Do you skip workout days? And if so, is it always the same day?

[Sarah_E]

Happy Saturday! And a HUGE WELCOME to all of the new members that joined this week! We're SO excited to have you !!!!!!!!!!! All of us guides have tons of fun offerings from June and July that you can find on each of our individual pages! For example, I have a 20 min class called "Take Up Space" you should check out: https://community.athletawell.com/t5/Movement-Fitness-Resources/Take-Up-Space-20-min-Yoga-Class-with... 

Now to the matter at hand...every week I try to take one day off from moving my body. It's usually Saturdays, because the type of yoga I grew up on (Ashtanga yoga) always had Sat as a built in rest day. 

My question to all of you is two fold:

1. Do you take rest days every week?

2. Do you always take the same day off when you do? And if so, what day of the week is it?

I often say we should rest as hard as we work-out and so I'm just curious how you all manage your energy and build rest days into your life. 

XO

[asparling1986]

This has been on my mind recently. I’m actually trying to figure out how many rest days to take to optimize for performance and my sanity. I mean…as a new mom, gone are the days of working out 7x a week! @Sarah_E Can you offer any tips to figuring out the right balance between on/off days based on your goals?

[Sarah_E]

OMG YAY congratulations on being a new momma!!!! How old????? I think your body will tell you! Like for me when I take two days off in a row, I don't feel great. But one day off, even if it's every few days versus every 6 days, I always feel great. I'm also a believer in cross-training. So not doing one thing every day. But changing up your routine, like going for a walk one day, doing yoga the next, lifting weights another, is another way to stay active while giving different parts of your body break.

But as a new mom, my best advice is survive 😉 Things will ease up down the road,  for now you're just doing the best you can. I would incorporate your baby into your workouts. Like I used to run stairs with him in my pack or do yoga with him in the pack. 

[asparling1986]

@Sarah_E - thank you for the quick reply! So awesome to have you here helping us ladies out on this journey.

Margot (my daughter) will be 4 months on Monday. Hard to believe! I really like your idea of having a different type of work out on different days to help make it more interesting and achievable. Here's what I'm thinking. Let me know if have any comments/thoughts. Again, huge thanks for the cheering and support during this new chapter in my life.

Monday - Peloton (45 minutes)

Tuesday - BREAK (I plan to be in the office on Tuesday so thinking this is a good day to take off for now)

Wednesday - Obe (30 mins)

Thursday - Arms + Legs Strength Training

Friday - Peloton (45 mins)

Saturday - Core Power Yoga / Yoga Sculpt (50 mins)

Sunday - BREAK

[Margie]

@asparling1986  - new mom or not this looks like a fantastic workout week! I may adopt it and swap some core power for vinyasa yoga. 

[Sarah_E]

@asparling1986 omg when my son was 4 mo I was still a lump on the floor!!! This is an amazing goal, but also make sure you start small and build up! And also that if you mess up, not to care!

[asparling1986]

You're right - I think I may be setting myself up for failure. A bit much, I agree. I'll add in another break. I'll start with 4 days, see how that goes, and then consider adding in a workout if I can. Thanks for keeping me in check. Sometimes we need someone to say, "hey...you might be overdoing it!". xx

[Leada_M]

Love that you asked this @Sarah_E. I definitely take my rest days. If my week is predictable it tends to be the same one. But sometimes I know I can only get to the gym certain days and so I'll just have to structure differently to make it happen but not overwork myself! Weekends are definitely time to unwind though.

[MollJ84]

if my week goes to plan, I typically take Fridays and Saturdays off. But If it doesn’t go to plan… then maybe a few more days. I do spend a lot of time running around my two young girls, so I often count that as exercise and call it a win!

[Leada_M]

This just made me so happy that you said you count that as exercise @MollJ84 - it IS!! 😁Also, those kids burn an impressive amount of energy throughout a regular day lol!

[Sarah_E]

Oh good! Love the weekend unwinding!

[PelotonYogafan]

I don’t take a rest day but two days a week I swim which I consider my rest day as I swim

as the sun comes up and have an amazing community of people that I swim alongside from their 20s to their 80s, so it’s an always amazing time and I forget it’s exercise! Plus I have a waterproof iPod and music just makes everything better!

I try to keep this to Monday and Friday to bookend the work week 🙂

Great topic and love the discussion 

[Leada_M]

I love that you mentioned you forget it's exercise! It definitely takes a conscious effort to remember movement like that is still beneficial, but what a blessing right? Totally agree music makes it so much better ha!