If you train with me, you've heard me preach over and over again about the importance of rest between workouts. But it's important to know that rest days should not be "couch" days. In fact, active rest days increase blood flow and the supply of nutrients to your muscles that help them recover*.
A productive rest day includes exercises and activities that increase your heartrate and boosts your muscles without causing them to fatigue and need recovery.
Examples of active recovery workouts might be:
-Take a long walk
-Go for a bike ride
-Low impact dancing or Zumba
-Yoga
-Hop on the elliptical
And of course, foam rolling/myofascial release will help you recover faster and more efficiently. (You can find my post on foam rolling HERE)
An active rest day allows your muscles to heal as well as helps to prevent burnout, overtraining, and injury while still allowing you to reach your fitness goals.
*Exercise causes microscopic tears in your muscles. Rest allows those muscles to heal and in turn allows them to grow.
