Everyone needs a break now and then, whether it’s from school, work, or you just need alone time. But something that a lot of fitness fanatics forget is that it’s important to take a break from the gym every now and then too.
When you work out often, your muscles are being torn and rebuilt. That’s why it’s important to eat lots of protein and give muscle groups 48 hours to recover and rebuild themselves. But after a month or so, you’ll need to give your body a break from the constant wear and tear. After four to five solid weeks of training or hitting the gym, you need to take a week off.
Now this doesn’t mean you can lie around watching Netflix the whole time. You may not be running a marathon or lifting huge weights, but you should still keep your body active. Try doing some light cardio every day, or find a sport like swimming or rock climbing that you enjoy. One of the best things you can do during your week off is stretching and yoga.
Unless you’re stretching your whole body every day, your muscles are slowly getting tighter and building up tension during the month of solid exercise, especially if you’re weightlifting. When you take a week off – and use it to stretch – you release the tension. It’s like hitting a reset button on your body.
If you’re a bodybuilder and worried about your gains, you’ll find that taking a week off then working out again after that, will actually improve your gains, avoiding a “plateau.” A plateau is when your body becomes so used to certain exercises that they only maintain your current fitness levels or muscle size/strength/endurance instead of improving them. Besides, one week away from the weights won’t be enough time to lose any significant muscle mass.
As far as stretching goes, I really do recommend yoga. I was shy about it at first. It has the unfortunate stigma of being for middle-aged women wearing lululemon pants. But you can do it alone at home; that’s what I did all summer. Just find a yoga video to watch that has good reviews.
Yoga doesn’t only stretch your body – it strengthens your core and builds better posture. You’ll find you get a different type of reward than you would from working out. For weight lifters, it can be hard to get used to because we’re used to powering through an exercise. Yoga is about holding positions, balancing, and focusing entirely on breathing. Instead of the soreness of a workout, you will feel very calm and relaxed after you’re done.
And if yoga turns out not to be your thing? Just stretch. Look up the “X Stretch” from the P90X videos. It’s a great one for your entire body.
See you at the gym (after a week off).
Alex Vietinghoff is a certified ski instructor, works at the J.B. O’Keefe Fitness Centre and is currently studying to be a personal trainer through Fitness NB. He is also vice-president student life of the St. Thomas University students’ union. Questions or comments about his column? Contact him at [email protected].
