So from a calendar perspective, I've worked out 23 consecutive days. What, no rest day you ask?
Well, last winter I attended a triathlon night at a local bike shop, and a local pro triathlete (Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker) spoke about taking rest amidst his tough training schedule. And he made a good point. If you take a whole calendar day off, you could actually end up taking two "days" off. Instead, he said that you can continue working out on consecutive days, but by spacing out workouts on one morning and then the evening of the next day, you actually get a full 24 hour stretch of rest in between, effectively a rest day.
So this is what I did between Sunday and Monday (today). My workout on Sunday ended in the afternoon, and I waited until this evening to go for a swim. So there, I rested :^)
I've been thinking about this since our ride... I think for a pro athlete this might make sense, but for someone who can't sit on the couch, feet up, relaxing for the entire time between workouts, but instead has to work, run errands, etc.. this is not a true rest day. But I guess it all depends on how you're feeling. It sounds like you are doing ok, so I guess it works for you. Keep at it, but don't be afraid to take an entire calendar day off if you start feeling crummy. That's my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alyce, you are right about the body needing rest to recuperate. I've cut my workouts short on more than one occasion, but maybe if I took better rest (time off, more sleep, etc.) then I would have been able to complete those workouts fully. Been trying to listen to my body while also keeping up with the efforts, luckily the body hasn't revolted too significantly yet, but as you suggest, will make sure not to overextend myself.
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