Working out is great but rest is an important part of it too. We need rest days, enough sleep and to know when it's necessary to skip a workout. But I also know this is easier said than done. I used to think working out everyday would help me progress faster but it's just not true. Without rest days we run a greater risk on injury, your body needs that rest and almost every fitness programme out there will recommend one or two rest days a week. I know at the start of your journey it's easy to think that taking a rest day means you performance will dip. Thankfully, it takes much longer than just having a day or two off for it to show any difference in your progress. Personally, that was the main reason why I didn't want to take rest days at the start. If that's your reason as well, a little research can show you that rest days will help you more than it will hinder your progress. Maybe that was the main reason why about a year ago, after working out so much, I still saw close to no progress on my body and when I started BBG (which included rest days) I made so much progress in such a short time. Now I take my rest days as they come, there is no set day. Sometimes time slips through my fingers, and before you know it, it's almost midnight and I still haven't gotten down to completing a workout. So that would just end up being my rest day. If I had all my time the way I wanted it though, it would be hard to admit that I'd happily take a lazy day off and really rest the whole day. Sure, I have my moments where lying in bed for a movie sounds amazing but eventually I get into the same mood where all I wanna do is some real intense yoga or a workout - But I know I shouldn't. Besides my extremely busy days which don't leave me anytime for exercise or yoga, what do I do when I have time but it needs to be a rest day? Restorative yoga. I'm no expert on how it should go and though I like to learn and flow on my own most days, when it comes to restorative yoga I always go online and look for a flow to follow. It's easy, relaxing and almost therapeutic. I would easily say this is the perfect option for people like me - people who hate rest days. You're still doing something, but at the same time your body gets the rest it needs. I've even done some very simple restorative asanas for when I'm sick. I know at the start it can really get tough to do yoga (if you're not already a yogi) when you just want to exercise but give it a few weeks and hopefully you'll start falling in love with it just like I have. Having rest days isn't the only thing we need to remember, though. It sure takes effort but there are many times when we need to skip that workout. A few months ago, I posted a photo on Instagram with the words: " 'I really regret that workout' - said no one ever" and in my caption I mentioned how photos and messages like that were extremely harmful, especially to people who think exercise has to be something you did no matter what the situation was.
Know what your body needs. Being healthy is not just getting on your yoga mat, eating well and exercising regularly. Rest is such an important part of staying healthy. Pushing yourself through a workout your body is not ready for will only leave you feeling worse and chances are you will regret that workout in the end.
Have that rest day, refuel, be a little lazy when you need it and be thankful that you are able to train your body, feed yourself well and rest when you need to.
1 Comment
I just found your blog through your Instagram! I love this post, I used to force myself to workout when I was exawstead because I knew if I took a rest day I'd fall out of the "roll" I was on and lose motivation. I just discovered yoga about a week ago and love it, today I got some bad news at the doctor and was feeling a lot of anxiety and stress and the first thing I wanted to do was yoga to clear my mind and help my body relax. Thank you so much for this post, you are a beautiful person!:)
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