What’s the difference between rest and recovery?
I get this question all the time. While they may sound like synonyms, rest and recovery are different things.
Rest is exactly as it sounds: A low level of activity.
It's the perfect time to get a shorter walk in (if normal is 10,000, maybe get 8,000-ish steps on your rest day). Another good rest day activity: mobility. Get on the foam roller, orb and lacrosse balls to help increase your range of motion (ROM) while you are resting. Resting is vital to your improvement, it’s where your body heals, repairs and restores muscles and builds new neural connections.
Recovery day involves lower levels of intensity.
This helps your body restore and add muscle, getting you ready for your next more intense training session, while helping you work on some lower level tasks. You can raise your step count, go for a longer hike, swim, bike, etc. The goal is to not go super hard or make these activities too intense (low to moderate activity). Pick something you enjoy! Most of my non-strength training days, I jump on our Peloton for 20 minutes or so.
As I've said before, intensity levels should be determined on how you feel.
After a tough workout, some soreness or grogginess is normal. However, if this is more of the norm than the exception, then you likely are on the verge of over-training or injury. Listen to your body. Dial back the intensity, and include more rest and recovery into your routine.
I know summer is around the corner, but that whole “training for your beach body" mentality is not setting you up for success in any way. If you want to build healthy habits that last past Labor Day (unless you're talking Labor Day in the year 2068), you need rest and recovery. It's the key to longevity in your training, and in life.
One thing there's room for every single day? Mobility.
I cannot remember the last day that I didn’t do some form of mobility. Stretching, foam rolling, basic yoga poses… Mobility could be the best thing in the world to take to the limit.
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