Let’s talk about rest days!
Anyone that knows me personally knows that I’m not good at taking them … but I’ve gotten better I swear! Rest and recovery is important if you’re getting the f after it.
It’s important to draw a fine line between taking rest days to recover physically (and oftentimes mentally) vs. consistently letting yourself off the hook and settling for mediocrity when it comes to your fitness and/or sports performance goals.
Lacking self discipline, consistently putting off workouts, having the excuse of “I’m not feeling it today” for the 3rd day in a row, and waiting for motivation to hit you in the face is not going to get you closer to reaching your goals!
I’ll tell ya what is a much better route though…
Consistently crushing your workouts, recovering properly (nutrition, stretching, yoga, sleep, etc.) after workouts and training sessions so that you can get after it hard again the next day, self discipline that aligns with reaching your goals , motivating yourself (newsflash: you’re not going to be motivated 100% of the time - not even close... so make working out/training a habit and something you look forward to each day instead of a chore.
If you’ve been killing it and are doing what needs to get done (only you know this when it comes to your goals) - Take the damn rest day if your body and mind needs it.
I usually like to take what is referred to as an “active recovery” day when my body and mind needs a day away from softball/lifting/running etc. This consists of low impact activities that are good for the soul.
For me this can be hiking (as seen in these pics), yoga, or an outdoor bike ride.
But hey, some rest days can also look like binge watching Netflix, shopping and getting a mani pedi, or a day trip spending time with friends and that’s more than ok too :)
What would an ideal active recovery day/total rest day look like for YOU?
