Why You Need a Rest Day + StylishlyFit Week 4

August 12 – 28, 2016 Fitness

It was PR (personal record) week at our CrossFit box. During our strength portion of our workout, we focused on two movements per day and tried to set a new PR. Working on PR’s always used to scare me. I was nervous of failing and not being able to lift the weight especially in movements like a back squat or push jerk. I guess I was just scared of dropping the weight, the noise, not 100% sure. But I’ve slowly gotten comfortable with letting the weight fall. Getting comfortable with lifting heavy weight has taken me a while, about a year.

I have a goal of being able to deadlift 220 lbs before the end of the year. I got very close this week! I increased my deadlift from 205 to 215, so close! I’m sure I’ll be able to achieve it before December.

I also increased my back squat from 135 lbs to 145 lbs and my front squat from 125 lbs to 130 lbs. I discovered that I’m able to push jerk 105 lbs, which is pretty awesome. I have to admit I feel like a badass. Working on my strength has given me a lot of confidence. I didn’t budge on my strict press or push press. Need to work on my upper body strength.

I was only able to go to CrossFit 3 days this week because of our work. I wish I were able to go all week to work on our PR’s, but we’ll have to find another time to do them.

MONDAY
Kayla Itsines Week 16 Resistance (Legs)
CrossFit

Warm-up

3 x 300m Run
10 Deck Squats
10 Burpees
10 HR Push-ups
10 Scorpions
10 PVC Overhead Squat
10 Pss Throughs

Strength

1 RM Back Squat
1 RM Strict Press

Conditioning

21 – 15- 9
Overhead Squats
Sumo Deadlift Highpull

TUESDAY
LISS – 40 minute light jog
CrossFit

Warm-up

400m Run
500m Row
Banded Squats (3 x 10)
Sideway Band Walks
Shoulder Mobility

Strength

1 RM Deadlift
1 RM PushPress

Conditioning

12 AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)
10 Kettlebell Clean per side
400m Run
20 Doubleunders

WEDNESDAY
Kayla Itsines Week 16 Resistance (Arms)

THURSDAY
LISS – 40 minute light jog

FRIDAY
CrossFit

Warm-up

500m Row
400m Med Ball Carry
3 Rounds
5 Muscle Snatch
5 Overhead Squats
5 Back Press
5 Back Squat
5 Muscle Clean
5 Front Squat
5 Push Press

Strength

1 RM Front Squat
1 RM Push Jerk

Conditioning

*Didn’t do it, Peter and I spent all our time on stregth.

SATURDAY
Kayla Itsines Week 16 Resistance (Abs)
3 mile run in 30 minutes

SUNDAY
Stretching – Rest Day at the Lake!

Song of the week

The song of the week is Grace (feat. G-Eazy) – You Don’t Own Me.

Why You Need a Rest Day

You may have heard or read that your body needs a rest day. If you’re constantly working out your body needs a day or two to recover from the stress you’re putting it through. Including a rest day in your workout schedule is essential!

Rest days serve two purposes, for me it’s 3 :). They allow your body to recover from high-intensity exercises. If you never take a day off from working out your body can become very sore, your muscles can’t properly grow, you could have a decrease in strength and performance because of overtraining, you may plateau, and it may even mess with your sleep. Not being able to get a proper night’s sleep is the worst because it affects every other aspect of your life. Your mood, your energy, your productivity and it affects your workouts as well.

The other reason why you need a rest day is because of your mental state. Always working out can be demanding on your mind as much as your body. I need a rest day to get my mind off of exercise. It helps you relax, and you’ll also be more excited to get back in the gym when you leave it for a day.

I also love rest days because it’s a chance for me to go outside for some fun activities. Like a day at the lake! This Sunday Peter and I enjoyed some fun in the sun on a jet ski. We rode around the lake for a couple of hours and just enjoyed a perfect summer day outside! This is more of active recovery.

There is a difference in active recovery and rest days. Rest days can be a variety of things. It can be lying on the couch for some to a light walk for others. It depends on how hard you train during the week and how much your body needs a break.

Active recovery is also done on your rest day and can include a light walk, foam rolling, or fun activity. The main thing is that it needs to be less intense and not demanding on your body.

What do you like to do on your rest days?

Stay StylishlyFit,
-V