Rest! I am always banging on about the benefits of a rest day to my clients – how can your body benefit from the exercise you’re doing if you don’t give it time to recover and build? And I do practice what I preach, taking one or two days off out of every week. But then last week I had my Covid vaccine and the side effects wiped me out for four days. Which was hugely frustrating, but what a difference it has made! There are some steep steps at the side of our house, which lead to our garden. I climb them several times a day to take our dog out for her toilet breaks. Every time I go up, my left knee grumbles. I don’t know how long this has been going on for, because I hadn’t even registered it was happening until, following four days’ rest, I climbed them and… nothing! My running and HIIT workouts have benefitted too; I just feel stronger and less niggly, and it just goes to show that having time off really can improve your performance and generally benefit your body! So now I’m still planning on a couple of days per week but will also factor in a few days in a row every now and then – my body likes it and I generally just enjoyed spending quality time with my sofa and Netflix. (Or, another theory: maybe the vaccine has made me superhuman?….)
Professor Wiggles knows the secret to being an accomplished athlete.