There are two types of days off in any athletes training. First are the planned rest and recovery days which happen regularly throughout the training process. There are also the un-planned days that need to be taken off when injury or sickness strike. Below are some of the reasons why I’ve become a big fan of incorporating both of these types of days off in my training plan.
It doesn’t matter if I am training for a 5k, marathon, or Ironman I always plan my workout schedule to have at least one day off a week. Rest days are important because they allow muscles to repair, rebuild, and strengthen themselves. Without proper recovery time muscles can actually be weakened. Recovery days are also good mentally. Recovery days, in my mind, have the same effect as a weekend. Most days I’m training for about 2 hours. There’s only so much time in a day and having an additional 2 hours that don’t need to be spent working out really makes a difference. Rest days allow me to start my next week of training feeling refreshed and ready to push myself harder than before. I always make sure to incorporate enough of these days into my training plans.
The second category of days off is for un-planned injuries and sicknesses. I recently slipped and fell on some ice. It wasn’t one of those graceful falls. It was a both feet thrown up in the air and land unpleasantly on some unfortunate area type of fall. I landed on my tailbone. At first I was sure my back was broken and that I wouldn’t be able to move ever again. It took a few minutes for me to realize that I may over estimated my injuries. I was moving pretty slowly but I was able to get up after a few minutes. As soon as I was moving first thought that entered my head was “crap, what does this mean for my training”. I think this is a pretty common sequence of events for most athletes. As soon as we assess an injury our next thought is when can I get back to my sport?
Sports and injuries go hand in hand. It’s bound to happen so you should be prepared for it. In this circumstance you can choose to avoid one of two things; the injury or the sport. Over the years I’ve learned avoiding the sport until the injury is better is always the best choice. Avoiding an injury to get back to your sport will only make the injury worse, trust me. I’ve never regretted missing workouts to let an injury heal. But, there are lots of times when I regret not taking time off to let an injury heal.
Sicknesses will also happen. Here’s my rule of thumb for working out when it comes to sickness; any sickness that affects an area of the body below your neck should warrant a day or two off to get better. Fever, stomach aches, etc. would be in this category. I’ve found that colds, sore throats, and headaches (sicknesses above the neck) can actually be improved or cured with some physical activity.
When I started planning for Ironman I strategically decided to do an 8-month training plan rather than the typical 6-month. I did this because I knew that along the way I would have to skip workouts here and there and that there would be weeks when working out wouldn’t be very easy (vacation, etc.). I feel less guilty missing workouts now knowing that I chose the longer training plan.
I’m doing Ironman for fun, so that’s what training should be (at least to a certain extent). The best way to keep training fun is to make sure you incorporate enough days off to recover physically, mentally and socially.