DAY 5: REST DAY!

The Importance of Rest Days:

Rest is an important part of any fitness program.  Even elite athletes schedule in rest days to allow the body to recover.  Granted, you’ve got to earn those rest days, so I’m not saying just take a week off, just a day here and there.

As we exercise, we add to the daily wear and tear on our bodies, by putting greater demand on our muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and bones.  When we're done exercising, our immune system kicks into gear to repair itself and any strains or tears that may have occurred.  If we don’t give our body a break, our immune system never really has a chance to catch up to the repairs that need to be made.  In this state, we set ourselves up for injury from overuse.  So, in order for our bodies to properly recover, we need to give them a break every now and then.

Rest days are also good for our psyche. They give us a break from the ‘grind’ to focus on something else in our lives like, a day at the beach, wandering through a farmers market, or going to see a movie.  Rest days allow both our mind AND body to rest.  Plus, it can re-ignite that fire we have to workout and improve our performance when we get back to it.

That being said, during our challenge, we are going to take off on the traditional day of rest, Sunday. I know we started in the middle of the week, but so many of you have Sunday’s off anyway, it allows for a natural day of rest.  So, enjoy a day off!  If you can’t sit still, feel free to get some ‘active rest’.  Go for a walk, do some yoga, run around with your kids.  Refresh your minds and bodies, because come Monday….we’re back at it getting REAL FIT!!

---