Day 3 Recap: I woke up on day 3 HURTING. It wasn’t a normal kind of sore… my legs felt like bricks. I felt exhausted… a little bit past worn out. It was a cardio day, but I really wasn’t feeling doing a cardio workout. I ended up doing 45 minutes on the treadmill (on an incline) and later in the day I did another 30 minutes on the treadmill on an incline. I was pretty proud of myself for even doing that because I did not want to walk the second time, but I pushed myself to do it and I’m glad I did. Everything else about the day was good and I completed all of my tasks.
That brings me to thinking about working out too much. I think the first thing we have to consider is that everyone’s abilities are different. Obviously someone like The Rock is going to be able to workout longer, harder, and more often than me. Fine. I accept that. But how often should you work out? What about rest days?
According to Healthline, rest days are very important for recovery, improving performance, sleep, and other factors. So yes, taking a rest day is super important!
However, I do think there are ways to always be active, but still resting. For me, I lift weights three days a week. I would, one day, like to increase that to 4-5, but in due time. I then do some sort of cardio the other 3 days. And on Saturday, I consider it my active rest day where I do very intensive stretching. And honestly, for me, that’s all I can handle right now. I am not this athletic superstar… and I am okay with that. But, I don’t consider walking to be crazy exercise. I do believe you still need to have movement (like getting your steps in), every single day. Like on Saturday, I will do my stretching and I will walk. If I walk on the treadmill, I probably won’t have my incline set so high– that way I am still moving and getting my steps in, but not having it too strenuous.
I always feel a little guilty when I don’t do a super hard workout, but I try to remember that our bodies need the time off. Our muscles need the time to recover and repair.
It’s important to create a schedule that works for you. You may not be able to work out 5 days a week. But you know what? Two days is awesome because it is two more days than you were working out! Showing ourselves some grace and being realistic with our abilities and available time is what will make us more successful in the long run.
How often do you workout? Do you try to get your steps in everyday?