Your Guide to Active Rest Days

Rest is an essential part of any fitness program. Training is hard on the body, and calisthenics is no exception, although many people find they aren’t as beat up and tired from bodyweight training, which means they don’t need as much recovery. 

It’s a myth that you need to recover from exercise and training. You honestly don’t. Fundamentally, you need to recover from stress and fatigue, a variable consequence of physical training. The more stress you experience, the more recovery you need, and vice versa. 

But some people find they can recover faster if they practice some light activity on their days off. This makes sense since being more sedentary can often make the body feel more stiff and tight compared to if it was still moving a bit. 

The key word here is “light” activity. I’ve witnessed far too many times when someone engages in some light activity, and they keep adding more volume and intensity until they add a whole nother workout to their program. 

Including a new workout may be okay, but it does inhibit your ability to recover from that fatigue. You just added more stress to your body and increased your recovery requirements. 

The trick to active recovery is to leave yourself wanting to do more work. You should feel energized and refreshed from some active recovery, not worked and tired. Active recovery shouldn’t feel like a regular workout but rather help you loosen up and boost your energy level. 

Those training objectives usually mean you don’t need much time or energy in the session. You probably won’t need to go to a gym or change into workout clothes if you’re already wearing somewhat comfortable clothing. You may even need a few basic stretches and light movements like a bear crawl. Again, anything leaving you tired and sweaty is just another workout rather than active recovery. 

The most important aspect of active recovery is giving your body what it needs. Don’t worry about what sort of routine you’re following or how to optimize anything. If something feels tight, stretch or loosen it up. If you are feeling sluggish, gentle movement will get your energy flowing. You don’t need to do much, just enough to feel a little better while allowing yourself to be prepared for the next full workout.