It’s been quite for me this week. I’ve taken it off from the gym to give my body a chance to recover. After 16 weeks straight of working out 4 days a week, this old body was starting to complain a bit. An ache here and a strain there were starting to add up to handfuls of Advil. Not good for the liver. So when my husband got a new tattoo and needed to let it heal, we decided to take a week off.
Everyone should work in time for their body to recover and as we get older it may be a bit longer than those 20 year olds. Listen to your body and don’t feel bad when you need to back off a bit. Recovery is how we grow muscle. So if you never rest you can't get stronger. Your days off will benefit you as much as your work days.
Another time to back off would be for illness or a sudden injury. Or even a big deadline that you have to put time into meeting. Don’t let taking a small break for other things in life ruin your outlook.
I’m not saying it will be easy. I am jonesing to get back in the gym like a crack addict. I’ve had to drop and to push-ups just to not feel so guilty. I know I am not doing anything bad, but breaking my routine is like quitting caffeine when I was pregnant.
Here is a link to an article that probably does a much better job at explaining why you should rest than I do:
When to take a break?
Just make sure your little break doesn’t turn into a long hiatus. Once you take some down time, it can be easy to start making excuses again. Use the time to do a few things you have put off. Walk your dog more often or just stroll the neighborhood and see what has changed. Clean house even if it is not springtime.
But at the end, get back to the gym. I know I’ll be counting down the days until I see everyone again.
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