The Rest Day

Exercising can become incredibly addictive, particularly when you start to see results. When that happens we often want to Exercise as often as we can in the hope that we’ll reach our goals faster, but it doesn’t always work out like that. Rest days are incredibly important, as much as Exercise days in fact, so they should never be overlooked.

Rest days are just that – days of rest. They give your body the time to recover and rejuvenate, as it can’t keep running continually without needing time to relax in between. If you don’t allow your body that chance to recover you could be looking at negative effects instead of positive ones, so it’s vital to always include rest days in your routine.

They’re even more important when it comes to weight training. When you use weights your muscles work so hard that they often rip and tear, and it’s when they’re given the chance to recover that they repair themselves and grow back bigger and stronger. If you don’t give your muscles that chance to repair then they’ll never improve because you’re not giving them time to – rest days are just as important as lifting days if you want to see results.

Rest days should always be included in your routine and not just taken as and when you feel like it, so always plan ahead like you do with anything else when it comes to fitness. When I say that, I don’t mean you have to have one day off and one day on – what I mean is, give each body part time to recover before you use it again.

Let’s say you have cardio sessions twice a week and weight sessions three times a week. Always plan it so that you’re never working the same body part too close together, so with weights, for example, only work each body part once each week so they have time to recover, and try not to do legs the day before cardio or vice versa, as your legs are usually the body part that’s used the most in cardio training so they need the chance to rest.

There are often times when your body just can’t do any more, particularly if you’ve got an intensive training schedule. Listen to your body, and if it tells you that it needs to rest then make sure you let it, otherwise you risk doing more harm than good. Of course, don’t just miss a session because you’re tired – your body needs to by physically unable to work.

As you can see, rest days are incredibly important when it comes to exercising. Your body needs that time to recover so it can come back stronger and fitter, and is even more important if you lift weights regularly. If you don’t give your body the chance to rest then it’s never going to improve, so always make sure you include rest days in your routine if you want to do the best for your body.