A simple explanation of what we mean by rest, is allowing your body to return to its initial state of being, simply put it’s a “reset” button. There are two types of rest that one can think of in terms of athletic performance, long term and short term. Short term would usually be described in reference to the time between reps and sets during a workout and, although important in its own right, is not the focus of today’s snippet.
Long term rest refers to hours, days, weeks and even months between our next training session, or competition. Benefits of rest between weekly consistent training include ,allowing your muscles to repair and restore, your mind to reset and re-energize your mental resilience to a tough training cycle, and helps to keep your motivation for training going.
If you feel like you may be needing more rest than you currently are getting, do a simple self-assessment to find out. Key factors to note; is you enthusiasm for training low, how is your overall mood throughout the day and training, what is your energy level for training. If you see a drastic decrease in. those areas, it might be time to re-evalutate your rest days!
If you need more evidence on whether rest is really that important, just look up any of your favorite athletes on social media. Regardless of sport, I’m sure you will find a post or two on what their favorite thing to do on rest day is, whether it’s a passive rest day on the couch, or a slow leisurely walk with their trusty companion.
So, let’s hear it, what is something you are going to do for your next rest day?!