Why rest
Athletes tend to have a love-hate relationship with rest days.
Sometimes we love them. Sometimes we hate them and struggle to sit still in the house without some form of physical activity. But however you feel about taking a day off our bodies need rest.
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” Alan Cohen
Here at the Long Run Collective we admire our athletes work ethic and can fully relate to them not wishing to take a full day, or a few days of rest per week but through experience, what we have come to realise is that more training is actually less. You can train as hard as you like, for hours every day but in the long run it can have an impact on your physical & mental health and also restrict you from enjoying other things in life such as your career, time with family & friends and personal hobbies.
Continually pushing our cardiovascular system and using our muscles is a wonderful feeling, however it is not sustainable 24/7. All the best athletes take rest and they take it very seriously.
Pause to rest for the recovery gains
High intensity training and daily exercise creates two types of stress on your muscles: metabolic stress that comes from depleting the energy stored in individual muscle cells and mechanical stress created by physical damage to the structures of muscle proteins. While the body experiences metabolic or mechanical stress during exercise, it’s during the recovery period, after the exercise that the body repairs the muscle proteins and replaces the glycogen (stored glucose in liver and muscle tissue) used to fuel the workout.
Neglecting rest is shown to lead to overtraining, fatigue (both mental and physical), injury & illness.
When to rest
This is specific to each person but for a normal working athlete we would prescribe taking one day off a week and up to 3 days. Monday works well as the weekend has usually been a great mixture of long mileage and quality training. Monday is also a traditionally busier day back at work and allows our athletes the chance to start the week in a calm, productive manner.
We often receive feedback that people feel sluggish and tired on Monday, but we know they will wake up on Tuesday excited to dig in to a new week of training.
Rest days allow a number of important things to happen:
- Muscles, nerves, bones and connective tissue rebuild.
- Mental energy levels recharge.
- Energy system relaxes.
- Absorption of great training.
What can you do on rest days?
We understand some athletes struggle to fully rest. If this sounds familiar we suggest approaching your rest days as seriously as your training days. And there is still plenty to focus on! Here are our top 6 ways to maximise a rest day:
- Extra sleep – set your morning alarm for 1hr later. Those extra zzzz’s once a week can enhance athletic potential, boost concentration and reduce anxiety or stress.
- Hydrate & nourish – ensure to drink at least 2 litres of water and refuel your hard working body with nourishing, nutrient dense foods.
- Mobility – take 15mins to do some easy mobility or one our short LRC Yoga sessions to unwind any muscle tightness’s.
- Walk – a short, gentle walk – listening to a podcast, catching up with friends or family or just solo to soak up the area around you is ideal on a rest day, just not forgetting the idea of a rest day is as much time off your feet as possible.
- Elevate – watch television doing our favourite yoga pose Legs Up the Wall Pose (or Viparita Karani) – a restorative yoga posture that allows the mind and the body to relax, relieving stress and tension.
- Plan – if you are really missing your training, look ahead to the sessions scheduled for the week and get your kit & fuel ready.
We also like to see our athletes use their rest days to turn off their Garmins (or other sport tracking device), step out of sports kit, book in to have a soft tissue massage, spend some extra time with their family and use the additional time relaxing with their favourite ‘chill out’ hobby which might be reading, playing music, cooking, eating and / or watching a film or TV. Stepping away from all things ‘sport’ even just for 24hrs can be the perfect recovery tonic.
Extra rest and recovery
We know that our bodies are very clever and when training hard they sometimes tell us they need extra rest. If you are feeling more tired than normal, a little mentally fatigued (perhaps due to work or family commitments) we always encourage extra day(s) off. We appreciate that for many, not training can feel like a sense of missing out but remind yourself how smart you are being. Listening to your body is one of the hardest things to do, however, no one workout is going to make you reach your goal, but training when exhausted can dig you into a deeper hole of fatigue (trust us – we have been there and got the t-shirt!). Take the day off, recharge your batteries, chat with your coach and re-join your schedule when ready. You will be much better in the long run.
To talk to our coaches about your training schedule and how to introduce more rest & recovery please feel free to drop us line Contact.