Give Your Body a Break: Rest Days are Essential

Over the last few months, I have been on the go a lot.  It’s my summer break, so you would think that it would be a great time to slow down. Unfortunately, I don’t often think like that. In my mind, I have a few months to get as much in as I can before school starts back up. We often get ourselves caught up in the need to push ourselves and forget the importance of rest days.

Overscheduling to Get it In

To some, my schedule might not sound like much, but I’ve tried to pack as much in as possible and maybe my body wasn’t as ready as I planned. After running my second half marathon at the beginning of April, I took a couple of weeks off then got back into training for what I hoped would be another half marathon.  At the same time, I was going through testing to be a potential kidney donor. Due to this, I had to take some time off so that we could ensure my tests, especially protein and potassium, were coming back appropriately. This was tough and made me worry I wouldn’t be ready for my next adventure.

A few weeks after my last test I was planning to travel to Utah for a hiking trip. My original plan was to spend the weeks leading up to the trip running, hiking and lifting to prepare my body physically. Due to the testing things didn’t work out that way.  I headed out on the trip, not out of shape, but not sure I was prepared.  After 8 days of 15 to 20 miles of hiking, I answered the question I had for myself. Yes, even with the long break I could put the miles and hours in while still feeling good.

After coming back, I took some time off from traveling to do some things at home. At the same time, I started training for another half marathon. Then, I was gone again for a three-week trip. While traveling I also worked to maintain my workout schedule. This was tough because my trip home involved a lot of work while visiting home. Now that I’m home and school starts in a month, I’m debating traveling again, but my body is also telling me to slow down. The challenge is trying to determine what is best for my body.

Fear of Missing a Training

Similar to many people I talk to, I have a fear of missing a workout. Whether I am training for a half marathon or not I don’t want to miss getting out for a run or my gym workout. This fear seems to come from my mindset that if I miss a workout, I will regain weight or lower my training threshold, thus not meeting my goals or regressing.

The truth is that missing one workout isn’t going to cause you to regress in your training. It also isn’t going to cause you to regain all the weight you lost.  The mental play in thinking this is real. It takes time and work to train your mind to understand that this way of thinking is true. It eventually leads you to realizing that taking a break helps support your body.

Listening to Your Body to Take Some Rest Days

I can tell I’ve been pushing it hard the last several weeks because I can feel both physical and mental fatigue.  When I begin fighting myself to get out of bed in the morning, this is a sign that I need to give my body a break. I also start to notice aches and pains in my body that aren’t usual.

Now, when you’re training for a race, you’ll feel aches and pains. It takes time to recognize the difference in feeling between training fatigue, soreness and exhaustion.  The biggest recognition for me is the mental fatigue. During training I still want to get out when I’m sore, but the mental exhaustion takes hold when I don’t want to do anything. This is when I know I’m trying to do too much, and I need to slow down. It’s not easy. I often feel like I’m lazy. But it’s important to give your body a break.

Rest Days and Time Off

There’s a big trend right now for runners and run streaks. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially if you’ve been doing this for a while and your body has built up to the constant pounding. However, for many of us, this constant pounding can be detrimental.

I didn’t start running until I was 38. I’m 40 now, so my body is still adjusting to the pounding. Moreso, I’m still adjusting to extreme weight loss. Giving my body a day or two or even a week off helps my body recover. Rest days allow your muscles to rebuild, reset your mind and help avoid injury. It doesn’t make the soreness go away, but allows my body to recover from the physical, mental and emotional strain I put on it. Believe it or not, the weeks I took off before my hiking trip were probably more beneficial to me than training up to the trip. It gave my body time to rest and recover.

Apply Rest Days and Recovery to Your Wellness

Even top athletes take time off from training, at least intense training in the offseason.  Putting constant pounding on your body can cause nagging injuries or lead to worse. Society may tell us that slowing down is a sign of weakness, but listening to your body is strength. It’s recognition that you need to take care of yourself. Rest is just as important as getting to the gym. Give your body a break. You deserve it.