Cat Kom & Brian will help you understand the difference.

Do you ever find yourself wanting to skip a workout, but you’re not sure if you need a rest or are just feeling lazy? Studio SWEAT onDemand member Isabelle recently asked, “How can we not confuse the mind and body’s need to recover with the mind’s lack of motivation?” 

This is a hot topic for anyone who works out in the moderate to high zones on the regular, so Cat Kom is joined by Trainer Brian, who has a really hard time with rest, even when he really needs it. (Is that why he was chosen for the assist? You bet it is!)

Here’s the deal: Of course, you should listen to your body, but Cat said “The mental aspect of ‘rest’ really is a bit of a mind-f**k. Apologies for the language, but there’s no other phrase that says it better. Are you really overtraining, or is something else dragging you down? You gotta analyze that.” To help, Cat and Brian have some great tips to help you figure it out.

Do I need more rest? Maybe if you’re experiencing any of these situations:

1) Elevated resting heart rate – if you know your resting heart rate, but it’s higher in the morning than normal, that may mean your heart is working harder to send blood to heal your body.

2) Unexpectedly tired – we’re not talking tired because you were up half the night with a sick kid, or in the midst of a stressful work situation. If you’ve gotten regular good sleep, and are still tired, you may have an overstimulated nervous system helping with healing.

3) Unusually moody – mood swings can be impacted if your insulin levels change or are thrown off. 

4) Sore beyond 72 hours – we do love that post-workout muscle burn feeling, yeah? Well, if you’re still noticing it 72 hours post-workout, that’s a big sign that you need a rest day OR a partial rest day. If you killed it on leg day, maybe try a LISS ride like this one and stick to arms for your strength training.

5) A few bad workouts in a row – if your form is consistently breaking down, you’re struggling to lift the same weights, you’re not Spinning as strong as usual, it might be a good idea to add a rest and reset.

6) Not progressing – if you keep doing the same workouts, but aren’t improving performance, that’s a signal from your body that you need a rest.

Do I need to push through? Ask yourself:

• Did I sleep well?
• Am I in a good mood?
• Do I want to train?

If you answer “yes” to 2 or more of these, get your SWEAT on!

Hey, we KNOW it can be hard to take a rest day. We get so focused on our goals, but our body’s needs are more important than a goal on paper. Take the rest when you need it, maybe adjusting your rest day, or adding a double-day when you’re back on track. With the tips above, we hope it’ll be easier to listen to your body AND stay motivated.

If you’re looking for lower intensity workouts like LISS rides or yoga & stretching, check out our Mind + Body category on Studio SWEAT onDemand for lots of great options. And when it’s NOT a rest day, we’ve got lots of body sculpting, fat torching workouts at Studio SWEAT onDemand! Download the app, or if you happen to live in southern California, visit us in our San Diego studio.