As parents and coaches in youth athletics, we are bombarded with articles, information, and research on how this generation is playing too much. Too much time practicing, competing, and training. We are all hesitant to be the ones to lead a new trend, so I thought I would take a different angle and talk about the importance of the rest day. Do what you want for six days a week, but your athlete MUST have one rest day per week. Let’s just concentrate on that piece of it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?!

Some of us fall prey to the “more is always better,” but when it comes to training, that is simply not the case, sometimes “less is more”. Avoiding rest days can set you up for repetitive stress injuries or overtraining, which will eventually force you to take some rest days—whether you like it or not- and they are never at a convenient time!

For training to have the greatest effect and create the changes we want, the type of exercise and level of intensity should vary regularly. Alternating between low-, moderate-, and high-intensity workouts – known as periodization. Arguably, the most critical component of periodization is proper rest and recovery time between hard or high-intensity workouts.

I won’t go into detail on periodization, because that topic is its own beast. What I will tell you is that your youth athlete should not have intense training for more than three days in a row. Your body needs sufficient time to repair and refuel, especially between challenging, high-intensity workouts. For example, during a seven-day week, you might have two high-intensity workouts, two to three moderate-intensity workouts, and one to two low-intensity workouts, and a day off. For the purpose of this article, we are going to concentrate on the REST DAY, and how it is the best secret to your athlete’s long term success.

Let’s start with the basics.

A day off means, literally, a day off. Not a light day, not a half-day, but an actual day off. If you are in the same camp as my mother, a day off could mean a few buckets of serves, run a few miles, or watch endless videos of matches. A real day off for us was only on the few Southern California rain days. Please don’t do this to your child! You will be saving them time and money for physical therapy and joint replacements later in life.

Why athletes need rest and recovery

• In athletics, training will damage and break the body down. This occurs during workouts, practice, competition, etc. Recovery is the term that describes the body’s ability to self-heal from this trauma and build itself back stronger and more resilient.

• Not only does recovery keep the athlete’s body and mind from breaking down and getting hurt but also what builds them up and allows them to perform better.

• Most athletes’ and parent’s perceptions are that injuries like muscle strains, ligament tears, or joint pains only occur with an acute incident. The reality is that most injuries occur over time from wear and tear that compounds due to either a lack of recovery, overuse or improper technique.

• Time away from the sport prevents burn out

Shaun Berger, MD, a pediatrician, and sports medicine specialist with Scripps Clinic in San Diego, agrees. “Kids today aren’t even regulated as much as pro athletes. The NFL no longer allows twice-daily practices, but they are still done at the high school level,” he says, adding that the winning pitcher for the Little League Softball World Series pitched nearly 500 pitches in eight days. “At her age, she should only be pitching 75 pitches a week, including practice.”

How do you know if your athlete needs a day off?

• If the athlete feels sluggish or drained, it can mean glycogen levels are depleted. A rest day helps the body properly replace energy stores in muscle cells so that you have a full battery for your next workout.

• If your young athlete is exhausted, sore, and worn down, regardless of how great the training they are receiving is, they will not benefit from it as they would have if they were well-rested and ready to perform.

• If your child is having any chronic pain, this is usually a sign of an overuse injury.

• If your child is not able to keep up academically, they could need a break from sports to catch up, and regain energy for academics.

• If your child is not sleeping well, showing mood changes, or is continually trying to avoid training, they may need to step away from their sport to recharge and remember why they love to compete.

Training and recovery are the same. For your athlete to train at their best, they must know when it is time to recover and recharge.

How does a rest day lessen the chance of injury?

When continuous wear occurs on the muscles, soft tissues, or joints, they become fatigued. These tissues are weakened and sustain micro-trauma. Over time, this micro-trauma and fatigue build. If recovery or proper movement is left unchecked, this damage continues to build until eventually, the body can no longer sustain against the forces working against it in practice and workouts. When this threshold is reached, an injury occurs — but this injury could have been avoided had the athlete been recovering better with rest days.

When is the best time to take the rest day?

• Take a look at your schedule and see when the rest day makes the most sense for your family. Can you get some family time during the rest day?
• In high school sports, Sundays can be a perfect rest day with no scheduled games or practices.
• If you are competing all weekend, use Monday as the rest day. It helps to start the school week with a day away from their sport, recover from the weekend of competition, get a head start on homework, and a night of good sleep.
• If your child has a stressful week of school or exam week, that is a good time for a break. The accumulation of too much stress can be challenging for the young athlete’s body.

We are seeing more and more athletes quit at a very young age. What we need to understand is that the main reasons an athlete walks away from a sport are that his or her body is too broken and injured to continue playing, they are burned out, or he or she isn’t good enough—which could also be due to too many injuries.

It seems like a young athlete’s energy storage never runs out. You may watch your child and think, “Will they ever get tired?” “How are they still going?” Just watching them go and go sometimes tires you out! It’s great that kids are full of energy, but because they act like energizer bunnies regularly, we sometimes forget that although they may still be on the move, there comes a time when they need to take a rest and recover.

Young athletes don’t often know when to stop or slow down; therefore, it is vital for coaches and parents to understand the importance of recovery and how to incorporate it into their schedule. In simpler terms,- kids won’t always ask for a break. They aren’t experienced enough to know the signs and signals from their body that they need a break! I can’t tell you how many times parents will say to me, “But, my child doesn’t want a break. They never want a day off.” There are many things our kids don’t want breaks from, but as parents, we need to know better and schedule the day off.

What young athletes need to learn is that to accomplish their goals, they need to understand and protect their biggest asset: their bodies. Athletes must understand their bodies, know their limitations, and train within themselves.

Building recovery habits is an investment in a future career and long term health. Your body will not fall apart all in one day. It will break down slowly over time, and by the time you realize you did too much, you will be forced to take time off with an injury or burnout.

There is a lot to understand with periodization, recovery, and rest. If you start simple with one full rest day each week, your athlete is already ahead! Just this one simple thing! The athlete will have fewer injuries, less prone to burn out, and will be much healthier emotionally to handle the rigors of competition.

Thanks for reading and start enjoying the day off!