A New Tool for Your Training Program: A Bonus Rest Day Can Improve Your Running and Decision-making

Kia Ora koutou,
This is Hiro.

Today’s blog is about “bonus rest day” in your training plan, and how it can positively affect your training cycle.

Contents

-          Rest Days

-          What is a “bonus rest day”?

-          #1: 5 days vs. 6 days of training 

-          #2: Discuss with your coach 

-          #3 Improving judgment 

-          #4 Checking in with your own condition 

-          Conclusion

 

Rest Days

Whether you are someone who enjoys a fun running lifestyle or you train for a big goal, you probably schedule rest days in your weekly or monthly training cycle.

Many runners have a “fixed rest day” each week to allow their bodies to recover and adapt from the accumulated load of tough workouts and weekly mileage.

However, there are times when we experience unexpected stress from training, for example:

• Feeling tougher than expected during a workout, and then experiencing muscle pain or injury the next day
• Doing speedwork in very cold temperatures and straining a muscle
• Running the same mileage as last week, but feeling far more exhausted this week
• Having a busy work week with reduced sleep, while still trying to train

These situations can leave you recovering more slowly than you planned.

In these contexts, how do you adapt your body and mind within your training plan?

Many runners, even if they feel more fatigued than expected, still try to stick to their training plan. Behind this are positive feelings like:

• Determination
• Commitment
• Satisfaction
• A sense of achievement

At the same time, however, the idea of taking a rest day for recovering can bring up negative feelings such as:

• Weakness
• Avoidance
• Laziness
• Fear of missing a training opportunity (Losing mileage)

Because of this, even in situations where taking a rest instead of an “easy run” would actually help you recover and ultimately improve more, runners often cling to their training plan and persist in running.

So today, I’d like to recommend a practical approach to help you make better judgments and choose more appropriate options. That is incorporating a “bonus rest day” into your training plan.

 

What is a “bonus rest day”?

If you normally have a fixed rest day each week, keep that rest day as surely as taking it.

In addition, you add a “bonus rest day”, which you can freely use if you feel too tired on another day. Think of it as a “flexible rest day.”

For example, your weekly plan might look like this:

• Monday: Rest day
• Tuesday: 60’ Easy + drills + strides
• Wednesday: Workout  → (e.g. Felt very tired, See how my body recovers
• Thursday: 60’ Easy → (e.g. Changed to a rest day because I still feel very tired
• Friday: 60’ Easy + drills + strides
• Saturday: Workout
• Sunday: Long run

In this case, you ended up taking two rest days that week. However, the bonus rest day is “flexible,” so it is optional.  You can take it or not, depending on how you feel.

Approach your training as if you have two potential rest days each week (a fixed one and a flexible one).

This approach brings some positive effects instead of negative feeling to both training and adaptation.

 

#1: 5 days vs. 6 days of training in a week (Framing)

If you originally plan to train six days per week, and you miss a day for any reason, your total weekly mileage goes down.
→ Loss aversion kicks in, making you feel negative about losing mileage or opportunity for training.

In contrast, if you plan for five days of training originaly and take two days off. There is no sense of missing out. Moreover, if you end up not using the bonus rest day, you see in your training log that you ran more than planned.
→ This creates a positive feeling because you achieved an extra day without excess fatigue, which builds muscular endurance as a bonus.

Those are the same results that we achieved in a week. But the First case is producing a negative result, whereas the second case is producing a positive result. Because of a framing effect.  

 

#2: Discuss with your coach (Own the training)

In many cases, when following a training plan, it becomes “Training program centered”. The athletes feel quite often that they must follow it no matter what.

Because once training and performance start going well on track, it is easy for the plan to take priority. The plan is controlling the athlete, rather than the plan can be flexible.

Ideally, it should be the other way around, that “Athlete centered”. The training plan should be flexible and adapt to the athlete’s current condition and shape. 

If the athlete can handle and adapt to this stress, no problem. But if not, there is a risk of injury or a drop in intrinsic motivation.

A “Bonus rest day” allows the athlete to make decisions independently, anytime, anywhere.

This supports “Athlete-centered” with self-determination. This gives the athlete confidence that “I manage the plan.”

It also builds a better understanding of autonomy, competence, and the relationship with the coach, making communication more effective.

 

A fixed rest day and training program are easy to follow. Because we do not need to think. However, there is "Program-centered" sometimes.

#3: Improving judgment (Fresh mind!)

When training, athletes face many decisions, for example:

• “My leg hurts today... → Should I run or not?”
• “I feel a bit sick...  →  Should I do the workout or rest at home?”
• “I’m holding fatigue...  →  Should I change the workout pace or stick with it?”

If you have a strong commitment to always following the plan, this can dull your judgment. Great athletes have strong will. This is very positive. However, it makes us blind sometimes.

Athletes with strong willpower often show less flexibility and try to stick to their original plan no matter what, ignoring their inner voice.

A big benefit of a flexible rest day is supporting self-determination, while also giving you a mental break from constantly thinking about training.

Strong-willed athletes, when faced with a choice, tend to pick “the harder/more effective option” from an outside perspective.

However, by stepping back thanks to your self-chosen rest day (Bonus rest day), you can calmly look at your next training step.

Our brains cannot process huge amounts of information at once, so we often get stuck with simplistic assumptions, mental shortcuts and original determination, even when we have some better options.

“UTT (Unconcious Thought Theory) proposes that complex decisions can benefit from a period of unconscious processing, such as stepping away for a day. A bonus rest day can serve that function.”

By taking a bonus rest day to “reset” your mind once, you can come back and see your training objectively, making the best choices without overthinking.

 

A flexible rest day and training program can make it challenging to achieve a goal sometimes. However, there is a lot of choice in your mind. There is a real "athlete-centered".  

#4: Checking in with your own condition and shape

Finally, bonus rest days help you accept your current progress.

In a team environment, with a shared training plan, you will tend to compare your progress with others. This highlights what you haven’t done or how you’re falling behind.

Even in solo training, the longer your career, the more you will tend to compare with your past self.

By taking a bonus rest day, you create time to check in with “what is best for my current self?” So, you can see yourself “I must be centered in my sport” from an outside perspective, as objectively.

This type of metacognition lets you evaluate your training and your current self as you are. That is not in comparison to others or your past.

It can be hard to accept that your body and abilities today are different from what they once were.

But if you can accept your current self, you can find and execute the best training plan for now.

“In ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), the emphasis is on accepting thoughts and feelings without judgment, and committing to values-based actions, here, choosing rest when your current condition calls for it.”

“Knowing yourself” and accumulating the most appropriate training for your current self is the best way to achieve results.

Conclusion

For experienced runners, advanced athletes, or those training with top-level teams, there is a tendency to build an attitude of “maximum training, minimum rest” deep into their decision-making.

As a result, when faced with training choices, they are likely to stick with this “maximum training, minimum rest” mindset.

However, we must remember that rest is what allows our bodies to adapt to training load and improve performance.

If you suspect you have been underestimating the value of rest, why not add a bonus rest day to your training plan?