How to spend a rest day

Enjoy this write up from Becca as she continues on the theme of rest & recovery from her last post. --Dina

One of the reasons it can be difficult to fully embrace a rest day is because it throws off the structure of our typical days.

I have made the mistake time and time again of not being intentional with my rest days and feeling ashamed that I didn’t take better advantage of the extra time. Please don’t interpret this to mean that every moment needs to be accounted for – I am not advocating for that! But I am saying that thought and intention can take a rest day from feeling blah to feeling recharged.

I’ve found it helpful to make a list of things I’d like to accomplish on these days and then scale it down to make sure I’m not expecting too much from myself when the primary goal is to actually do less.

Here are a few of the rest day activities I’ve enjoyed lately to get your own wheels turning for what may feel like a refreshing way to spend your downtime. Most of all, finding joy in activities outside of your main sport can be an important contribution to balance and resiliency.  

• Not setting an alarm, and enjoying a cup of coffee on the couch with my family or over a puzzle instead of rushing around for the first hour or two of the day
• Waking up early on accident and spending time with a book and journal before the house wakes up
• Trying a new recipe that takes a bit more time than I typically spend on cooking or baking
• Dog walk strolls listening to a podcast
• Extra time in my recovery (air compression) boots or spent stretching while watching a show
• Prepping lunches for the workdays ahead to offload some of the morning chaos
• Progressing work or side passion projects that otherwise live on the backburner

Rest day agendas don’t have to be highly productive, but they shouldn’t be aimless either. Both extremes lead to feeling drained.

I hope you find yourself refreshed and excited for the days ahead with a bit more purpose behind your rest days.

-Becca