Rest Days

I should not be talking about this after having 5 months of almost non-stop training. I have taken a day off here and there because I was traveling, or because someone was in town for a visit, but besides those odd days I have been training 7 days a week.

I know, and I am super aware of it, that resting is as important as working out. When you work out hard you are ripping off muscle fibers. To be able to improve your performance you have to let them rebuilt before you work on ripping off again those new fibers. Every time they rebuilt they are stronger, leaner, and fitter. But this process only happens as long as you let them rebuilt themselves, and of course, they need time for this!

I have an excuse for my non-stop training during the summer: on my “rest day” I was doing The Grind (which is the hardest work out ever!). I did not have any other day to fit it in and I did not want to give up any of my other trainings (which I actually love). I made sure though I ate tons of vegan protein and carbohydrates (nuts, almond milk, fruit, and tofu) right after each training, to avoid inflammation and enhance the recovery process. I definitely think it worked because during these months I was barely sore and I had lots of energy to keep up my high intensity training.

I also knew I was going to get my rest day back (eventually). I knew once summer was over, and The Grind was out of the picture, I could go back to my more reasonable routine of having one day off, per week, from exercising.

I am not going to lie, by the beginning of September I was already feeling my muscles tired. I felt them heavy when running and it was hard to keep up a decent running pace. Last week I had my first official rest day in a while, and it felt soooooo good! It is crazy how fast muscles can recover. I took a day off, just one, and on Sunday I felt like flying, the same on Wednesday, during our hill training. Yesterday was off as well and today I felt good in my run. I felt light, fast and not tired at all. My body is saying thank you and is paying me back with fast recovery and better performance.

I do not regret what I did during the summer though; actually I will do it all over again. Summer is meant to be outdoors, so any chance I get to do this I take it, even if it means not resting at all. I know the cold, dark days are already upon us, and this means snow, ice and lots of rain, which translates into more days at home. But I can now say that I do appreciate this already forgotten feeling of having a day off, so does my body.


My Animal Lover Note: