Rest Week: SO HARD to do...need advice !

morgs

morgs

Cathlete
I know that I have posted this before, and knowing that I have the common sense that it takes to know when to take a rest week and when not to: I STILL have the worst time with it. Why is that ???

Believe this or not: I have been working out since the year 2000. I have tracked all my work outs in an 'At A Glance-7 day planner' and since then, I cannot recall EVER taking a full week off of working out. I have here and there, came across weeks where I'd work out maybe 2-3 days, and kept it at biking, low impact, etc. BUT, no FULL week off. I have for many-many years, kept stern on working out at least 5-6 days a week. Even when feeling a little sore, sick, etc. I STILL strive for those 5-6 days. Case in point: This past week has been a real challenge. Seems like I have been encountering some pretty strange health issues from: bad headaches, back ache, neck pain, even passing out yesturday at work ( which could have stemmed from a number of things including just being over worked, stressed, fatigue, and needing a break.) Wouldn't ya know it.....I STILL have work outs scheduled for this week and am having the WORST time forcing myself to just take a dam break. I still have a very sore neck ( probably from passing out yesturday ) and still feel a little off which tells me maybe I just need to rest for a few days. Need some advice from anyone who's willing to give it. IE: What do you do on your rest weeks / do you take active rest or do nothing / was there any weight gain / did you really watch your diet. Need some positive highlights on taking a rest week so that I can over come the 'must-work-out-or-my-world-will crumble-work-out-addict-in-me' ;)

Much appreciated.

Morgan
 
I can't offer any advice, just an "I know where you are coming from". I am the same way. I will rest when I am sick but unless I am really sick it's a struggle. The minute I start to feel a bit better I am back at it. Case in point: y'day I felt awful in the morning so I called out of work. Within a few hours I felt better so before you know it was I food shopping, cleaning, doing laundry and..you guessed it! Working out! :rolleyes: I have never taken a total rest week either. I've done work outs sparingly here and there for various reasons but to rest completely for more then a couple of days in a row? HAH! Never! :eek: I bring w/o's with me when I go away on vacations or out of town for the weekend too. No rest for the crazy Cathlete I guess! ;):DExcept for the normal once weekly rest day which I take ofcourse...atleast!!!:rolleyes:
 
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I know what you mean. I think that many of us who have worked hard at being fit have that mentality. After joining this forum many moons ago and seeing the advice, I do take weeks off...usually a week after about 8 weeks of working out. I see it as much as a discipline as working out.
 
Fitmommy; What you wrote is EXACTLY the way that I am. In a way, it's something to be proud of: The fact that we are so determined and REALLY need to be' on our death beds' for lack of better words to skip a work out.
It just BUGS me to take a few days off, let alone a week. It's going to be hard, but, I think I need to do it. I have heard from many professionals that taking a week off ( especially when you've never taken one ) can be just as beneficial , if not more , as working out.

LALA1: you are so right on. This is going to be SO HARD for me. But from what I am hearing, it's something we all need to do from time to time. Just curious as to what everyone who takes a full week off ,actually does during that week.
 
Perhaps you could do some stretching or yoga every day to try and fill the void during your rest week? Just a thought if you are going to give this a shot. I think it would help me if I were going to try it.
 
Oh wow! I am sorry but I cannot understand this mentality at all!

I have been constantly plagued by sickness, depression and the interference of life events since 2000 and not been able to workout consistently at all. It is always stop and go, stop and go, so when this kind of thing happens, you just have to and I have had to totally change my mindset in order to survive it mentally.

Now I seem to be able to handle the fact that I've been forced to take another week off due to muscle strain.

There are SO MANY things to do with which you can fill your time that taking a week off should not be at all difficult. Your symptoms are saying that you absolutely need time off. Now. I would also suggest that you need to examine what the emotional processes are going through your mind that are making you feel maybe unself-consciously guilty about taking time off. Do you not think that you deserve it? You do, in both mind and body. Blimey, yes!

Set a plan now for the following 7 days at least, things you will do each day after work and kids, etc. Suggestions:

Monday: shop for and make a new dish or total meal you have never made before. Make enough of a dish you love to fill the freezer for a month. This takes me a ciomplete evening once per month. Listen to great book on CD or music while you potter aboit the kitchen.

Tuesday: Spa day at home. Bath, deep and relaxing, face pack, hair in towel letting hair mask seep in, with great book and glass of wine. Follow up with lashings of moisturizer and then head downstairs to the couch to do manicure and pedicure.

Wednesday: invite book club or all fave girlfriends round for nibbles and drinks or potluck, and just let it all hang out. Get tipsy, laugh, scream, confess it all, etc.

Thursday: blitz all those drawers stuffed with old files of papers and documents. What do you still need, what can be shredded, tossed, recycled? This can easily take an entire evening. Again, get a great soundtrack to stave off boredom.

Friday: off to the movies, popcorn optional.

Saturday: spring clean, blitz the house. Go out in the evening to celebrate having a clean house.

Sunday: sit and get totally stuck in to a TV series you have never seen before, or a new one that's just been released on DVD, or several films on DVD or plonk yourself on the couch with a fab book that everyone is talking about (I recommend "Cleaning Nabokov's House" or "Signs of Life" by Nathalie Taylor). If you would rather be active then garden, go for long, slooooooooooooooow, leisurely walk with picnic, invite family and friends to join in and this will prevent you from turning it into a military march. Target heart rates are not the objective here!

You can sub any activities you would rather do or are pressing in your life for these but the point is, there's so much to do, you could, really, take a month off and fill it. Think: what did you used to do before Cathe came along and took up so many hours of your life? It's almost akin to the question: what did I used to do with all my time before I had kids?!?!?!?!

Have fun with your time away!

Clare
 
I so understand not wanting to take a rest week. I am the same way. I am already trying to prepare myself to take a WHOLE WEEK off of lifting weights after STS cycle 1. I am not very copacetic with it yet. But I have a few weeks to be ok with it yet.

You're not weird, it's just something that we have to work through with our personalities.
 
morgs said:
I know that I have posted this before, and knowing that I have the common sense that it takes to know when to take a rest week and when not to: I STILL have the worst time with it. Why is that ???

Believe this or not: I have been working out since the year 2000. I have tracked all my work outs in an 'At A Glance-7 day planner' and since then, I cannot recall EVER taking a full week off of working out. I have here and there, came across weeks where I'd work out maybe 2-3 days, and kept it at biking, low impact, etc. BUT, no FULL week off. I have for many-many years, kept stern on working out at least 5-6 days a week. Even when feeling a little sore, sick, etc. I STILL strive for those 5-6 days. Case in point: This past week has been a real challenge. Seems like I have been encountering some pretty strange health issues from: bad headaches, back ache, neck pain, even passing out yesturday at work ( which could have stemmed from a number of things including just being over worked, stressed, fatigue, and needing a break.) Wouldn't ya know it.....I STILL have work outs scheduled for this week and am having the WORST time forcing myself to just take a dam break. I still have a very sore neck ( probably from passing out yesturday ) and still feel a little off which tells me maybe I just need to rest for a few days. Need some advice from anyone who's willing to give it. IE: What do you do on your rest weeks / do you take active rest or do nothing / was there any weight gain / did you really watch your diet. Need some positive highlights on taking a rest week so that I can over come the 'must-work-out-or-my-world-will crumble-work-out-addict-in-me' ;)

Much appreciated.

Morgan
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Passing out is not normal, you should see a doctor. I know you recently posted about water consumption? the symptoms you describe sound like dehydration, but only you or you doctor could know that for sure. If and when you go back to a full schedule, the heart rate monitor is a good tool. Track your morning & evening heart rates as well as those during your workouts to avoid over training.

The workouts will still be there when you are ready for them, find out what's going on first.;)
 
The only thing that works for me is to consider it part of my training--which it is! When I finally was able to make that mental adjustment and appreciate all the wonderful things that a rest week does for your body and your training (mentally and physically), I truly relish them now. I love the opportunity to do extra yoga and catch up on things. I think it was STS that clicked it in for me. When a much needed rest week was part of an "official" rotation, it somehow gave me permission and I didn't feel guilty.
 
You have convinced yourself that, if you don't work out, something bad will happen. I am here to tell you, that this is not true. I have had times where I was unable to exercise for months and I have gotten back into my workouts. It did take time to rebuild endurance, but it was not forever. And, just one week? That will be ok.
 
Morgan - it definitely sounds like you need time off. A week might do it, but you might even need more. I'd say a visit to the doctor is a good idea if you're passing out.

Taking time off if you're ill or injured is essential. Otherwise, you just keep making the problem worse. I've been through various injuries - some when I've been able to just do easier workouts, but some when I've had to rest completely for several weeks. And guess what? I survived. Yes, it was hard at first, because like you, I just hated to miss a workout. But once you realize that hey, this is actually HELPING me, it's not bad at all.

And don't worry about turning into a fat blob or whatever. Sure, you'll lose your edge. That's only natural. But once you're fully recovered, you'll get back to your original fitness level in less time than you expect. I tore my calf muscle once and was out of action for a looong time. But I hardly gained any weight, and I was able to do my old workouts in a matter of weeks once it healed.

The important thing is that you need to realize that the rest time, no matter how long it is, is helping you much more than a workout right now. Like Clare said, there are plenty of things to do while you're recuperating. One thing you might try is to plan your rest week during a vacation, when you'll be doing different things already, so that your brain isn't set in the usual day to day routine.

Always remember the old saying, "listen to your body." It knows what it's talking about. :D
 
What timing!

I'm finishing up Meso 1 of STS and I have so much energy, I don't think I'll take a down week. I don't know - I still have three more days to rethink this. I recently lost 26 pounds on Jenny Craig and I have incredible energy.

Any time I go a week without working out, like on vacation, I feel sloshy and I don't like that feeling.

Now, if I had Cathe's new workouts, I'd definitely do them between Mesos, especially the yogas.
 
Wow ! Thanks everyone for the advice. It's always nice to know what everyone else does during situations like this.

Clare: I have literally read ideas such as yours on another forum, where it was a bunch of guys who did weight training & also talking about taking 'rest weeks' One of the guys stated suggestions such as yours. ( trust me,,,yours are WAY better ) but he also mentioned 'planning your days off', and scheduling downtime with things you have not done in a while. THANK YOU for the ideas! Such awesome ways to spend time off and how quickly we forget about such simple things. I guess it made me realize how obsessed I can get at times; EXCELLENT point about what we all did before working out so much. Like Elsie said: these guys I mentioned earlier 'schedule' thier rest weeks as part of thier routine. Something I have never done. ( THAT is going to change )
SRP & RapidBreath: You're right. I needed to hear that. After working all this time with out a rest, ONE week will not be a big deal.
uh,,,see ? This is why I love this board and everyone who's on it. Thanks to all who responded, as always your time & input is appreciated !!
Morgan
 
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