The Quick and Dirty
It’s easy to feel guilty over taking a break from exericisng, but regular rest weeks can actually help reduce injury risk, improve your fitness gains and increase your motivation to exercise.
It’s just after the holidays, and I know that many of you are looking forward to spending quality time with loved ones and feasting on food, stuffing and pumpkin pie. The last thing you want to think about is exercise!
But if you’re like me, the thought of skipping out on regularly scheduled workouts may bring on a sense of guilt that makes your stomach hurt more than overindulging during the holidays.
So this time each year, for as long as I can remember, my solution was to compress my workout week by exercising on back-to-back days with the goal of being done by the holidays It’s a bit tortuous, and those of you who follow this practice know exactly what I mean!
But one day, I discovered that there are actually really important benefits to taking regular week-long breaks from exercise. Now, I can spend the holidays with loved ones, feasting on great food and not feeling guilty about taking a break from exercise!
Benefits of regular week-long breaks from exercise
Over the last several years, I’ve incorporated week-long breaks from exercise roughly every six to eight weeks. I find that somewhere within this time frame, I start to notice one or more of the following:
- Less motivation to exercise
- More fatigued during exercise
- A plateau in fitness gains
- Onset of new aches or pain
These are signals to me that a break is needed. Everyone is different, so you may notice shorter or longer time frames, as little as four weeks and as much as twelve weeks, for the onset of similar signals.
You would think that taking a whole week off from exercise would result in a loss of fitness, right? Surprisingly, not only is this not true, if you’re pushing yourself during exercise on most days of the week, there are actually benefits to taking a whole week off now and then.
1 Reduced injury risk
Strength and aerobic endurance exercises impact many different structures in our bodies. We most commonly think about exercise impacting our muscles, but bones, tendons (whose job is to connect muscles to bones) and ligaments (whose job is to connect bones to each other) are also affected.
Each of these structures has different levels of blood flow going to them, with the most blood going to muscles and less blood going to bones, tendons and ligaments, generally, in that order.
Structures that receive more blood recover from exercise quicker than structures that receive less blood. So while your muscles might be fully recovered and ready to exercise again after a day or two of rest, your bones, tendons and ligaments may not be fully recovered yet.
This is a very common way that overuse injuries occur. You keep exercising because your muscles are feeling great, but at some point, several weeks down the road, you start feeling aches and pain in your joints because your bones, tendons and ligaments are not so quick to recover.
By taking a week-long break from exercise about every six to eight weeks, you give the structures with less blood flow time to recover, which helps you avoid overuse injuries.
2. Improved fitness gains
Exercise is the stimulus for your body to get stronger, but it’s during rest that your body has the opportunity to repair and actually get stronger. If you’re exercising hard every single day for months, you’ll likely get weaker over time—if you don’t suffer from an injury first—because your body doesn’t have adequate time to recover.
I know that my biggest fear was that taking a week-long break from exercise would have a negative impact on my overall fitness. But I found the opposite to be true and found the breaks to be beneficial to my strength and aerobic endurance.
If you’re pushing yourself during exercise on most days of the week, an occasional week-long break will do wonders for boosting fitness gains. Yes, the additional rest will actually allow your body to get stronger!
3. Increased motivation
Taking a break from exercise is essential for the body and mind. Exercise is hard work that takes a toll on us mentally and emotionally over time so we need a periodic break from it to avoid burnout.
Try it and you’ll notice that you come back feeling re-energized, motivated, and ready to hit it hard.
Alternatives to taking a whole week off
I know that taking a whole week off of exercise may be a leap for some people. So here are some alternatives to taking a whole week off:
1. Make it a week of only essential exercises
One way to do this is to perform one day of strength training that targets all of your major muscle groups and one day of aerobic endurance training. This will provide your body with all the essential exercises during the week but still allow your body more rest than usual.
2. Make it a week of stretching
If you feel like you want a break from strength and aerobic endurance exercises but you still want to do something for your body, try performing stretching exercises instead on most days of the week. Your body will get the rest it needs while also benefitting by becoming more limber.
5-day break from exercise challenge
Let’s put this knowledge to use with a five-day break from exercise challenge! Over the next five days, your challenge is to take a break from exercise and enjoy Thanksgiving week. Give it a try and let me know how you feel by emailing me at getfitguy@quickanddirtytips.com or leaving me a voicemail at 510-353-3104. I’m especially interested in knowing how you feel about getting back into exercise the week after the break.
All content here is for informational purposes only. This content does not replace the professional judgment of your own health provider. Please consult a licensed health professional for all individual questions and issues.
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At-home exercises perfect for pumping up aging muscles
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health as an older adult. Not only can it help to prevent many health problems that often come with age, it helps to keep your muscles stronger so day-to-day activities are easier.
While the Centers for Disease Control recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week for older adults, it’s important to remember that some physical activity is better than none at all, so do what you can. But the benefits usually increase with the more physical activity that you do.
The following 20 exercises are for seniors to help strength and balance.
All exercises can be done without weights and with minimal movement.
If
you are new to exercise, start with no more than 5 repetitions for each
exercise to relieve pressure on your ligaments and tendons. If you have health conditions, it’s important to understand how they might affect your ability to do regular physical activity safely. Talk to your doctor before beginning any new workout regimen.
Wavebreakmedia/istockphoto
1. Stand up straight and tall.
2. Raise your arms to shoulder height.
3. Place your feet hip’s width apart and point them straight ahead.
4. Feel most of your weight on your heels.
5. Slowly squat down to a comfortable depth, without slumping your
back.
6. Slowly squat down to a comfortable depth
7. Keep your back firm, without slumping.
8. Slowly stand back up straight and tall to beginning position.
Kirk Charles
1. Sit on the edge of a chair.
2. Lean back on the chair.
3. Extended your knees.
4. Keep your heels on the floor with toes point upward.
5. Kick your right knee up as high as possible.
6. Extend it back to the ground/floor.
7. Then kick your left knee up as high as possible.
8. Extend it back to the ground/floor.
Kirk Charles
1. Lie flat on your back.
2. Keep your hips and shoulders firmly on the ground.
3. Keep your feet together.
4. Raise your left leg as high as possible.
5. Keep you left knee bent with your hips firmly on the ground.
6. Lower your left leg back to the ground.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 with your right leg.
Kirk Charles
1. Lie on your back.
2. Bend your knees.
3. Keep your feet flat on the floor/ground.
4. Raise your hips as high as possible.
5. Keep both shoulder blades flat on the ground.
6. Lower your hips down to the ground to starting position.
Kirk Charles
1. Lie flat on your back.
2. Keep your hips and shoulders firmly on the ground.
3. Keep your feet together.
4. Raise both legs up to the sky.
5. Keep your feet together.
6. Keep your knees extended as much as possible.
7. Lower your legs back to the ground.
8. Repeat steps 4-7.
Kirk Charles
1. Lie on your back.
2. Bend your knees.
3. Keep your feet flat on the floor/ground.
4. Raise both knees as high as possible.
5. Keep your knees bent.
6. Lower your feet back to the ground to starting position.
7. Repeat steps 4-6.
Kirk Charles
1. Kneel on hands and knees.
2. Keep your hands under your shoulders.
3. Keep your knees under your hips.
4. Raise your left arm and right leg fully extended.
5. Lower your left arm and right leg back to starting position.
6. Raise your right arm and left leg fully extended.
7. Lower your right arm and left leg back to starting position.
8. Repeat steps 4-7.
Kirk Charles
1. Kneel on hand and knees with left leg fully extended.
2. Keep your left toe on the ground.
3. Keep hands directly underneath shoulders.
4. Raise your left leg toward the sky.
5. Keep your left knee fully extended with your left leg as straight as
possible.
6. Bring your left toe back to the ground.
7. Repeat steps 4-6.
Kirk Charles
1. Kneeling position with palms on the floor.
2. Knuckles should be directly below the eyes.
3. Knees should be hip’s width apart.
4. Raise knees off the floor to a plank position.
5. Bring knees back down to the floor to the starting position.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
Kirk Charles
1. Sit in a chair.
2. Knees at a 90-degree angle.
3. Feet flat on the floor.
4. Raise your left foot by extending your left knee.
5. Bring your left foot back to the floor to starting position.
6. Raise your right foot by extending your right knee.
7. Bring your right food back to the floor to starting position.
8. Repeat steps 4-7.
Kirk Charles
1. Sit on the floor.
2. Keep your back firm (don’t slump) and lean back slightly.
3. Keep knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
4. Keep heels on the floor with toes pointing up.
5. Place hands on hamstrings for back support.
6. Raise your left foot by extending your left knee.
7. Bring your left foot back to the floor to starting position.
8. Raise your right foot by extending your right knee.
9. Bring your right foot back to the floor to starting position.
10. Repeat steps 6-9.
Kirk Charles
1. Stand straight up.
2. Feet shoulder width apart.
3. Arms hanging at the side.
4. Bend over by hinging at the waist.
5. Do not slump the lower or upper back.
6. Arms hanging gently toward the floor.
7. Stand back up to starting position.
8. Repeat steps 4-7.
Kirk Charles
1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
2. Raise your arms to shoulder height.
3. Bend your elbows to 90-degrees.
4. Lower your hands to shoulder height, while keeping your elbow high.
5. Raise your arms back to starting position.
6. Repeat 4 and 5.
Kirk Charles
1. Stand tall with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Let your arms hang gently at your side.
3. Palms are pointing toward each other.
4. Raise arms forward until hands point upward toward the sky.
5. Lower arms back to your side to starting position.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
Kirk Charles
1. Stand tall with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Raise your arms to the side at shoulder width height.
3. Bend you elbows 90-degrees with palms facing downward.
4. Keep your hips stable while rotating your shoulders to the left.
5. Rotate your shoulders in the opposite direction to the right.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
Kirk Charles
1. Lie on your back.
2. Raise your hands to gently touch your head.
3. Bend your knees.
4. Keep your feet flat on the floor/ground.
5. Raise your head and shoulders off the floor/ground.
6. Lower your back and head toward the floor/ground.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6.
Kirk Charles
1. Stand tall with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Let your arms hang gently at your side.
3. Raise your left knee and right arm.
4. Lower them back to the floor/ground.
5. Raise your right knee and left arm.
6. Lower them back to the floor/ground.
7. Repeat steps 3-6.
Kirk Charles
1. Kneel on hands and knees.
2. Keep your hands under your shoulders.
3. Keep your knees under your hips.
4. Raise your right arm straight forward.
5. Lower your right arm back to the floor/ground.
6. Raise your left arm straight forward.
7. Lower your left arm back to the floor/ground.
8. Repeat steps 4-7.
Kirk Charles
1. Stand tall with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Place hands on hips or let your arms hang gently at your side.
3. Flex your left knee and raise your foot backward.
4. Lower your left foot back to the floor/ground.
5. Flex your right knee and raise your foot backward.
6. Lower your right foot back to the floor/ground.
7. Repeat steps 3-6.
1. Stand with feet shoulder width apart.
2. Raise arms to shoulder height with palms facing each other.
3. Swing arms backward as far as possible.
4. Bring arms back to shoulder height.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4.
Kirk Charles is a Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist with the National Academy of Sports Medicine; a Group Exercise Instructor with the Aerobics & Fitness Association of America; and a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor with the Titleist Performance Institute. He has authored a self-empowerment book, Live in the Power Zone; and he has developed a unique and exciting workout program for those who are in a sedentary profession entitled The 2-Minute Office Workout.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Kirk Charles
Featured Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
