As a former exercise-aholic, I can now say that I thoroughly understand the benefits of giving the body rest. I used to feel that if I did not beat my body up, I would never see progress, get stronger, or stay lean. But I was wrong.
Instead of feeling better, I felt worse. Instead of feeling energized, I felt tired. Instead of seeing results, I was stagnant.
sourceI was in overtraining mode. I was feeling so tired and getting injured because I couldn’t bring myself to take the rest my body was screaming for.
What I know now is that our body NEEDS rest and this post is for all you extreme exercisers out there. Whether you’re a runner, an instructor, or just a hard core gym-goer; pay attention.
If you continue to abuse yourself with extreme workouts, you WILL get hurt and end up with back/neck problems, stress fractures, bone spurs, bunions, and the like. These injuries may even be things you will not be able to recover from or need expensive therapies to help cure; chiropractic, physical therapy, massage (believe me, I know).
sourceAfter getting rid of the scale several months ago and not killing myself in my workouts, I feel amazing. I honestly feel leaner and much more energized taking 1-3 rest days a week! Who knew!?
I am also not suffering the anxiety that comes with missing a work out anymore either because I don’t have a scale to answer to! It’s magnificent, I am so proud of myself, and feel like I look great (which I could NEVER say with confidence before).
At a bachelorette party a couple weeks ago!
While I still enjoy a good sweat session, I also look forward to my rest days and I NEVER thought I would say that. I use that time to meet up with a friend, read a book, do some light stretching, or clean around the house. It’s amazing how much more effective my work outs have become since incorporating regular rest days! When I allow my body recovery time, I get SO much more out of my exercise program and you should too! Start today! Give yourself a break!
QUESTION: Do you allow your body rest days?
See, my problem is having too many rest days! I’m rubbish at getting regular exercise- one week I’ll workout for 4 days and the next week none! One day I’ll get the balance
x
I have such a struggle with taking rest days. I needed to read this! Must schedule a rest day soon! What is your opinion of taking a yoga class on a rest day = is that cheating?
I’ve just come across your site and I’m loving your posts. I think you’re (again) right on the money. It’s easy to get caught up in associating the number from the scale with how you look, It would be interesting to see how perceptions would change if the scale readout was set lower or higher without any actual physical change.
Similarly I think people can become conditioned that a certain feeling (i.e. exhaustion) is how they’re supposed to feel from every bout of exercise, this definitely isn’t the case. It’s great to train balls to the walls some of the time, but no one can train like that all of the time. Exercise can be stimulating without being exhausting.
Smile! What great progress…I’m so happy to hear of it! Yes, I do give myself rest days. Quite a few! I only exercise at the gym 1-2 days a week. The rest of the week, I take long walks outside. Perfect in my book. Thank you for sharing your own story. You are an inspiration to so many, my dear.
[...] Give Yourself A Break! (Sans Scale Progress Post!) [...]
I am totally in favor of rest days and generally run every other day. My issue is that mood-wise I’m so much better on the running days. You do look great, well done.
Love this post! I agree, and normally do schedule in plenty of rest time. Recently over exams I had to take a lot of ‘rest days’ to study (read, ‘sitting on my bum’ days) but you know what? I honestly think my body benefitted from a couple of weeks of less frequent, less intense workouts
who knew?!
So glad you’re feeling awesome! Does 4 weeks of not working out count as resting, or is that just plain ol’ slacking? I think I know the answer to this one already… Ah well, can only do so much in a day, and sometimes, sadly, working out is just not the priority – even though I know it helps in so many ways! I’m starting to get the itch to lift weights, though, so I imagine I’ll be getting moving again soon.
I am ALLLL about the rest days. I strive to work out 4 days per week and once I accomplish that – rest days for the remaining. Emotionally they are needed so I don’t put too much pressure on myself.
You look amazing!!!!
When I was an over exerciser I worked out 7 days a week….considered rest the one day I didn’t workout twice in a day. My body is paying for all that now and I def get like 2 or 3 days off from the gym. I try to so something every day, meaning I get probably one true rest rest day…but can only say I get in like 4 great workouts a week, few rest days…which is what I was doing pre-baby at a size tiny so it worked then!
Congratulations
That is an amazing change, and definitely not an easy one to make.
I do struggle with full rest days; I’ll do light exercise (walking or some such) but struggle to do nothing. Not because of weight, but because of habit, and anxiety. Still something to work on!
Loveddd this post as it is something I am struggling with right now! Just a short time ago I was 100% against taking any sort of rest day at all. My mom would plead with me not to and I would just lie and say I was going for an easy walk when I would really be at the gym or on a run. Ugh I am so glad I am better about this now. I take one rest day a week and am trying to be okay with taking two or more! I have been feeling better lately but I know I would benefit even more with a bit more rest. Thank you for this reminder to take care of myself!
Thanks for posting this, I think it’s such a good reminder. I definitely give myself rest days (I don’t have time not to) but I think it’d be so easy to get caught up in always having an intense exercise session, but like you say, rest is so important. I do sometimes feel guilty about taking rest days, but then I read posts like this that serve as an all important reminder that it’s healthier to take time for your body to recover than to not!
You look fabulous! And you obviously feel fabulous too. I take rest days, but that means taking my dog for a long walk (not a run). Since being injured, I’m making an effort to NOT run on consecutive days but to include other forms of exercise. I find my workout days are so much more gratifying if I take 1 or 2 rests days each week.
This is a great post! I am an extreme exerciser and I am slowly learning the importance of a rest day. I struggle with the anxiety when I miss a workout. I usually try to take a rest day, that being sunday. I need to learn to take one during the week, and to give my body a rest. I am currently battling runners knee due to way to many long distance runs in a week.
I think it’s so important To have rest days. I know that I have started enjoying them now versus feeling guilty about it. Great post!
I used to experience exercise guilt while taking rest days (and still do sometimes), but I’ve really come to love them! I can tell they help because the next day, my body is ready to workout.
Yes!! So true… I used to HAVE to exercise everyday before kids… if I missed a day I would feel stressed. Now my exercise is running after kids all day long but I feel healthier and stronger than ever because I am not overexercising. I feel so much more in balance now.
YAY!!! I’m so happy that you’ve found your happy (confident) place. It feels wonderful, doesn’t it?? you look great in that pic btw!
Rest days are seriously essential. They help me feel recharged and ready to go for the next workout. Plus as an exercise instructor it’s especially important for me to recover between teaching so that my energy is high and I give a great class.
It’s funny but ever since I’ve become a runner I have NO issues with rest days – I have 2 a week and they are wonderful and guilt free. I think because of the wear and tear running does to the bod it makes you realize you HAVE to rest or injuries are going to happen, period! Even when i’m not training for a race I now value rest days and totally take advantage of the time time to hang with friends, cook a good meal or just…RELAX
Awesome post!
I especially relate to this post– I used to HAVE to work out at least 6 times a week, and the funny thing is I saw results when I finally cut that back! It’s crazy how the body works
Heck yes girl! I work out 4x’s a week, sometimes 5x’s so I always always have a rest day and I don’t think twice about it!
Go girl! I definitely give my body rest days.
Great post! I used to work out everyday, but over the course of the past few months, I’ve allowed myself to rest. I also feel leaner and better overall. And you do look great!
Love this post! It’s so true that rest days are as valuable as workout days. I used to over train until I developed a stress fracture in my foot, twice! It took some thought to re-hash my routine and take days off. My body has thanked me for for it.
I definitely have trouble taking rest days – when I started triathlon training, it just got to be impossible to fit in all the biking/swimming/running/lifting that I wanted to do. I wound up working with a coach recently, and she’s helped me make sure that every workout is effective so that I can drop some “junk miles” and get in one rest day a week. If nothing else, it gives me Monday evenings free to clean.
Some weeks I have rest days and other weeks I don’t.
There are just so many workout that I want to get in during the week!
I do, however, space out my schedule so that I have rest between similar workouts.
I have kickboxing on Mondays and Wednesdays.
I schedule my runs for 2 days apart.
I break my weightlifting sessions into upper and lower body and I space them out throughout the week.
whohoo! great post!!! I definitely try to take rest days every week, especially if I just feel tired!!!
Rest days are SO incredibly important! They allow your muscles to repair themselves and get stronger – We usually rest 2 days a week.
xoxo from Trinidad
Great point Erin!! I used to do the same thing as you – no rest days, I’d push and push until I was totally burnt out. Now I give myself a rest day and feel about a million times better. I also make sure to incorporate more fun into my workouts, like step classes (they’re a bit like dancing, but in an athletic way!!) and the time totally flies by!
So glad to hear your progress on this! I couldn’t live without my rest days
I have 1/week factored into my training right now but occassionally I will take more if my body needs it. I used to feel guilty about this in the past, now I realize they do way more good than harm and are completely necessary!