Rest Week Example:
Resting is often overlooked in a training program. For every three weeks of volume training you should have one week of decreased volume and intensity in an effort to ‘ABSORB’ the prior weeks’ training.
This is an opportunity to regroup physically, mentally and emotionally. It also has been found that rest can be beneficial to review your progress as a means of boosting your confidence. Rest prevents overtraining and burnout, allowing you to progress quickly and stay fresh throughout the upcoming training weeks. Following a week of training that ends with a long run, it’s a good idea to take a rest week.
As the weeks progress, the volume and intensity of training can increase. The rest week should always be a fraction of the volume and intensity compared to your usual training. Your body needs time to recover and rebuild muscle that has been stressed. Your brain also needs time for the psychological benefits to set in.
Make recovery just as important in your training program as training itself. It will allow you to run faster and longer while also making it easier. It will also help prevent overuse injuries, those most common for runners, from occurring.