Why You Need to Take a Break

Rest up! It’s time to relax.

Sometimes life gets a little busy and a little complicated. Between work and the gym, your social life and your bulging inbox, the days can either drag on or fly past without you even realising it. That’s why health coach and yoga teacher, Kirsten Scott, believes that we should all take a little break from our more intense workouts sometimes.

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“It’s all about balance. Rest and recovery is just as important as working out,” she explains. “In fact, you don’t actually get stronger or fitter in the gym, those gains come when you are actually in between sessions.”

Why? Well, Kirsten says the time between our workouts is when our body begins to repair muscle and tissue damage, and send fresh oxygen into the muscles to recover and adapt. This in turn is what makes us stronger and fitter.

But don’t get too excited, we’re not advocating completely abandoning your workouts for a week. Kirsten says that we should all be moving our bodies in some way every day, all year round.

“It’s important to note that movement is different to exercise and there are ways to move that will support your body,” she explains. “The only time I would advise my clients to take a complete break would be if they have a serious physical injury that limits their movement or very severe illnesses.”

So what sort of movement should we do during a break? Kirsten says to go for a long walk, hike or swim or do some yoga. Low impact activities that still keep your body moving.

And if you want to treat your body, she recommends a sauna session, time in nature, a massage, a good sleep and spending time with friends and family.