[2.5 minute read time]
This write up from Becca is not just for athletes, but for all of you gym-goers and people living a fitness lifestyle. Enjoy! -Dina
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When is the last time you had a true rest day or recovery week from your training?
Recently, I was coordinating plans with a running friend and learned that our 4-mile run in the mountains with over 1,000 ft vertical gain followed by a session at the climbing gym was the rest day. That, combined with popular beginning of the year goals or running streaks motivated me to share this reminder – rest is rest, and training gains are realized only during recovery.
Without getting into the psychology of why this is common and what feeds many endurance athletes to prioritize movement over rest, let’s take a moment to pause from action and be intentional about our relationship to rest.
First, let’s review why rest matters and what true rest versus active recovery means.
Active recovery is typically easy training efforts with low volume – the goal being to feel better when you end than when you started, and to be fresh and ready to tackle harder efforts in the following days. A rest day is just that – no planned exercise, not even easy efforts. Perhaps you engage in light yoga or stretching, take your dog on a walk, and prioritize resetting your physical and mental state. Your only real goal is to avoid anything that would count as training.
Because this is a nutrition blog, let’s touch on how to approach nutrition on a rest day.
I stand by the fact that endurance athletes are often caught under-fueling, particularly during hard training periods where you may be training through a mealtime or have trouble eating enough to meet the energy demands of your training due to a combination of factors.
If you were to look at a rest day in a vacuum, it may be true that your energy needs are lower on this day. But if you are in an energy deficit, which I see more often than not, this is a great chance to play catch up – on physical and mental rest, on nutrition and fueling, on sleep, on social time, and any other pillars of health that take a backseat to training on other days.
Perhaps you have an extra hour or two to cook a nice meal or prep your food for the week ahead, or you can enjoy a long brunch with loved ones when you would typically be prepping for or participating in a training session.
You may notice a stronger appetite on these days that could be attributed to being in a calorie deficit, or just having more quiet moments for your body to signal to you that it could use more fuel. Either way, this is not a day to restrict or control intake because you aren’t active or haven’t “earned it”.
This is your time to pause, attune to your body, and nourish it in the ways it has been neglected – a nap, coffee with a friend, an extra snack, light stretching, or anything that recharges you for what is ahead.
This is where gains are made. Trust the process and most importantly, trust yourself!
Thanks for reading,
Becca
P.S. Reach out to us when you’re ready to figure out how to improve your recovery for performance.