This week, I’m making a conscious choice to scale back my workouts a bit. I’ve been in this go-go-go hard-workout two-a-day-if-possible mindset ever since winter break. And it felt great… until last week. My body just became exhausted. And when I get tired, I get cranky. And anxious. And borderline depressed. So, after my anxiety-ridden long run this weekend, and in an effort to achieve a healthy balance in my life, I decided to give my body a bit of a break this week.
Instead of squeezing in an hour (or two or three) of high-intensity workouts every day of the week, I’ve instead focused on doing what feels good. On Monday, I coached my way through a Kosama class, then called it good for the day. On Tuesday, I did a 30-minute interval walk on the treadmill, followed by 20 minutes of low-intensity mat exercises. This morning, I did two of the three supersets from my Total Body Workout, then ran 3 treadmill miles at an easy pace. All of it has felt good.
I’m hoping that by taking this extra time to breathe during the week, I will be ready for the weekend. I have a 12-mile training run on Saturday, and this week I’d like to look forward to and enjoy it… the way I always have in the past.
When do you know it’s time to scale it back? How often do you take a rest day?
I take one day a week – but it’s tough! I’m in the same boat – I know I need to scale back a bit, but I’ve been stressed out … and as you know, a good, hard workout tends to be one of the few things that can alleviate it.
That’s how I like it to be–when a good workout feels GOOD. But recently, they’ve been feeling like WORK, so I knew it was time to cut back a bit.
You read my mind! This entire week, I’ve felt like each mile is the longest mile I’ve ever ran. My worst fitness fear is that I lose my love of running, so I’m scaling back too.
Glad to hear it! It’s so important to listen to your body (and your mind!) when it comes to exercise.
This is great! I often fall into the “I can’t take more than one rest day” rut and freak out if, god forbid, I have to take two days off from the gym. BUt you’re right, it’s about balance and what your body needs!
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