Rest longer to push harder.

Should you? Maybe. Probably.

Yesterday during sprints, I didn’t rest long enough between sprint number 1 and 2. And I thought “you can run faster than that.” So what did I do? Rested longer. Probably close to 3 minutes.

It was enough to recover so that I could push again at 100% without sacrificing speed and mechanics.

When it comes to sprints, speed is key- obviously. And resting longer will make the biggest impact on the speed and quality of your next sprint. But, the same with lifting.

Sometimes workouts don’t require plenty of rest- there’s a time and place for minimum rest. But what’s often overlooked is how increasing your rest time can help you push harder, faster, and heavier.

You’ll often see me sitting down between heavy sets of squats or deadlifts… this is something that took me years to learn to do- completely rest for what felt like forever between heavy sets. You don’t have to sit between sets, but many women just jump to their next set ASAP. You need ample time to rest and recover so that you can push again at the same intensity if you’re lifting heavy- this is just one example.

There’s a time and place for slow and methodical and there’s a time and place for speed and endurance with little to no recovery.

Know what you’re working on and how to work on it. In many cases, rest times are as important as the time spent working. The devil is in the details. ?