Rest Week

my favorite Peloton classes right now + what rest week looked like this week

Paid subscribers scroll to the bottom for the audio of me reading today’s post.

The end of last week wiped me out but in the best way. On Thursday, I traveled to Atlanta to see my nephew play football and drove back home after the game so it was a long day since it was a night game. The next day I was a little sleep deprived but couldn’t get back to sleep after making sure my children were off to school so I worked on a project at church and did school pickup, the usual. Then, on Saturday I did a full body strength workout in the morning and was at the church most of the day finishing up the project which involved a lot of lifting, moving things around, and IKEA wardrobe building. By Sunday night my body was sore and still recovering from lack of a long night’s sleep on Friday. All that to say, when it came to scheduling my daily workouts this week I decided that it was going to be a rest week. A rest day wasn’t going to be enough¹.

I’m a fan of active recovery—stretching, light yoga, walks, recovery rides—so that’s what my week has been filled with, light exercise and movement in lieu of my usual workout week which typically includes at least 3 days of lifting weights.

Because my overarching goal is to be stronger, I considered that in making my choice. I knew that next week I will be stronger if I rest this week than if I pushed forward with my usual strength schedule which typically looks like:

Monday: Full Body

Tuesday: Lower Body

Wednesday: Upper Body

Thursday: Core

Friday: Full Body

Saturday: walk, run, yoga, or stretch (a break from weights)

Sunday: recovery ride, yoga, stretch (a break from weights)

Yesterday I went on a walk at a new place, in need of a change of scenery to clear my mind and was reminded of how powerful getting outside can be. I am by no means an “outdoorsy” person, but I enjoy hiking, going for walks and outdoor runs as long as the weather isn’t too hot or too cold. Goldilocks me please!

I share this part of my decision making process and my week as a reminder of the extreme value and necessity of rest. Sometimes rest can be pre-planned and sometimes your body tells you it’s time and you have to switch up your plans. I honored that instead of getting to a place where my body told me by way of injury.

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If you happen to be a Peloton person I also wanted to share two core classes that I am loving right now. They aren’t the type of core class that leaves your abs burning, instead they’re made to strengthen your entire core (shoulders to waist, front to back) and strengthen the core of your core. I’ve incorporated them into my weekly routine together and it’s only 20 minutes total.

In hindsight, this rest week was right on time. I faced some big challenges this week and being in a place of rest helped a lot. Exercise and movement is so good for my mental well-being so I look forward to lifting again on Monday. But for today, I am glad I chose this week to be a week of rest.

What’s your relationship with rest looking like these days?