"I'll Rest When I'm Skinny"

"I'll rest when I'm skinny" was a mentality I came up with soon after joining CrossFit almost 6 months ago. It's pretty straight forward. I'm overweight so I need to work out as much as possible, right? I found myself going 6 days a week and then when we started open gym on Sundays, it was 7. The idea of taking a rest day never even crossed my mind. I was convinced that this was going to get the weight off. While this may be true, about 3 weeks ago I stopped getting PR's (personal records). I wasn't sleeping at night. I was just tired all the time.

After talking to Coach Rich at a CrossFit gathering last week, I decided to write about it. Is it possible that I was wrong? Absolutely.  Is overtraining often overlooked? Most definitely.

CrossFit is fun. It's hard for me to know that my friends are there doing a WOD, when I'm sitting at home. But the recommended schedule for CrossFit is 3 days ON 1 OFF. This is a widely accepted schedule that CrossFitters around the world use.

CrossFit isn't a one size fits all kind of thing, you have to listen to your body! Lately, my knee has really been bothering me & it's taken weeks months to admit it. But perhaps it is better to take a few days off and be rested rather than going every single day and having to go easy.

Like I said, rest days are IMPERATIVE. It lets the body adapt to physical stress, rebuild muscles, and get ready for the next WOD. They say too much intensity or too little recovery leads an athlete into a plateau rather than seeing improvements, which is where I found myself lately.

Personally, rest days help psychologically as well. It gives me a mental edge. When I took time off for vacation, I came back so much stronger and ready to work. Rest days have to be viewed correctly though. Rather than feeling guilty about missing days, you have to look at it as an essential part of becoming a better athlete.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't struggle with this concept. In fact, yesterday I worked out on my "rest day." I have to force myself to take Saturday's off and I'm working hard to add in another one.

On the bright side, I have made several PR's lately, like my #135 clean & my #300 deadlift!!!!