Here’s a secret worth sharing, you do not need to train every single day. Especially if you’re training hard enough. However, when you start seeing results it can be kind of hard to stop but 1 or 2 days off a week aren’t going to make you regain all of your weight or lose your strength. Does every day have to be a high intensity training day? No. But you can and should stay active almost every day. Here’s some tips for surviving the ‘off’ days.
Low Intensity Activity
NEAT UP 24/7. A popular phrase on the internet these days, made common by James Smith. NEAT UP 24/7 refers to your non-exercise activity. It’s widely known that common strategies like taking the stairs or walking instead of driving can help improve your fat loss goals. Basically, you’re burning more calories through movement instead of sitting on the bus or escalator. All these little bits of added activity add up in a big way over the week, month and year. So, if you’re somebody who loves to be active and struggles to sit still on your ‘off day’ you should try get out for a walk or something similar. This way you’re getting movement and exercise so you can sleep easier at night but you’re not stressing the system again, thus allowing for recovery.
Recovery
Your off days could be filled up with recovery to help make you feel like you’re doing something. From stretching and yoga to prepping food, use the time you’d be training to either get the body right to go again or restock your fridge with meal prep.
If you’re training hard enough, you should have some degree of stiffness the day after or even two days after. Your off day could be used to try out yoga or Pilates. Now you’re adding in some extra mobility work which most of the population could use due to the amount we sit down, from sitting in traffic to sitting at your desk. There is always a positive aspect to adding more mobility work. The second added benefit is more core work, this will help the work you’re doing in the gym or on the field.
Using the extra time to prep food is another great option to help your recovery from training but it will also keep you on track with your goals. Whether you’re aiming to drop fat or put on size, having your food ready and available is the best way to stay on track. With regards to recovery, if you train late in the evening, sometimes the last thing you want to do is cook a meal that’s suitable for post training and either just go to bed or get something a little bit naughty. Knowing that quality meal is ready and available will make your life easier.
Psychology
Not everyone likes taking a rest day due to fear of regressing or losing ground on your progress. Getting over this fear isn’t as easy as flicking a switch and changing your mindset. But what can be done is grasping the concept of it being more mindful of your situation. Just because I don’t train today does not mean I will take a backward step in my progress. If anything, a rest day is your chance to take a step closer toward your goal. Your mindset should be shifting from missing an opportunity to improve to grasping an opportunity to grow by taking advantage of the time for recovery, restoring adequate hydration levels and nailing your nutrition.
Downtime
Life these days can be 100 miles an hour. Take the couple hours it takes to train to have some relaxation and downtime instead. Spend some time with friends or loved ones, start a show on Netflix or go check out the latest film in the cinema. Mental downtime is so important for longevity in work, home life and training.
Okay so they are some benefits of taking a rest day and some things you can do on them, let’s talk for a second about what won’t happen on a rest day.
You’re not going to gain back all your fat.
You’re not going to lose your strength and progress.
You’re not going to suddenly become unfit.
But what will happen?
You’ll recover better.
You’ll replenish your energy stores.
You’ll regain motivation.
When used correctly, rest days are a really efficient way to increase performance and longevity. The world’s top athletes all use rest days so why shouldn’t you? Use them to do more things with your family and friends. Make your active recovery easy to include others, do local walks or hikes that your kids can join in on.
When it comes to fitness and training, like with nutrition, it’s what we do the majority of the time that will determine our results. One binge or ‘cheat meal’ a month will not make you fat. One or two rest days a week will not make you regress. We regress when the rest days become the norm and when the binge becomes our daily calorie allowance.
Have you checked out my new performance centered blog? Released every second Wednesday, the new installments started this week with keys to developing ultimate speed. Check it out here if you haven’t yet.
See you next week,
Rory.