I spent years overtraining as a Track & Field athlete, personal trainer, professional level Kettlebell Sport athlete, and beyond (read the full story here). I’m still healing from that overtraining more than a decade after the fact — physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

As a consequence, I’ve taken a lot of time off from exercising over the last four years, and it has taught me many valuable lessons. I hope you will take these lessons to heart to make your exercise work FOR you and your health, rather than AGAINST it.

Lesson 1: Recovery = Better Results

Your results are only as good as your recovery. While I’ve always known this in theory, it took me putting it into practice to realize how much I had been neglecting my recovery time. When I finally started listening to my body and resting more, my strength results and muscular development went through the roof (while doing LESS exercise). Looking back, I could have gotten so much more benefit from the exercise I was doing if I had scaled back the amount.

Lesson 2: Exercise is Much More Enjoyable When You’re Rested

I love to exercise and I always have. That being said, sometimes I forget how good it feels to exercise when I’m 100% fresh. Taking a break reminds me of the importance of recovery, and shows me how much more enjoyable exercise is when the body is well rested. I feel stronger, more flexible, and excited to get back to my workouts after a week or two of full rest.

Lesson 3: You Won’t Lose Your Fitness by Taking Breaks

I used to think that I would lose my strength and fitness by taking a few weeks or months off from training. The reality is that if you’ve been consistent for years, you won’t lose everything in the span of a few weeks or months. Taking an extended period of time off can be healthy, aid in healing, and allow you to be more consistent in the long run, with less aches and pains.

Lesson 4: Create Space for Things You Don’t Normally Have Time For

Removing exercise from my life for a period of time allows me to focus that time and energy on other areas of my life that get pushed aside otherwise. If exercise is always on my to do list, I’ll prioritize it above most other things. When I scale back my exercise, it gives me a big chunk of time each week that I can dedicate to something else. Creating space for new opportunities, introspection, or sitting quietly can yield powerful fruits for our mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Lesson 5: When I Return to Exercising, I Do Less and Get More Out of It

By taking breaks from exercise, I’ve discovered that I don’t need to do as much exercise as I thought to get good results. In fact, I get much better results by doing the minimum effective dose of exercise than I ever did when I was pushing myself hard 6 days per week. Giving myself small doses of exercise throughout the week with full recovery has greatly improved my strength, mobility, muscle tone, body awareness, energy levels, and so much more.

There you have it! Lots of important lessons that apply to exercise, and life in general. I’m so glad that I have found a healthier, more balanced way to exercise that allows me to enjoy time off and reap the holistic benefits of rest and recovery.

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