Maybe you workout 1 day a week? Maybe you have a personal trainer you work with 2x a week. Or do you go to yoga every day? It’s possible you walk with a friend for 30 minutes 3x a week and then go for a big hike on the weekend. Maybe you do all of the above.

Whatever it is you do, are you having fun? Do you feel that you are staying strong, both in your heart (which is a muscle) and your limbs? Are you enjoying the reality that every time you are active you stay healthier than if you were sedentary?

Often in my industry, we are asked “how often should I work out”? This answer is very subjective. A work out to one might be painful to another and might be too easy for a 3rd.

My personal answer is simple…be active every day. Yes, you heard it, every day. Many will disagree with me as there “should” (according to xyz magaine and xyz research be a “rest” day). What exactly IS rest? Let’s get specific here. I said “active”. That can be a walk for a mile in your neighborhood. That can be a restorative yoga class. Or that can be a tough workout with one of Body Firm’s trainers. Activity gets our blood flowing as well as our mood elevated, our heart pumping and oxygen flowing throughout our body.

I, for one, feel extremely awesome if I get in an “activity” each and every day. However, there are days I am tired and a delicious stretching class either at the studio or out in nature is exactly what my heart and blood need. Activity is movement.

I know there are some who work out extremely hard and they say they have a rest day, but if we really take a look at their life, they might go for a walk, or they might do a gentle yoga class, maybe foam roll or some movement on their rest day. Rarely do I see an active, healthy person lounge on the couch all day long. It just doesn’t feel good! It’s when we do sit inside, all day long in a static position that we really feel terrible!

You are your best advocate. You and you alone know if your body needs a little more, or a little less, but consider how you feel on your “off days” and if a movement is what the body is really calling for. For me, on my “off day” I love to gently move and it’s the gentle movement which helps me recover even quicker.

Of course…great nutrition and hydration are a key factor in this…but we will save that for another day!

Tammy Parkinson
CPT, CNC, CLC
Body Firm Los Gatos www.mybodyfirm.com