Rest Days

Roxy

Ever since I have stepped up my training a few months ago, I have come to understand that rest days are as important as my training days. Back when I first started CrossFit, I hated rest days. I always wanted to get better and keep working out, but I was oblivious to the fact that my body needed some time during the week to recover physically and mentally. Right now my rest days are Monday and Friday; which may lead you to believe that my Saturday and Sundays are brutal. My weekend training is sometimes the toughest, consisting of testers and multiple work outs. Most of my work throughout the week is interval training, and on the weekend I put my training to the test with a dirty metcon. This is not always the case, but it's been somewhat of a pattern. I train hard on my training days, so by the time Friday and Monday roll around, I am looking forward to some time off.

Lucy

Rest days are a time for my body to recover. During these days off, I still want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but I like to do stuff I wouldn't get to do on a training day. I make sure I enjoy my rest days so I feel physically and mentally refreshed for the next few days of work outs. A few things I enjoy to do on my rest days are golfing, hiking with my dogs, snowboarding (in the winter) and happy hours to spend time with my friends. I am not much of a TV fan, but sometimes i enjoy a good movie too. A few of my favorite movies I saw this summer were Bridesmaids, The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Friends with Benefits. I like to stay active, especially in the summer while I am not in class. I try to take advantage of the outdoors, not only to get tan, but I live in a beautiful place so there's no place I'd rather be. Training at high intensity definitely takes a tole on my social life. I am usually busy training during the week, so I try to socialize on my days off the best I can. I think almost everybody can agree that one of the biggest challenge of training at a competitive level is finding a balance; You need to train, fuel, and recover the best you possibly can and that's hard to do because everybody has distractions and things that come up. I want to appear "normal" and do "normal people things". I generally don't go out to the bars every weekend with my friends, and I don't necessarily feel like I'm "missing out" but there is a reason that people loved being 21... At my school every night is a party night, but especially Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. There are certain nights I go out and people are excited that I'll be out because it's going to be a great night. I do enjoy being social, I like spending time with my friends, but the bottom line is I can't forget my goal. I want to be the best I can be. I know that I will have the time of my life living in a house with 6 girls and taking 19 units this coming fall, but my distractions are also going be at an all time high. Our house is a big party house so there will always be something to do and tons of people around. I know I can make the best of my situation and live a well balanced life thats appropriate for somebody my age.

Swimming at our spot :)

I think that knowing when my rest days are going to be has helped me stay consistent with my training. I try to avoid going to the gym at all on Mondays and Fridays, just to mix things up a bit, otherwise I would be at the gym every...single...day.... If I know when my rest days are going to be, I am able to plan to do something else ahead of time, and I know that right after a day off, it's right back to training. So far this training schedule has worked really well for me; I have a lot of fun training and I have a lot of fun on my off days.