Convince me I need a REST DAY!

banslug

banslug

Cathlete
Teach me. Convince me. Pound me over the head and tell me I NEED a rest day! LOL

I'm in week 8 of a 20 week marathon training schedule. I'm LOVING it! The problem? I don't want to take a rest day. Now, there are days that I allow myself to sleep in and get some extra rest, instead of doing my 5am workouts, but I always get the workout in during the day then.

I'm feeling good. I'm not tired or sleepy. I'm not grumpy. BUT...I also know that you need to rest for the muscles to grow and the weight to drop (got just about 9 lbs to drop).

SO.....convince me.

Gayle
 
This is your day tomorrow...

If you drink coffee-picking up the cup (full of course) counts as weight training...

If you walk to the mailbox-it counts as cardio...

Vaccuming-Ohhhhhh...Do it FAST...It's ROUGH!!!

Don't clean the toilet-too many toxins for an off day...

Take your kids to the playground if you have them, if not?? Go anyway!!!! Be a KID and enjoy the day!!!

MJ

By the way, if it's raining?? When was the last time you splashed on the puddles?? It'll bring a smile to your face!!!
 
You need to rest because if you don't you are selling yourself and your marathon run short. You will run slower and with less gusto if you don't take a rest day. Not to mention it is harder to lose wieght. And there is that injury thing. Just do it girl!!! You know you gotta! Just choose one day of the week that you will commit to taking a rest every week. Mine is Sunday and on Monday I have so much energy and can do lots more than I could on Saturday. Do a google and check out the tons of articles on why it is so important! :)

Missy
 
Gayle:

You know I love ya, so here is an excerpt from a web page I just pulled up.

As the intensity increases, so does your need for rest and recovery time. Remember that your muscles don’t actually grow while you’re training. They grow during the rest period between workouts. If you don’t allow enough recovery time between workouts, your size and strength gains will be greatly diminished. Be sure to adjust your training schedule accordingly.



www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/activity/shakeup.htm




p.s. bet you didn't think I would see your post. Just remember, I'm not just trying to convince you, I'm trying to convince me to because once I get on a roll, I don't want to take a rest day either.

Jeany
 
I realize we need a break from weights, but does your body need a day without aerobics also? or can you do a lower intensity aerobic workout as a recovery workout on your rest day?
 
I will walk on my "rest" day. I'm a pedometer freak, so I want to get in those 10,000 steps everyday, so instead of doing an intense Cathe workout for cardio, I'll walk.

Just Do It! :)
 
Lorajc, IMO your heart is a muscle and needs rest, too. There are athletes, runners mostly, who drop dead of a heart attack at the age of 40 because their hearts are stressed out and overworked. Just based on that, I feel like it is extremely important to have one day where your heart doesn't work any harder than it needs to pump blood. I don't have scientific facts to back that up, just common sense from what I have seen and read. My stepdad is a cadiologist and though most of his patients are overweight and smokers, some of his patients are people who work out too much. Exercising too much also puts you at a higher risk for getting sick.

I incorporate a recovery cardio day into my six day w/o routine. Each week is different activities, but usually in the middle of the week I will take DS for a walk instead of a run or I will do a 30 minute step routine on the lowest platform. I have two heavy cardio days and 2 moderate cardio days and then a leg day, because that usually gets my heart rate up there anyways!!:p HTH

Missy
 
I am not yet in your league training for a marathon. I am still playing with the 1/2's but my long runs are between 12-15 miles. I take my rest day the day after my long run and that helps to alleviate any guilt. I know my body worked hard the day before and there is only ONE WAY to recover.

If you take a rest day, you will get stronger FASTER. You will also get faster....FASTER. Recovery days are more important than the workout days, as long as you do more workout days than recovery days.;)

Last July I managed to over train and found my self forced to take a week off. The first few days, I was so sick I could hardly get out of bed! When you over train, your immune system shuts down and you become a target!

With distance training, every week you are beating your body up a bit and teaching it how to handle long runs, training the ligaments and tendons to take a beating. If you never allow them to heal and repair after that beating, your going to get hurt...NOT STRONGER!!

Take 1 day a week to do casual activity so that you are not forced to take time off due to over training or an injury, because if that happens and you are forced to not run, you will be heart broken!

Just remember, that recovery day is the best thing you can do for your body. Refusing a recovery day is a huge injustice. You have to do it when training for a marathon...have to. Check out Runners World Magazine if you haven't already.
 
Gayle,

You've gotten good advice here. Ima gave you a good breakdown of why you need to rest. I managed to overreach in running during the summer (thought I would get away with it because I felt good) and as I type this I am quite literally sitting at my desk on tennis balls to help my overwrought hamstrings. Don't do ti!

Remember: you are in this for LIFE, not for the last 9 pounds. Congrats on all you've done to date now make it stick by building rest into it.


Paula
 
WOW! you ladies have really put a rest day into a different light for me. THANKS!

I am actually taking a rest TODAY! Went to weigh-in this morning and I'm down 2.8 pounds. That's a lot, and perhaps too much at one time.

1 day a rest per week at least, from now on. PROMISE!

AND THANKS AGAIN!

Gayle
 
Gayle,

Sounds like you're convinced you need a rest day but just in case you are not, you'll be setting yourself up for an injury as your mileage increases. Trust me on this. I've been there!
 
HI Gayle! You need rest days!!

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/dietandfitness/experts/realrunner/articles/0,,572726_583110,00.html

Why are rest days so important?
Rest days allow your body to recover and get ready for the next lot of exercise. Exercise breaks down the muscles in your body. This is normal and nothing to worry about, but you need to give the body time to rebuild these muscles back up again.

This rebuilding of muscle tissue makes the muscles stronger and allows you to improve. If you do not rest enough, you will start to feel tired all the time and eventually you'll get injured or ill. Most people should have at least one rest day a week. Beginners need around three.
 
It's hard to take a rest day but your body need one day of rest each week.In my rest day I usually do a stretch workout like Power Half Hour Stretch or Stretch Max.







Mariángeles a spanish terminator and TAEBO junkie. :) :)
 
I'm actually in the middle of a rest week and the results are amazing. I'd been working out 5-6 days a week (sometimes 7 days) for the past 9 months and just hit a wall. I decided to take one solid week and rest and I feel great, I've dropped 3 pounds this week (no doubt water my muscles were hanging on to), but my whole body feels rested and I'm looking forward to getting back at it next week. The results for me have been so great it got me wondering if I was over-training. I think I'm going to experiment and start off with 3-4 days a week of exercise and see what results that brings me. But, long story short, rest days are so important, IMO!!!
 
Stress fracture developed before my 18 mile run in November 2003. I ran anyway. It didn't hurt while I was running- I swear.

I haven't run more than 6 miles since.

Is that enough to convince you? It was for me. Learn from my lesson! ;)
 
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