Wowee, it’s already Thursday?! Man, is it just me or have these last couple weeks just been flying by?! Before we know it, it’s going to be Christmas! Oh jeez, that means I have a lot of shopping to do… Before I get going on that, I’m just going to jump right into the topic I had planned for this morning! Here we go!
You may notice on my Daily Workout Log that I took a rest day yesterday. If you compare this week to the other weeks, you’ll notice that Wednesdays are rarely a rest day for me. I usually like to take my rest days on Sundays, but this week my body was apparently telling me something different. On Tuesday my body felt exhausted, my feet were sore, my joints were hurting, and I just wasn’t “feelin’ it”. Yet, I still continued with my planned cardio workout. I’ll be honest, the workout was terrible and I really had to push to get through it. I knew that my body was screaming at me, but I still pushed it. After my workout I realized this wasn’t the right choice. I needed to listen to my body. I decided to make sure to get a good night of rest and hoped that I’d feel better the next day (Wednesday).
Initially when I woke up yesterday I was planning on doing my regularly scheduled workout. I went through my regular pre-workout early morning routine, and then it hit me. My body still felt tired, my feet were still sore, my joints were still bothering me. My body needed rest! That was when I realized I was going to take an “unplanned rest day”. I had the time, I had it planned, I even had the motivation to workout, but I didn’t have the energy and strength that my body needed to get me through it.
Resting at its finest! 
It honestly bothered me throughout the day that I was taking an unplanned rest day. I am such a routined person, so when something is out of the norm, I honestly hate it. But I kept reminding myself that this is what my body needed. This is when I needed to remember that taking rest days is just as important as fitting in regular exercise.
I woke up this morning feeling MUCH better. More rested. More energy. Less sore. This makes it even more apparent to me that taking a rest day is just what I needed. Have you been listening to your body lately?
Questions:
- Do you struggle taking unplanned rest days?
- Do you find it challenging to listen to your body?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m the same way with unplanned rest days – I feel weird all day because I’m such a scheduler! But i know if I do workout on days I shouldnt then my workout is just awful!
Obviously, yes. And listening to my mind and heart. Rest is good!!
I definitely feel strange on rest days – mostly stressed, since exercise is my main stress coping technique.
same here – exercise is my stress release!
I can totally relate to this post!! I hate to take unplanned rest days but I’ve been sick lately so I haven’t really had much choice. But I actually feel I am learning to listen to my body more- its telling you it needs time to heal or to recover or to rest.
I think its better to take a rest day and the next day be refreshed, then push yourself through a half hearted workout.
p.s. your beachy shot looks lovely!
i totally agree! i hope you feel better soon, josie!
OH YES!! Love this. It is hard as a type-A perfectionist to do this sometimes (and that some of my jobs make me go to the gym no matter what–you can relate–), so I agree this is difficult for me too. It helps that I know I’ll have a total rest on Sun though! Thanks for sharing this–it helps all of us
oh yes, i can definitely relate! i, too, am a type-A perfectionist, so it’s not always easy.
Yes, I absolutely take unplanned rest days. I’ve really learned to give my body what it wants because I realized how much better I feel afterward. Though I do still sometimes get bothered by it…but I always work hard not to let it get to me! Love the pic with you in the hammock
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that’s awesome, linds! i’m continuing to learn it, but it’s a process.
Rest days are always needed, even though sometimes they seem totally unnecessary. Way to listen you body and relax some!
absolutely! thanks, alicia!
This is a really great post! I totally agree it’s hard to take a rest day sometimes… but we have to listen to our bodies. I’m on a detox right now because I’m healing from leaky gut. It’s hard to sit back and not do rigorous exercise like my doctor has instructed me to do so. But I try to get up and get going whenever I can
I have such a hard time planning rest days! But you are definitely right, we have to listen to our bodies. When I made the decision to not run for a bit so that my body could heal kinda freaked me out at first, but actually feeling my body heal has been pretty cool. Working out is such a huge part of my life I can tend to treat it like a hobby. What do you do with a hobby?? You do it every day….sometimes twice a day!!
I am so blessed with people in my life that help me to stay focused on the imporant things……Like rest days.
Have a great day!
I just had this happen to me on Monday (but for a different reason). I had every intention of going to the gym & then got totally sucked into a work project all night! I wasn’t too happy about missing my workout, but I just adjusted the schedule I had planned for the rest of the week.
And yes, December is flying by!