The power of rest is highly pushed aside in today's productivity revolved society. I myself, feel hypocritical even stating that fact as honestly I am one of the most productive people I know. In fitness specifically however, I have felt the heavy negative side effects of neglecting rest.
I am going to briefly share some of my own troubles with resting and some of my techniques to feel more energetic in life in general! As someone who is a competitive triathlete and a full time gymnastics coach (A.K.A. teaching young children in a high energy environment); my life does require a lot of energy for most of the day.
I can easily say I am addicted to exercise and I am highly driven by results (competition). During my teen years (ages 17 to 19 specifically) I thought if I could outwork everyone else I would see faster results than everyone else, but in fact the opposite happened. My body was constantly tired; my results peaked then began falling and I even training in general began to feel like a chore. My mind also took a toll as the results I was working so hard for were getting further away. Something I had to learn as I began to be my own coach was to listen to my OWN body. Some people recover fast some people need more rest. I took a season with a less rigid plan and made my goals to do as I feel and become happy with just training again. This was exactly what I needed to reboot my system.
With my training plans now, I always keep one day completely off with no physical activity (other than a probable commute to work), and one day that is lower intensity. Along with this I personally did get my blood checked and began taking iron and B12 supplements which helped A LOT. In fact, people who were in my social circle even commented after a few weeks that I seemed to be more high functioning. So if you truly feel energy is really interfering with your life, doctors can help! However, here are a few techniques I have taken in that seem to boost my energy:
NAPPING
I have always loved naps, especially if I have early morning training. After this year however, I found a great technique in using “power naps”. During this school year I was a full time student, worked an average of 30 hours a week and was training every day. On the weekends I worked long days beginning before sunrise and would literally come home and sleep for 3 hours… every weekend. These long naps left me feeling more sluggish than before, gave me less hours of daylight time and made it difficult to fall asleep at night. So I made myself a few guidelines for napping:
No naps after 4pm
30 minute timer!
Putting my phone with a timer of 30 minutes has literally saved me. Sometimes I don’t even fall asleep, but I get really relaxed and zoned out and still feel recharged afterwards (there must be some science to this)? Sometimes I still feel guilty of napping because of my hyper productivity mindset, but in reality it helps me be more productive. There is also an awesome nap positive account on instagram called @thenapministry , who by following helps me relieve my guilt of being a nap-py person! I totally recommend checking them out (if your going to be on social media, make it a positive experience)!
SEASONAL EFFECTS
I feel like a lot of us get the “winter blues” which can dramatically affect our energy (I certainly do). I find other than napping, actually getting outside helps as well. This can be hard on an awful winter day but the fresh air can really make a difference. I personally hate the cold but something that gets me outside, is hating long runs on treadmills more. I would recommend bundling up and trying to get out for just a twenty minute walk in the morning year round as a minimum! This is a challenging one but can seriously pay off; in the summer a great way to do this would be to commute to work on a bike! Find something that will take you outside and feel the fresh air.
In conclusion, become aware of your body. Keep a journal if necessary, track how you feel each day, each workout, how much you’ve slept each night, a food journal. I have done all of these at some point and still do. Let me know in the comments or on instagram if you have any other restful practices!
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