The Active Rest Day
Rest Day. If you are around the exercise world for even a short amount of time, you will hear about Rest Day. It is a key element in your workout regime. There is great importance to have an active rest day. But it may not be exactly what you think it is.
What is an Active Rest Day?
The phrase “rest day” can be misleading. Contrary to popular belief, rest day is not meant to be a day to take off from working out like you normal and do nothing physical. Rather, it is a day to help your muscles recover by doing something different – something less intensive.
When you workout – whether it is cardio, weight lifting, core strengthening, etc. – you are putting stress on your body. Your muscles undergo a great amount of strain. And if you are doing this every day, you never give your muscles a chance to recover and repair themselves. This is why a rest day is important.
But, if you workout 6 days a week and then just take a day off and sit on the couch doing nothing active, you still are not helping your muscles. You still need to get the circulation going, which brings the proper nutrients and repair cells to your muscles, which helps speed the recovery process.
A proper rest day is what is called an Active Rest Day. You want to do activities that give you a slightly elevated heart rate, but not necessarily break a sweat. Your goal is not to focus on the intense training that you do on other days, but rather to get your blood flowing and keeping your body moving.
Active Rest Day Ideas:
- Going for a walk
- Riding a bike
- Using a foam roller
- Stretching
Each of these activities keeps your body moving – causing the blood to be circulating well – but is less intensive than your normal workout routine.
Purpose of an Active Rest Day
You will find that if you make it a habit to implement an Active Rest Day in your weekly exercise routine, you will see better and longer lasting results, because you are giving your body the time to properly recover.
In addition, not only are these days good for your body, they are good for your mind too. Doing an intense workout can also put stress on your mind. But if you know that you have a day where it is not as intense, you will be more likely to feel like you can make it through the other days where it is harder to do. Having your mind at ease is very beneficial to reaching your fitness goals – just like finding the proper workout!
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If you have any questions about Active Rest Days, or would like some help finding the proper workout for you, feel free to Contact Me.