Rest & Recovery?

Newwmn3

Newwmn3

Cathlete
Hi everyone! I am curious to know how my fellow Cathletes handle their rest/recovery. It seems like most of you take at least 1 or 2 days off during the week. Why do you choose to take these days off and, do you take them off entirely or do you still do light activities such as a brisk walk or yoga? Then, I know that it's recommended that you take a week off every 8-12 weeks depending on the type and intensity of the training you're doing. Considering that everything of Cathe's, for the most part, is considered intense, do you take one of these "weeks off" and, if so, how often do you take them? What do you do during that week? Do you plan these weeks or just listen to your body? And finally, what do rest days and/or rest weeks do for you? I have a VERY hard time not working out and, if left to my own devices, I would do so every day. I know that's not good for you but it sure is hard. I'm hoping to hear from some folks who benefit from rest and are willing to share their experiences. Thanks so much! :)

Christin
 
I don't do very intense workouts any more so I generally take a day off every 10 days. I will take a week off rarely and only when my body says OK time for a weeks rest. I don't plan them. I do walk on those days off and my dog probably enjoys them too because he will get 4 or 5 walks a day. I also do some stretching. I,just ordered Jane Adams Gentle Yoga with 7 yoga practices of about 20 minutes each that I plan to use any day but also rest days.
I always find that I come back from a week off with no loss of strength and better endurance.
 
My body is very good at letting me know when I need a complete rest or a recovery period, although I personally have some challenges like scoliosis..that type of thing, so not sure if your body lets you know in that manner. Having said that, I do find it difficult to completely do nothing and generally find myself doing something that keeps my mobility going and gets the heart going to some rate anyway. I practice hatha and yin yoga (not the active flowing from one posture to another in seconds type of yoga) nearly every day, but never considered it "fitness" to be honest.
When my mind isn't geared towards being still, but my body feels like it needs it or I have gone hard for 6 days, I look for some 'active recovery' workouts online. I've come across some terrific ones so far.
Denise Austin keeps me going during recovery : )

 
Hi Christin,
I generally only take time off when I feel the need - sometimes that's after a couple of days of tough workouts, sometimes I can go as long as 12 or more days (although if this is happening regularly, I know I'm ready to step up the intensity ;) ). I'm lucky that I have the time flexibility to do that. On days off I continue to do yoga, often increasing the duration of my practice, but dialling down the intensity. I also walk every day of my life at least 8 miles (2 walks a day with my dogs).
For a deload week, I often just change the exercise I'm doing. So if I need a week off STS, I may do a week of long, steady state cardio, with no weight training. If, say, I were to train for a marathon (unlikely!) I may have a week off running, but weight train instead.
Days off are also useful to practice techniques, and learn new skills. I think I remember you saying you felt step wasn't for you - well, I'm the same, but I practiced during my rest days - more pausing the dvd than actually doing it! Currently I'm working towards doing handstand push-ups, so on a rest day I practice my inversions. It usually ends up being a very good abs workout as I giggle my way through my hopeless attempts!!!

I've been reading some stuff on biofeedback testing by Dave Dellanave - very interesting. It's about using your body's range of motion to tell you whether you have the 'green light' to do a certain exercise. I'm hoping to implement the testing into my workouts.
https://www.dellanave.com/

Oh, and I must add that I know I tread the line between keeness and addiction.....
https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/what-is-exercise-addiction-and-dependence/
 
I work ten hours a day with engineers. Most of them have lots of "book learning," but no "street smarts." Working out is my therapy. I take a rest, when I feel I need one. I don't have a lot of time in the morning, or after work. It's short workouts for me. Sometimes, I need a rest day every week. Sometimes, every two weeks. Just play it by ear, at this point. The older I get, the more rest I take.

These engineers probably feel the same about me. But, I feel I do have some "street smarts" (most of the time)
 
For me, "rest days" are variable. If I'm following a rotation, I tend to have one rest day per week where all I do is walk and stretch. If I'm "winging" it between rotations, I notice that I take rest days more often. Lately I've been very busy as Command Central Ground Crew Hiker #1 for my DH's Appalachian Trail Journey and I have had a rest day every 4 days or so for the past 45 days. Usually, I hit it hard when I can and take rest days when scheduled with a rotation or if I feel like I really need it.
 
Since I enjoy exercise and, if anything, tend in the direction of overdoing it, I just stop anytime I feel like it. Recently, with longer cardios, around 30 mins I'm just like -- OK, that's enough. So I stop. My wrist has been bugging me this week, so I'm taking off lifting entirely. Normally, next week would be my deload, but I'm basically bumping that week up. I love exercise and wellness, so I don't stress out that, after five days of rest, I'm going to end up with my face stuck in a family-sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, passed out in front of the TV with the 75th consecutive Friends rerun playing my lullaby. Ain't gonna happen. For me, feeling lazy means time to rest. I guess it's what's called 'intuitive training'.
 
Unfortunately my job dictates most of my days off. I work many 12+ hr days in a row plus weekends so sometimes I am just plain old tired and have no energy left to workout. If I worked part-time or didn't work at all, I'd likely workout 6 days a week and my workouts would be much more energy filled.
 
Hi Stacy, I generally take one rest day a week. On that day I do a yoga or stretch dvd. About every three months I find my body needs a rest so I'll take a day or two off and do a hike or walk, etc. I can always feel for about a week prior that my body is starting to need a break. For me, it's about listening to my body and taking it from there.:)
 
MomInVT said:
Since I enjoy exercise and, if anything, tend in the direction of overdoing it, I just stop anytime I feel like it. Recently, with longer cardios, around 30 mins I'm just like -- OK, that's enough. So I stop. My wrist has been bugging me this week, so I'm taking off lifting entirely. Normally, next week would be my deload, but I'm basically bumping that week up. I love exercise and wellness, so I don't stress out that, after five days of rest, I'm going to end up with my face stuck in a family-sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, passed out in front of the TV with the 75th consecutive Friends rerun playing my lullaby. Ain't gonna happen. For me, feeling lazy means time to rest. I guess it's what's called 'intuitive training'.
Click to expand...

I'm in this category. I love:D the term intuitive training. It describes it perfectly. When I'm tired, I stop. Sometimes I get 15 minutes into a workout and realize that I'm pushing way too hard for what it is; then I just turn it off and call it a rest day. This can be anywhere from once a week to once in two weeks.
 
I'm like you Christin and tend to keep going as hard as i can with little thought to rest days. I tend to be a bit obsessive about my exercise and don't plan a rest day until i need it. This thread reminded me to listen to my body as my lower back and hip flexors have been sore so i did yoga this morning. When i looked at my workout calendar it seems i've been going hard everyday for 3 weeks and didn't even realize it - sheesh. I need to get a grip LOL! I do add a 30 minute stretch after a regular workout on weekends when i have more time but do find it mentally challenging to just do yoga - so silly of me. Rest and recovery = better muscle growth and conditioning.
Jamie
 
Justinef said:
Hi Christin,
I generally only take time off when I feel the need - sometimes that's after a couple of days of tough workouts, sometimes I can go as long as 12 or more days (although if this is happening regularly, I know I'm ready to step up the intensity ;) ). I'm lucky that I have the time flexibility to do that. On days off I continue to do yoga, often increasing the duration of my practice, but dialling down the intensity. I also walk every day of my life at least 8 miles (2 walks a day with my dogs).
For a deload week, I often just change the exercise I'm doing. So if I need a week off STS, I may do a week of long, steady state cardio, with no weight training. If, say, I were to train for a marathon (unlikely!) I may have a week off running, but weight train instead.
Days off are also useful to practice techniques, and learn new skills. I think I remember you saying you felt step wasn't for you - well, I'm the same, but I practiced during my rest days - more pausing the dvd than actually doing it! Currently I'm working towards doing handstand push-ups, so on a rest day I practice my inversions. It usually ends up being a very good abs workout as I giggle my way through my hopeless attempts!!!

I've been reading some stuff on biofeedback testing by Dave Dellanave - very interesting. It's about using your body's range of motion to tell you whether you have the 'green light' to do a certain exercise. I'm hoping to implement the testing into my workouts.
https://www.dellanave.com/

Oh, and I must add that I know I tread the line between keeness and addiction.....
https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/what-is-exercise-addiction-and-dependence/
Click to expand...

EEK! How in the heck did I not "Watch" my own thread??? I missed all of these wonderful responses to my question!!! Ugh, what a bonehead... Thank you to everyone who replied!

Justine, thank you so much for these links!!! That whole addiction to exercise thing....well, as my boyfriend so eloquently puts it "It's a damn good think you don't do drugs because you'd have been dead within a week of starting." He seems to think I have a wee bit of an addictive personality...hmmm, I think he may be on to something. ;) I always joke with him and say that at least I am addicted to something healthy and good for the body! I am realizing, though, that there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing" and I have repeatedly headed in that direction with my training.

I am realizing that I need to learn to listen to my body and, more importantly, actually DO WHAT IT IS TELLING ME. It is helpful to see everyone here talking about their rest and recovery. I train extremely hard with Hiit, Metabolic Hiit, and heavy weightlifting. Probably excessively. The issue I think comes in to play with the fact that all of my intense workouts are also very long workouts with only 1 rest day per week when I usually at least go for a brisk walk. This past week I went on vacation and, by choice, took it as an "active recovery week" because my body was feeling very beat up. I had a ton of anxiety about doing this but I was feeling so crappy that I knew I had better just do it before I really dug myself into a hole. I walked for an hour each day (briskly) and took a couple of awesome, long hikes. I was afraid I would gain weight and lose strength. I got back a couple days ago and, not only did I feel MUCH less beat up but I was sleeping better, I wasn't as irritable, and I even lost a couple of pounds! (what the ???) To top it all off, today was my first day back at the weights and it felt AWESOME!!!!

Thank you for all of the awesome replies and I can now happily say that rest and recovery will become a very regular part of my training routine!!!

Christin
 
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