Rest Days · Bjorn Fitness

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Rest Days

What the heck are you supposed to do on your rest days??

There are three main things: Move, move, oh, and every so often do absolutely nothing.

"What?" You ask, "Then why aren't I at the gym?"

Well you can be, but we've locked in on strength training which is only a piece of the whole picture.

Our bodies evolved to pretty much move all the time. We evolved to squat sit, to walk and run great distances, to practice hobbies non-stop all day and to rest when it is time to rest.

I call it intuitive resting. Basically you keep moving until your body rebels, and then you rest hard, you just lay down and watch the clouds overhead, or you sit at a fire and watch the flames, or in the modern sense you just watch a good show and move as much as a radish. For me, this happens every day around 12:45 pm and lasts until about 3:45/4:00 pm. For you it might be once a week, or once a month!

But outside of that rest, you should be moving. So even when you're on your rest days there is no reason you shouldn't try to walk wherever you can go, dance across your kitchen, do yard work all day, or take up a sport of some kind.

The major movements you need are some kind of mobility drill, some kind of heavy lifting, some kind of cardio, and a consistent walking regimen.

Mobility is essential after about 25 years of age. Most of our joints need to be oiled in order to operate.

There is very good reason you'll hear people say movement is medicine in this regard, and lifting alone will get you through a lot of the pains and open up deeper ranges of motion, but it is not enough to overcome them for good.

So a good amount of explorative movement— weird stuff like tai chi or yoga will wake up those joints and allow them the fluid they need to stay mobile.

And if you don't move them? Arthritis, calcium build up, gradually increasing joint pains.

The heavy lifting you only need 2-3 times a week until you plateau, with a deep range of motion and progressively heavier weights over time.

Then cardio (and no, after a certain point, daily walking doesn't count).

You can do a sport you like (A large number of you love pickleball and swimming), or you can just watch your favorite show on an exercise bike.

2-3 times a week you need to get the heart rate elevated, one of those times each week feel free to torture yourself with something hard.

You need this, and you need to separate it from your lifting by at least 2 hours.

Then there's the walking. Walk everywhere, make excuses to walk. Just walk through the grass or around town. Reject every offer for a ride you can, take the long way whenever you can. All of that will keep you healthy.

And then rest.

When you rest do absolutely nothing except things you enjoy. Make clay pots at the Third Wheel, take up painting or carpentry. Learn to draw, write, or study math if you're weird like me. Read a few books at a fireside or take up gardening. Your rest needs to be something that teaches you something new while also freeing you from the responsibilities of your life for a short while.

Other than that, sleep.

The last thing you want to do is spend your rest days looking at a phone or drinking. Both of these will exhaust your body and mind worse than the workouts. This is a short warning, but there is no safe or healthy amount of either alcohol or social media. You have been warned.

Good luck, and happy resting!

I know this post meandered a bit. My first draft ended up going all in on how many days a week you should lift and why. But that wasn't what I wanted to discuss here today. Let me know in the comments if these are helping and what other things you'd like me to discuss (not food related).

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Rest Days