This is a guest post being copied with permission from the original author Jill Simon. Jill recently finished an internship here at Young Performance and has some really great insight on recovery, training, and nutrition. I urge you to check out her blog at jillsimonblog.wordpress.com.
We build muscle when we rest. We know this. Too much stress is bad for our bodies. We know this too. So why is there such a culture in the fitness world surrounding #thegrind”, “#nodaysoff”, and “#teamnosleep”?
I don’t have a good answer for that. But maybe we can work to promote change so that we don’t need to ask this question. We can promote recovery as an essential component to progress. We can remind ourselves, our peers, and our clients that without rest, we inhibit growth and can even cause fatigue and burnout. We can celebrate our rest days, guilt free. We can avoid labeling these days as being lazy or as cheating, which create a negative stigma around recovery days. And that’s just unfair. After all, didn’t we just agree that rest days are necessary for positive growth? Plus let’s be real, every once in a while, it feels amazing to binge watch an entire season of Game of Thrones in one day.
If you’re going to post about your #dailygrind, I challenge you to also post about your #restday and bask in its glory. Show the world what your favorite ways to improve are in all forms: in the gym, in the kitchen, and on the couch. Enjoy taking the elevator, instead of the stairs on your rest days, and don’t feel guilty for taking that 2-hour nap—your body will thank you for it.