Spring Forward to Action 30-Day Challenge - Day 7: Crash and Rest Day

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

08 Apr 2006 06:18 AM

It's time to take a crash and rest day. Down days are as important to your overall fitness as days of exercise. You've had opportunities to strength train three times this week, flexibility train twice and six opportunities for cardio workouts. Your body needs to rest so that it can repair, recover and rebuild muscle tone.

If you workout every day without rest, you run the risk of over training and muscle fatigue. These two conditions can leave you feeling worse than before you ever exercised. They are also two of the leading causes behind why people give up their exercise programs.

How was your accountability this week? Did it help? Could you have done it better? What would you like to change about how you did your work out? Do you feel like you can accomplish the short, compact sets better or do you want a more overall intense workout?

Think about these things today, write about them in your journal and then get out and have some fun. Take the kids to the park, watch a movie, work on your garden or just get down on the floor and play with the kids. Take a nap if you are able and keep right on hydrating.

Do what you enjoy doing for your day of rest and relaxation. Tomorrow there will be a cardio workout posted and we will be changing some of our methods. There will be an intensity increase challenge for those who are up for it. Don't worry if you are not one of those people. You can keep right on doing the selected exercise from before. Have a great Saturday and don't forget to get some rest!

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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