In first
grade I started gymnastics and from 3rd grade through middle school,
I spent 5 days a week, 3 hours a day at the gym. At the back of the gym hung a banner that
said “IF YOU REST YOU RUST.” I often
think of this banner. What a great saying
for athletes to live by and what an awful saying for athletes to live by. It is so true and so false. We need rest for so many reasons, but
if you rest too much and don't push yourself you will not improve and make the gains that you might want to. Runners and triathletes tend to have no problem pushing themselves and working hard, it's the whole RESTING thing that we have problems with - working out is always on our mind.
We NEED
rest. We need rest in order to replenish
glycogen stores and repair damaged tissue.
Lack of rest leads to over-training; over-training leads to decreased
performance and injuries. No rest = no
good. But rest & recovery comes in
many forms. Recovery doesn't always mean
taking the day off and sitting on the couch.
Active recovery days are equally important. An easy run, a walk, an easy bike ride, an
easy swim, foam rolling, any low intensity exercise that still allows your body
to recover. There are mixed reviews on the
benefits active recovery, but I am definitely on board with it!
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There are
also just REST days. These are so
important. I have found that even more
important than respecting the dedicated rest days in my training schedule is the
ability to know my body and recognize when it is telling me it needs an extra
day off. This doesn’t mean taking a day
off because I’m not in the mood or had a bad day or I’m feeling lazy, but
knowing when my body has just been too stressed and needs an extra day to
recover a bit.
I firmly
believe, especially in triathlon training, that taking an extra rest day is OK
and often necessary if my body is asking for it. Some weeks our training schedules only have
active recovery scheduled, no true rest days… the body can only handle so many days/weeks
of constant activity. I will not "rust" if I have 8 or 10 workouts one week
instead of 10 or 12, especially if it is active recovery workouts that get
skipped. No, this does not happen every
week or even every two weeks, but if my body is stressed to an extreme, I know
it and I have learned to be smart about it.
Respect your body! If you don’t
listen to and respect your body you will likely end up with an injury that will
keep you totally out of the game, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a
couple of extra rest days during training than be injured!
I used to tell myself “If you rest, you rust”
on the days when I was feeling lazy to get my butt on the road or in the pool,
but then I also had to remind myself
that I will not rust if I need an extra day of true rest and
recovery. The quote contradicts itself. It is important for me to know the difference
between a lazy day and a truly over-fatigued and stressed body and not to
question myself when I NEED that extra rest day. So I
have found a better quote to get myself moving on those lazy days: “Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who
have the habit of making excuses.” No excuses. And a quote to
remind myself that rest days are GOOD: "The most important day in any running
program is rest. Rest days give your muscles time to recover so you can
run again. Your muscles build in strength as you rest."
No rusting here.
What are your thoughts on active recovery?
What gets you off your butt on lazy
days?
How often do you need to throw in an
extra rest day?
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