Terms Governing Rest Day Guilt
The rest day was scheduled, earned, and is now being audited against evidence of what other people appear to be doing.
Article I: Rest Day Authorization
The rest day is a scheduled component of the training plan. Recovery is a physiological requirement. Adaptation happens during rest. The subject is aware of these facts and has accepted them in principle.
Article II: Triggering Conditions
Rest Day Guilt may be triggered by any of the following: a fitness-related post from a known contact, an app notification about someone's activity, weather that seems well-suited to exercise, an unexpected increase in energy, or more than forty minutes of unstructured time in which exercise would theoretically fit.
Article III: Proportionality
Rest Day Guilt operates independently of the subject's accumulated training load. A subject who has exercised five days this week is eligible for the same magnitude of guilt as a subject who has exercised one day this week. The triggering conditions are equivalent.
Article IV: The Rescue Protocol
Subject may attempt to resolve Rest Day Guilt by performing a token activity, such as walking further than necessary or doing twelve minutes of stretching. This satisfies the guilt temporarily. It does not constitute a rest day.
Article V: Governing Rule
Exercise plans may be redesigned whenever rest day guilt makes the next session feel less clean. The redesigned plan shall include a provision for rest days. The redesigned rest day shall be subject to these same terms.
Article VI: Enforcement
These terms are self-enforcing. The subject is both the party bound by them and the party who finds violations difficult to explain to themselves.