Do I Need a Rest Day or a Coffee?
The human body is extravagantly intelligent. Every movement, every breath, every thought—everything that happens within your body is the result of immensely complex systems working together to keep you alive. Your body has this sh*t figured out. There are obviously exceptions to this rule, but a healthy body is a master of its craft. Yet, it’s easy to dismiss or argue with what your body’s telling you in pursuit of other goals or desires. For a lot of people, myself included, learning how to listen to your body is an ongoing journey that looks less like an upward arrow and more like a zigzag with a very slight upward trend. Results can be addictive, so even if your body’s physically and mentally telling you to slow down via pain, exhaustion, or worse, the fear of losing momentum in your routine can overpower those bodily cues. When I started seeing results, I thought that missing a day in the gym would derail my progress, so I often suffered through sessions when I was overwhelmingly tired, sore, and clearly in need of a day off. I thought this was getting me closer to my goals, but it was only impeding my progress.
I could go on and on about the importance of scheduled rest days, but here, I want to touch specifically on those days that aren’t supposed to be rest days, but you feel like you might need the day off. This is where I struggle the most—differentiating between a lack of motivation and actually needing some extra recovery. Do I just need some caffeine to get my head in the game, or do I actually need to rest? If you’ve ever found yourself in the same boat, here are some things you can consider to make that distinction.
Is your body physically asking for rest?
Think about how your body’s feeling. Are you unusually sore? Have you trained harder or been more active the past few days than normal? Your body will tell you if it needs additional rest—if you feel too sore or physically fatigued to work out safely, always take the day off. That workout is not worth the injury risk.
Are you undernourished or dehydrated?
Nutrition and hydration go hand-in-hand with exercise. Have you eaten enough today? Have you had enough water? Have you eaten foods that make you feel satisfied and energized? If the answer is no, fix yourself a nutritious snack and hydrate. Food and water might be exactly what you need to feel strong and ready to crush your session, but if not, your body might be telling you there’s something else at play.
Did you get enough sleep?
This one really depends on you individually. I’ve always been a terrible sleeper, so I’ve learned to adapt. One or two bad sleeps usually aren’t enough for me to need an extra rest day, but several sleepless nights in a row might be. On the other hand, if you’re lucky enough to be a routinely good sleeper, even one restless night might seriously impact your ability to function the next day, in which case it might be best to skip the gym. Forcing yourself into a workout, tired and unfocused, is a recipe for disaster.
Are you mentally in need of a break?
Are your workouts helping with your stress level or adding to it? As soon as you cross that line, it’s time to take a break. Overtraining syndrome is a real thing, and it can be detrimental to exercise performance and mental health. If you feel like you’ve been putting too much pressure on yourself in the gym and you need a day to not think about training, then take the day (or more). You’ll get back into it feeling reenergized and rejuvenated, and your progress will be better off because of the extra rest.
In fitness and in life, take the time to check in with yourself. Pushing through when you’re not 100% in the mood has to happen from time to time—motivation ebbs and flows—but it all comes down to understanding what your body’s telling you and adjusting your routine accordingly. Sometimes that means powering through, and sometimes that means taking an extra day off. It could also mean modifying your workout to accommodate what your body needs—going for a walk instead of the gym, using lighter dumbbells, or doing a shorter session. All that matters is that you do your best with what you have on any given day, and that’ll look different from one day to the next. Long-term adherence is what brings about progress, and you can’t adhere to a routine that doesn’t account for the fact that you’re only human. Not to mention, burnout, exhaustion, and injury will throw you off track way more than an extra rest day ever will—allow yourself to slow down before your body forces you to.