Rest Day Question

Hey Guys,

Are there any exercises or types of massage or anything that you recommend doing during a rest day? Currently I workout only MWF and have a desk job, and I am not very active during rest days.

Any advise is appreciated.

Foam or lacrosse ball rolling. I use a baseball and a 4" diameter PVC pipe.

It's not that you can't do anything on a rest day, it's just better not to do anything too strenuous.

swimming

some light shoulder prehab with bands

bit of wrist/ankle/shin prehab if you feel like it

some light stretching (sometimes helps, sometimes doesn't)

light exercise such as walking, jogging or just moving around generally

contrast bath/shower treatment

its really whatever works for you and fits into your routine. the big number 1 for me would be SWIMMING. its like a miracle recovery treatment for me, I usually hit the beach or pool about 4 times a week.

Thanks for your replies. With the PVC, you just roll it on your sore muscles, right? What does that do specifically, I'm assuming it possitively affects one's fascia...

nickvb said:

swimming

That sounds like a great idea. Does that help with joint pre-hab in some way?

Probably nerve sliding more than anything, as well as helping your body circulate blood. Plus, it just feels good to be in the water! (To me, anyways!)

schlaffmann said:

Does that help with joint pre-hab in some way?

Swimming is low/0 impact on joints so cartilage gets fed whilst not being worn away.Movement causes release of synovial fluid into cartilage. It's basically compensating for damage caused by everyday movements, but if no damage is done during a movement the joint ends up benefiting rather than just breaking even.

There are probably more benefits to swimming as-well, but I think that Slizzardman probably got most of them.

If you want a better explanation you're going to have to google for it, my sentences have a way of meaning something completely different to what I intend to tell people, I think that it's something to do with comma's :roll: .

Don't do to much swimming the day before on a strength day

Gregor said:

Don't do to much swimming the day before on a strength day

Yeah, I won't push myself too hard. I really appreciate the hungry feeling one gets after swimming for hour, though. Makes eating 6 times a day a lot easier.