Day 7 - Importance of Rest Day

You've been hitting it hard all week and it's Sunday or you look at your Beachbody program schedule and you seen REST DAY.  So, why is this so important?  Well here you go.

1. REST DAYS PREVENTS INJURY

It’s common sense that resting is beneficial for injury reduction, but why? Well for starters, rest days prevent overuse. That extends from running to lifting and even walking. If you’re a regular runner, you know how much your legs and feet can take until you just need a day off. If you push it too hard without a break, your muscles and joints suffer from overuse and that’s where injuries can happen.

2. YOUR MUSCLES NEED REST

This is likely the first thing you learned about strength training. When you lift weights, you’re essentially tearing muscle fibers. But without a proper period of rest for your immune system to repair and grow the muscle, you’re not going to get the benefit of your training. That’s why you need to vary the muscle groups you engage on staggered days.

3. YOUR PERFORMANCE WON’T DIP

In general, it takes your body almost two weeks of non-activity before you start losing a noticeable amount of your progress or performance level. So don’t think that taking a day or two off from training will set you back all that hard work you’ve put in.

4. OVER-TRAINING AFFECTS SLEEP

Most of the time if you are working hard you will find that sleeping is easy.  Over-training can be detrimental to sleep though.  Too much exercise can put your body in a constant state of restlessness or on high alert making a good night’s sleep tough to achieve. A telltale sign is an increase in your resting heart rate. Taking those rest day can help bring down your alertness and heart rate, which can help get you a night of sound sleep.

5. MENTAL EDGE

Taking a rest day can also rekindle your hunger for exercise and help prevent burnout. Mental fatigue can be every bit as detrimental as physical fatigue and taking a rest day helps to recharge the psyche.

So what can you do to get your mind set on rest? For starters, you’re going to have to make the mental adjustment to understanding and believing that you can take days off. It’s good for you, for all the reasons listed above.

Just like setting your daily steps goals, set your rest goals. Plot out a schedule and pick your weekly rest days; one or two days where you limit your activity to allow your body/muscles to recover. 

ONE LAST TIP

A great idea on your rest days is to do a stretch video or yoga.  I love the T25 Stretch and P90X3 Yoga videos.  Even if it is a 10 minute stretch...getting something in to improve balance and flexibility is a great idea on a rest day!