10/13/2021
Rest days are a requirement, period.
It doesn’t matter if you workout on your own or in classes, with weights or with cardio, to gain strength or lose weight. If you don’t rest, you don’t recover, it’s as simple as that. If you don’t recover you are more injury-prone, doing more harm to your health, and actually hindering any muscle growth or fat loss you are working so hard for!
Rest days don’t mean you have to be a full couch potato (although I do recommend at least one couch potato day a month to recoup both physically and mentally), but you should be giving your muscles a day off. This may mean just going for an easy stroll or taking a nap, or even doing some yoga or stretching. Allow your mind to recover just as much as your body.
Now, does this mean to take a rest day every time you just don’t feel like working out?? Definitely not! Work hard and give your all to every workout and truly Earn that rest day. If you get to your off day and feel like somehow you don’t need it, reassess:
• Have you given your all in your workouts lately? If yes, take the rest day.
• Are your muscles sore? If yes, take the rest day.
• Have you taken a rest in the last 3-4 days? If no, take the rest day.
• Did you sleep enough last night? If no, take the rest day.
• Does anything hurt? If yes, take the rest day.
• Is everything fine but you just don’t feel like working out? GO WORKOUT.
Rest days are tough for some, I struggle with them a lot! As someone who is always on, always working, always trying to find something to keep busy, they can take a toll on my mindset. However, this isn’t an excuse to skip them. Weirdly, I find that putting on some sweats, pajamas, or whatever feels most cozy on my break/after work helps to put me in the rest day head space. Allow yourself some grace to slow down, and take the time to recover💜
