Should you take regular days off to recover? This is a key question and one I cover in detail in today’s show. Resting for a day a week for elite athletes helps the immune system recover from the demands placed on it through vigorous workouts during the week. Mental and physical recovery is therefore imperative for elite athletes. However, a day off is still important for the rest of us, though it is more to recuperate mental health than anything else.
Resting our bodies to relax our minds. You don’t need a recovery day for your body if you’re not placing acute demands on your bodies. However, when you place too much physical stress on your body, you need to make plans to have a physical recovery day. By upping the frequency of an activity, you may need to consider that recovery day, depending on the frequency and strenuous nature of the activity.
We are designed to keep moving, every day. Not necessarily at the same high level, but even walk, swim a little bit on our recovery day. I’m a great advocate of listening. Listening to your body and mental health. Taking that rest if it’s needed. Differentiate through between listening and just falling into a habit of doing nothing.
- Listen to your body and your mind.
- Have a recovery day if you are (a) increasing your stress load or (b) increasing the frequency of heavy exercise.
- Starting up with a new strenuous activity.
- Consider a recovery day for mental quietness. Perhaps a day where you remove yourself almost entirely from screens. Connect with nature and people.
Resources:
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