You Should Be Moving on Rest Day
“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”
—Confucius
Many people believe that they should do absolutely no movement or exercise on rest days.
Rest days are incredibly important. Our bodies need time to recover. But doing nothing can cause problems. You can lose momentum on your training routine and reduce the days you can be active.
Instead of doing absolutely nothing on rest days, you can improve your routine by doing “active recovery” instead.
Active recovery is low-intensity activity that gets your body moving and increases your heart-rate a bit, but won’t tire you out. Active recovery can be exercises like walking, relaxed yoga, swimming, or even light jogging.
Active recovery is for everyone, even bodybuilders recommend it. By moving your body on your rest day, you increase blood flow, which can help you recover faster. You also help strengthen your exercise habits by enabling yourself to train every day. Yes, walking and yoga should count as part of your training.
—Erik Pavia, CEO
Related Resources
Walking totally counts as exercise. You should do it on rest days and even as training sometimes.
Yoga is one of the best ways to recover between workouts. If you’ve never done yoga, check out our guide for starting a yoga practice at home.
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