Believe it or not, putting your feet up and spending a day binge watching Netflix causes many of you reading this a whole heap of unnecessary anxiety... but why?
Well it seems for whatever reason taking a ‘rest day’ and allowing our bodies to recover scares the pants off so many people.
💥Newsflash💥 Taking a rest day, missing a week in the gym or having an off few days nutrition wise won’t ruin all your hard work. Just like one consistent week of training wont see you instantaneously reach your desired performance goals.
Take the past fortnight in my household for example; with both VFLW 🏉 and soccer ⚽️seasons finishing, the last week or so has involved minimal physical activity and a serious increase in our standard burger and ice cream consumption #noregrets. Despite the rest and increased calories both Kathleen and I have dropped weight… yes, that is not a typo… you read correctly; dropped!
How can this be possible I hear you ask? Well you see, one of the human bodies primary objectives is preservation. Whether that’s instructing our core to engage in order to assist a weak back. Whether that’s storing an emergency stash of calories for organ use during a ‘fasting’ period or even as ‘body’ armour throughout an intense training block. Our bodies adapt to the demands we place upon it in an effort to preserve itself and having undertaken a gruelling 9-10 month training/playing regime, this past fortnight’s rest has allowed our bodies the security and comfort it required to shed the ‘armour’.
I want to clarify however that this is not the norm and eating burgers 🍔 every weekend will not result in the outcome most are after! However, after a preseason that started back in October, rest and relaxation is EXACTLY what we needed.
The message here = Stop treating yourself so poorly. Working out should be an enjoyable activity undertaken to demonstrate what your body is capable of, not a chore or punishment. Learn to embrace rest as an important part of your training regime and remember, progress comes from consistency not rigidity!