Rest Days
BexH
Posts: 226
in General Chat
I was just wondering how important rest days are? I haven't had a day off in ages but I really vary what I do (gym, spinning, swim, circuits, body combat classes etc) so never do the same thing 2 days in a row. I find it hard with the dark nights not to make full use of weekends for cycling/running outside and midweek I have such a strong routine and join various friends for classes etc that I hate missing anything! I can only see this situation getting worse as have just joined the Tri club and hope to join them for swimming sessions in particular.
So I guess my question is should I make myself take 1 day off a week or does the fact that I'm training at a low level and varying it lots mean that it's not a big problem? I'm sensible ie. sore shins= no treadmill for a while and I won't push it if anything feels sore etc. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!
So I guess my question is should I make myself take 1 day off a week or does the fact that I'm training at a low level and varying it lots mean that it's not a big problem? I'm sensible ie. sore shins= no treadmill for a while and I won't push it if anything feels sore etc. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!
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Comments
However, how much you need, and when you need it, will be particular to you.
Listen to your body - if it is "sore" in a way that might be a precursor to something worse, then rest.
If you have a bad day or two - e.g. can't motivate yourself/miss the interval targets or whatever, then you be overtired/overtraining, so a rest would be a good thing.
Sometimes a week off can be a good thing too!
Muscles need time of lay off to mend all the micro rips that caused by training. Its this repair that makes them bigger and stronger.
Have at least one a week.
Personnally I go for the 6 off 1 on training regime.
As well making sure I have at least one day off a week every fourth week I have an "easy" week. Reduced hours and two sometimes three days of rest.
You risk exhausting your body if you don't let it rest. Performance will dip. You'll get injured or ill. It's not worth it. Ease back and perform better.
So in the end I have a day off every 14 days. Saying that if im feeling too tired to train or start a specific session ie hill reps on the bike where I maintain 90-95 rpm on the Big Ring and I dont hit the targets at the start, then I will either sack it and have a day off or turn the ride into an hour easy spin...
My point being listen to your body, if its telling you that its tired and cant train dont force it, have a day off or even 2or3 days off to recover.
I try to increase my Carb intake on the day prior to a hard session, and increase Protein on the day before an easier day
IE easy day training eat more carbs/less protein to prepare you for the following days hard session and on a hard days training eat more Protein/less carbs to help your body refuel/recover on the following easier day
That way I find my weight fluctuates less
Anecdotal, rather than an experiment. But I do my local Park Run www.parkrun.com fairly regularly - same course, same competitors to benchmark yourself against.
My fastest time was after two days of rest. Plus some good sleep and nutrition.
My worst was the day after a 10 mile Marathon Pace run (a.m.) and Circuit Training (p.m.).
Interestingly, I didn't feel tired - but I just couldn't run very fast.
I do nothing except stretching/really short slow run in the two days before a race.