What I'm Doing Wrong On Rest Days

Whilst I pride myself on (and genuinely enjoy!) doing some form of exercise most days, I'm well aware that I don't use my rest days as effectively as I could do, and I really want to do something about it.

On a typical week, my workout schedule looks something like;

Monday - Gym
Tuesday - Bootcamp circuits
Wednesday - Yoga & or gym
Thursday - Bootcamp circuits
Friday - Gym
Saturday - Bootcamp circuits and / or a decent run
Sunday - Rest day

By the same token, my social schedule usually looks something like;

Monday - nothing. at. all. zzzzz.
Tuesday - nothing, don't be silly
Wednesday - still nothing, don't be silly
Thursday - cheeky glass of red with friends?
Friday - chilled night in
Saturday - usually travelling to some other part of the country after bootcamp to see friends or family, most usually a night out or a meal out... 
Sunday - hangover / seeing friends / seeing family / travelling / eating out

Another thing I do is track macros every weekday, usually on a Saturday but most likely never on a Sunday. Which is coincidentally the day I'm really lax about my diet, more likely to be hungover and eat crap *and* it's the day I choose to not do any exercise - WINNER, not...

Of course, some Sundays I'll just fancy blasting out a run, or a big walk will be planned in, but as a general rule Sundays are my day off.

Why are rest days important? 

I've been doing a bit of research into using rest days more effectively; why we need them and the benefits they have so I can try and get the most out of them!

We need rest days for muscle repair, for the body to repair, to prevent injury and to help with sleep, but as well as physiological benefits there are psychological ones too, like preventing burnout and boredom, as well as helping to keep a healthy balance (good article on 6 reasons that we need rest days here).

Rest days help the body cope with the stress of exercise, to replace energy stores and help repair tissues. There's a really useful, comprehensive article that goes into more detail on this on sportsmedicine.about.com, which has strict verification from a medical review policy. The article also highlights the need for sleep in aiding rest day effectiveness, which is also something I know I need to work on...

All in all, the fact I eat more and move less on my rest day probably isn't the best. I'm all for cheat days and 'refeeds' but when this is consistently happening on a rest day, it ain't gooood..

With this in mind, I'm trying to be better. Committing to them most importantly, but also learning how to use them effectively.

My rest day goals:

• Try to incorporate rest days into a day of the week where I'm not eating out / drinking / out of a routine.
• Track macros on rest days.
• Improve my sleep pattern (blog post to come)

Do you have any rest day tips I can incorporate?

Current Favourite HIIT Workouts

Over Christmas, like many I didn't have access to a gym, but still wanted to keep fairly active over the festive period - mainly to offset the barrage of wine and Stilton I planned on enjoying!

To get the smugness out of the way quickly, I impressed myself by getting a few 7 / 8 mile runs, a couple of 10ks and a cheeky Parkrun in, and it was really nice to be able to get out so much. Normally in Winter I'm restricted to running on weekends, so it was good to have the freedom during the day to pound about.

Running 10k over the holidays

In true British style, the rain over Christmas was sometimes too much to bear, so I used HIIT training to mix things up.

I'm a massive fan of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), and incorporate it into my regime at least three times a week. More on the benefits of HIIT here and here.

I thought I'd note down a few of my fave workouts at the moment, in case you fancied some inspiration over the coming weeks. The workouts below include both home and gym based workouts. Obvs, I'm not a PT, I'm just sharing what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks. If you're not already, get on and follow the bloody gorgeous Joe Wicks on Insta etc, as all his HIIT workouts are great. He got me into it in the first place, especially the first workout..

Workout 1
Equipment: treadmill
This is my absolute go-to for a 'killa' workout if you're pushed for time.

Naturally, you'll need to adapt the sprint speed to suit you, I usually set this to between 17 - 18kph (18 being really challenging for me).

• 1 min walk warm up
• 2 mins run 11kph
• 45 secs sprint at desired speed level (17 - 18kph)
• 30 secs rest
• 45 secs sprint
• 30 secs rest

.. repeat until you hit 20 minutes. Trust me, it's an absolute beast. I love it.

If you've not done sprints before, or don't feel comfortable hopping on and off the treadmill edges, speak to someone in the gym - I did this when I first started because I wasn't confident with the speed, and getting someone to walk me through it really helped.


Workout 2 
It has two parts to it, A & B, and takes me around 40-45 mins.
Equipment: treadmill, weighted barbell, kettlebell, bench
I do these sprints with the treadmill turned off, to make it really tough. I grab the front handles of the treadmill, and push until the belt moves, then run as fast as I can (with my hands still gripped) for 20 seconds.

A)

• Treadmill (turned off) sprint for 20 secs
• Rest 30 secs
• Treadmill (turned off) sprint for 20 secs
• Rest 30 secs
• 10 barbell weighted squats (I'd probably use a 20kg barbell) - pulse up and down 5 times at end
• 10 Burpees

Repeat 5 times

B)

• 10 dips on a bench / chair
• 10 kettlebell swings
• 10 deadlifts (use the barbell for this, adjust the weights as necessary for you, I'll increase the weight here)
• Upper body get ups (sometimes called moving planks)

Repeat 5 times

Workout 3

This one's adapted from one of Joe's, it's a ladder workout and great to do at home as all exercises are bodyweight based. 

The method for this one is easy.

10 secs on, 10 secs off (each exercise).

20 secs on, 20 secs off,

30 secs on, 30 secs off,

40 secs on, 40 secs off,

30 secs on, 30 secs off,

20 secs on, 30 secs off,

10 secs on, 10 secs off.

You do as many of the below in the time available. Once you've completed all the exercises, you adjust the time. 

• Burpee tuck jumps
• Mountain climbers
• High knees
• Press ups
• Squat jumps
• Lunge jumps
• Plank

So, you'd do each of the above exercises for 10 seconds, resting for 10 seconds in between each exercise, then move on to 20 secs and so on. 

This one's sneaky; you're doing burpees for ten seconds thinking what the hell is all the fuss about, but just you wait until you're on 30 / 40 seconds. I had to remind myself not to get cocky!

If you have any favourite HIIT workouts, send 'em my way!

Morning Workout Motivation

image credit: http://running-copenhagen.dk/tours/morning-running-tour/

I am not a morning person. By any stretch of the imagination. So you can understand why I find getting up for the gym in the morning before work a struggle. Especially in the winter when it's pitch black and bloody freezing.

..and your bed looks like this.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of getting up early before the masses; seizing the day and packing in a few extra hours of productivity or leisure (and isn't there something so unbelievably smug about doing this, hangover free, on a weekend?!), but I'd be lying if I said I found it easy.

Which is why I wanted to share my tips on how I drag my arse out of bed when the alarm goes off at an ungodly hour. I think it's especially relevant as we enter the festive period; there are post-work events and evening dos coming out my ears, tempting my post-work workouts away, making morning workouts all the more important.

1) Get everything packed and ready

Packing my bag the night before saves a good fifteen minutes of faffing in the morning (read, an extra fifteen minutes in bed), and means you can just throw your kit on and get out the door. 

I pack everything so my bag is ready to be grabbed in a bleary eyed hurry the next morning, without me having to think about whether I've packed a bra or deodrant (forgetting your towel and having to dry yourself with your sweaty gym leggings is never ok).

2) Don't wash your hair the night before 

Something I find that spurs on my morning gym routine is not washing my hair the night before. Is that gross?! I would never usually wash my hair on a weekday morning as it takes far too long. So, if my hair could *probably* do with (/really needs) a wash, I purposely won't wash it the night before, as it helps me get up and get to the gym, where I'll wash it quickly (for some bizarre reason I'm always about ten times faster in the gym shower than I am at home. Why?!?). Whereas if I have freshly washed hair I'm less likely to go. Bizarre, but it works for me.

3) Go with a friend

I went through a phase of going swimming before work, and my god it was made so much easier going with a friend. We'd arrange to meet at a particular time and go together. No one wants to be waiting on their own in the dark or cold, and no one wants to be that friend who lets your partner in crime down. 

4) Plan your workout 

If you know what you're getting up for, it instantly gives you more purpose and drive, I find. I tend to map out my workouts the night before, jotting down the areas of my body I'll focus on, and specific workouts to do. I find Instagram really useful for workout inspiration (hashtags like #wod, #workoutoftheday, #hiitworkout, and accounts like @thebodycoach are good places to start). 

5) Reward yourself with your favourite breakfast 

I always have a really hearty, tasty breakfast on training days. If I train in the morning I'll train fasted, and I always look forward to eating my overnight oats at the office! 

Plus...you get to post smug Instagram photos such as the one below!

These points help me get up and at em on a weekday morning, you might have even better ones - I'd love to know if so!

3 things I learned from the #DWFitnessRevolution

A few weeks ago I wrote about beginning the DW Fitness #FitnessRevolution - a programme for people like us interested in health and fitness to help keep us all motivated and on track for 40 days of food and fitness challenges.

Although I wasn't able to participate as much as I'd have liked to with the campaign because of an illness and a week skiing (tough life), it taught me some valuable, maintainable fitness lessons that I wanted to share with you.

Number 1:

Always make time to get out on your lunch break!
If you remember, in my first DW Fitness Revolution post, I swapped their run workout for a walk at work that day, and since doing that, I've made a conscious effort daily to get up and get out on my lunch break. I found this really hard, especially being someone who brings their lunch in, as it can be difficult to find an excuse to leave the office (even more so when it's peeing it down..) But it really does set you up for the afternoon ahead, getting the blood and oxygen flowing to the brain and clearing your head - it works wonders for me!

Number 2:

Set yourself small, achievable goals.

I touched on this in a post recently - I think having smaller, attainable goals can keep you really focused and motivated.
For example, during the challenge, I made it a goal to increase my protein intake. So, I invested in some pea protein and have tried to have a shake most days, as my protein was always lagging behind my carb and fat intake.

Number 3.

If you encounter a set back, don't let it demotivate you. Focus on the positives and be grateful for what you do have.

Like I mentioned before, I was a little bit ill during the challenge which meant I couldn't workout as much as I usually would. Cue initial panic and fear about losing all my strength and stamina...
Being told to rest in our hectic society is really hard, especially for someone who works out a lot, and so this was pretty difficult I'll admit. But after a few days I really understood the phrase 'listen to your body', and allowed myself time to get better before incorporating things like yoga back into my routine.. and working back up to going skiing!


The team behind the campaign really kindly sent me a 'survival hamper' which came loaded with things like;

• Bounce Energy Protein Balls (gotta be up there as one of my all time fave snacks)
• Arnicare cooling gel to help tired muscles
• Biltong - never tried this before, I'm intrigued!
• UFit and Bio Synergy protein shakes
• Gold Collagen drink
• Immulina supplements - to help preserve the body's natural resistance 
• Guest passes to DW Fitness gyms (can't wait to try these out)
• Bio care electrolyte post-workout food supplement
• Book: The Science of Fitness by Greg LeMond & Mark Hom (cannot waiit to read this!)
• Book: New You Bootcamp guide by Sunny Moran and Jacqui Cleaver

I can't wait to read the books, I'm really into reading nutrition / wellness themed books at the moment.

I'm thinking of reviewing some of the products - maybe the Adigym cream, the protein shakes and the Immulina tablets (I've never taken supplements before). Anything else you'd particularly want reviewing?!

Huge thanks to DW Fitness for backing this campaign, the ethos behind it that even just a little bit of fitness everyday can benefit us massively is something I'm a huge advocate of, and I've really enjoyed being part of the #FitnessRevolution community.