Don't forget to rest!

I'm currently in the middle of a Beachbody program called Focus T25, which calls for 25 minute workouts 4 days a week, plus a double workout (50 minutes) on Fridays. Sunday is reserved for stretching, but Saturday is reserved for rest.

I'm really glad to have a rest day today. We've had a long week of moving furniture and boxes, and my shoulders are sore! I've kept up with my fitness schedule this week and haven't missed a workout, but I'm going to embrace this day.

Rest days are an essential part of a fitness program. Even elite athletes schedule easy days into their overall training plan. During the week, you work your muscles hard, causing microscopic damage to your muscle fibers. This is a good thing, because as the muscle recovers, it rebuilds itself stronger than it was before. This is how we gain strength and tone.

If you don't give the muscles a chance to rest, this can lead to fatigue and overtraining, which can compromise your overall fitness program. If you're new to working out, take the day off on your scheduled rest days (except for walking or other low impact activity). If you've been regularly working out for a while, it's fine to do an easy run or another activity that you enjoy, but be sure to give those muscles a rest. You've earned it!

So no T25 for me today - I'm planning a nice easy kayak trip with the kids! Tomorrow I'll enjoy a stretching/yoga session (which will hopefully get rid of any remaining soreness). Then Monday morning, back to the program...

Yoga 1.0

I don't have much experience with yoga. Even though I've often been involved in sports, in the past I've typically avoided stretching as much as possible. I'd stretch when my coaches told me to, or for a couple of minutes before a run, but that was it.

Predictably, in recent years I noticed that my muscles were becoming less flexible. For a while I managed to ignore this unfortunate fact, but recently I acknowledged that this is an issue to be dealt with sooner rather than later. As we age, flexibility decreases, which has a negative impact on mobility in the later years. If I intend to be active in my 80s and beyond, I'd better start doing something about my flexibility now, before its too late.

My current workout program is Focus T25, which includes a full 25 minute stretching sequence that should be done at least once a week. It incorporates active stretching as well as yoga positions. I've been enjoying the yoga aspects of the workout, especially a section that incorporates the "pigeon" pose. The stretch through the hip is fantastic, but I feel like I haven't quite gotten it right. I'm now hoping to take a yoga class at least once a week in the fall, but in the meantime I found a website which offers some good tips on correct position. Please check it out - the link below is about the "pigeon", but once you're in the website there's a lot of good information for beginning yoga practitioners. Enjoy!

http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/1808