Knowing When to Say When: The Well-Deserved Break

You will often hear people who are into fitness talk about taking a break from their workout. Does this mean they completely take a week off and do absolutely nothing?

No. What this break does is allow your body, muscles, and mind take a little R&R (ahem...rest and recovery). It gives you time to re-adjust your workout, do some low key activities to get you moving (i.e., take walks, clean house, shovel snow, garden, shopping (my favorite) or whatever other activity that you can think of that still gets you moving, but at a much lower, "recovery" intensity. This type of break from physical fitness is typically recommended every 6 weeks. Do we all do this? Of course not. We panic. We freak out. We think we will gain weight during that one week break.  Consider building a break into your plan and see how it goes. Sometimes you come back and feel stronger and refreshed. Other times you'll return feeling that you are a bit weaker. Either way, the break will pay off and your body will thank you for it.

There are other times that we should take a break, too. For example, for the past two nights my little Jack-r-oo has decided to revert to his night waking days, and I was up at 1am, 4am, and again the next night. Probably something to do with his papa being gone, but regardless - it pushed me to exhaustion after two days of working, teaching a hell of a spin class, and cleaning the house up.

So, today...I took a break. I went shopping. I resisted the urge to go to the gym. Why? Despite the feeling like I was cheating myself, I knew if I went, my run was going to suck and my workout was going to be half-hearted. I also know that I have two more fitness classes to teach this week, and I like to give it my best, and there is no way that was going to happen if I hit it hard today. So instead of fueling that negative self talk, I squashed it with some good 'ol retail therapy. (Of course, I bought things like running and cycling shorts!)

So, take a break when you need it. Don't beat yourself up. Sometimes it's good to do something even if you don't feel like it and then you will feel better afterwards. Other times, like my today, it's just not worth it. It boils down to knowing your body, yourself and when to give it a rest. As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Tune in tomorrow for the Healthy Recipe of the Week!

Anna Marie