Embracing rest days

You know how we take mental health days from school and work?

We need those from fitness too.

If you were a professional athlete like Simone Biles or Coco Gauff, your body would need a few days a week to physically recover. They are training so incredibly hard to be the best athletes in the world, and with that kind of intensity comes immense need for recovery that can take days.

For us, our rest days are much less about a physical need and much more about a mental one. With the 45 minutes of exercise we’re doing each day, most of us don’t physically need to take rest days to make sure that our muscles are fully recovering between workouts. Of course, you may be someone really pushing your workouts every day, in which case I’m not speaking to you.

Rest days don’t have to be boring or sedentary. A peek into my typical rest day includes walks with Meryl, reading, yoga, journaling or cooking.

We recommend rest days because they promote longevity in our routine. By alleviating the stress of having to get to the gym a few days a week, we’re hopefully making our routines more tolerable and enjoyable. Just as you deserve your weekend away from work, your mental health deserves days away from the gym.

“If you’re treating your fitness as a sprint, you’re setting yourself up for almost inevitable burnout.”

Our life is a fucking ultra-marathon. You’re going to need to stop and take water breaks every couple of miles to finish this behemoth of a feat. If you’re treating your fitness as a sprint, you’re setting yourself up for almost inevitable burnout.

Achieving lasting results hinges on consistent, long-term effort rather than bursts of short-term intensity. Embracing rest days can paradoxically accelerate your progress by fostering a healthier, more balanced approach to fitness.