still a beginner when it comes to running, but I’ve found that when I get in a good walk on my rest days I have better runs. If I’m not very active on my rest day, I feel stiff and the runs go slower. Right now I’m doing the Couch to 5k program which has a rest day every other day. Hoping after I finish it I’ll be able to run more often.