Here’s How to Make the Most of Your Rest Day

By
Chris L
-

Rest days are extremely important for anyone who leads an active life. Exercising is great, but your muscles and joints need time to rest and recover and it’s important to take at least one day off every week to allow that. Here are three ways to make the most of your rest day.

Walk

Having a rest day doesn’t mean laying in bed all day. Get outside and walk around, move your body in a natural way and you will see many benefits from it. Not only will your energy levels will recover, but your cortisol levels and anxiety will decrease, your blood pressure will normalize, and your immune system will improve.

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✨Rest Days Are Crucial✨ But do you struggle with actually taking the necessary recovery day(s)? I sure as heck did back in my early years of training. I legit thought I would lose progress…when in actuality I was doing more harm than good by not recovering. When you’re surrounded by an industry that feeds you “no rest days” and “no pain, no gain” etc mantras, shit gets confusing and you can’t help but listen to the noise vs listening to your own body. Having a solid program that factors in appropriate rest days are key. And even then it’s always just good to listen to signals your bodies sending so you can adjust your training accordingly. I typically train 5-6 days a week, with 1-2 rest days…but last week I took 3 days off in a row. My goal was to focus on recovery that week, and so I did 🙃 And guess what, ya girl has some pep to her step this week✨ #recovery#restdays#trainsmart#rest#cliffs#getoutside#motivation#workout#fitness#strongwomen

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Eat

Don’t feel guilty about eating plenty of food on the day when you’re not exercising. Your muscles actually grow for up to two days after a workout and they need proper nutrients. Eat balanced meals and consume enough protein.

Bath

A warm bath feels great and helps reduce soreness and muscle tension. Set the temperature to around 100 F and relax in it for at least 20 minutes. Experiment with various essential oils and other bath additions for an even better experience.