A recap of my weekly workouts from the previous week and talking about the importance of rest days and how they are needed.
Holy crap last week I completely my first marathon. I still can’t really believe it. You can find that whole recap here. With that being one of the hardest things I have ever done and maybe the most pain I have been in for awhile, a recovery was much needed. I am one of those people that like to workout. Yes I have my days where working out is the last thing I want to do, but most days I look forward to breaking a sweat. I love the feeling of getting better each day, working towards my goals, and pushing past my limits. It makes me feel strong, empowered, accomplished, and gets those happy endorphins flowing. And a lot of my friends go to my gym, so I get to see my friends all the time.
I used to be that person that would hate to take rest days. I would look at them as a setback in my fitness. How could I get stronger if I was sitting at home? Now they don’t bother me and know that my body needs them. Not only to help rebuild the muscle that was broken down while working out, but to help me perform my best at my next workout. If you body isn’t recovered from multiple days of hard work, how can you expect to PR on your next race? Constantly doing high intensity strenuous activity can lead to severe muscle soreness, poor sleep, a decrease in performance, a depressed immune system, and worst, injury. It is so essential to let your body rebuild, repair, and grow. After running a marathon, I knew it was exactly what I needed. I was definitely antsy to get moving again, but I knew I was only going to prolong my recovery if I started too soon.
Your rest days don’t need to consist of sitting on the couch either. Depending on how you feel and how intense your workouts are, go for a long walk, take a yoga class, or foam roll. Get your body moving with low impact movements if you feel up to it. If you feel so sore and tired from the previous days of working out, do nothing. It is your body and you should treat it like it deserves.
I have really grown to like my rest days and now try to get 2 in a week. Taking a break gets me excited to get back into the gym. And my workouts have improved with them!
Sunday – San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon!! Recap Here
Monday – rest/recovery day
Still trying to be able to walk again ha.
Tuesday – rest/recovery day
Legs felt a lot better and my walking seemed normal. My hip flexors were still pretty tight though.
Wednesday – rest/recovery day
Thursday – CrossFit City Limits workout
For Time:
200 double unders
then 4 Rounds of:
50′ walking lunge
25 abmat sit-ups
50′ walking lunge
25 KB swings (53/35)
I finished around 19 minutes. It was my first workout trying to get back into the swing things so I took it easy and just focused on getting in the movements. The double unders and lunges were pretty tough and I don’t think I have my spring back in my jump yet. My right hip flexor still felt really tight too.
Friday – CrossFit City Limits workout during open gym – did the workout programmed from Tuesday
3:00 AMRAP
15 assault bike calories
15 power cleans (95/65)
3:00 REST
3:00 AMRAP
12 assault bike calories
12 power cleans (115/80)
3:00 REST
3:00 AMRAP
9 assault bike calories
9 power cleans (135/95)
I finished with 102 reps (40+34+28) using 65/75/85. The first round went well and then each AMRAP just kept getting slower. My hip flexor was still a little tight.
Saturday – rest day
How do you feel about rest days?
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