Why is a rest day important in exercise
When I started training a few years ago my coach suggested 3 days a week of training with a rest day in between each day. However, I couldn’t understand back then why is a rest day so important in an exercise regime. These days after years of training, I can say that rest days is what makes the difference between good efficient training method to a un-efficient case of over-training that can turn into a disaster
In a nutshell, rest days are as important as workout days as both rest and exercise essential for both physical and mental recovery.
Training puts stress on the body which harms our tissues, only this small tears are the purpose of working out. Restoration and rehabilitation of muscles and bones are best achieved on rest day of all days. During a rest day, muscles can be rebuilt as protein levels rise to supply the demand for muscle growth. Moreover, bone density will rise on rest days as it was stimulated while working out. In addition, and important nonetheless, rest days help reduce stress hormones levels such as adrenaline and cortisol, which results in a calmer night sleep that dramatically improves tissue recovery and decreases injury risk.
What physical gain does a rest day give
Rest day, on the physical level, holds several advantages for instance restoration of muscle tissue and muscle growth. While training our muscles extend and contract to allow movements related to the workout. During that time the muscles are pushed to their ability limit, which causes small tears in the muscle tissue and is a part of every workout. However, this process is the key to muscle growth and fitness abilities improvement.
During rest days our body isn’t occupied with the short term recovery we experience after workouts and can focus on rebuilding muscles and bones more extensively. Once relaxed, the repair process begins, the body floods muscle tissues with proteins and bones with calcium. This process nourishes tissues and provides “building” materials amongst good relaxed conditions. In addition, every time this process occurs tissues grow larger and stronger as part of the body’s adaptation. The outcome is better body functions and a greater range of physical abilities.
This process can’t occur while one’s training every day as relaxed rest day is optimal for the recovery process of our body.
How our mental state improves on a rest day
On the contrary to the physical benefits of rest day, mental health better improves when working out as a direct result of hormones released in our brains. During exercise, we experience a massive release of endorphins, this hormone interacts with our brain and temporarily reduces our perception of pain. In other words, we get “high” from exercising.
If that’s the situation then why rest? Well, our mind isn’t affected solely by the exercise itself but by the outcome too. If our body systems won’t have enough time to restore and adapt, our abilities won’t develop as well. This might lead our mental state down the hill as a big part of our happiness is challenges accomplish driven and by lowering our chances to upgrade we might end up disappointed, and disappointment surely has been proven as less positive for our mental health. Rest day gives us the opportunity to think of what we learned and prepare for what’s coming in future workouts.
Best timing for a rest day
How to set a training schedule has an agenda of its own and worth a separate discussion. However, scheduling your individual rest day is rather simple and basic. In my experience rest day should be at least towards the end of the week if not any post training day. This will allow you to reap the full benefits of a proper resting time long sleep included as long as resting, eating well and sleeping are a part of your weekend plans.
In addition, the majority of the population will train on a workday, either because we are already out and about and getting to the gym or any other training facility is more accessible on the way to and from work, and as the majority of population prefer to enjoy hobbies in less committing format over the weekends .
Bare in mind you might fall in the “I love to train over the weekend” category and then your resting day can be any other couple of days over the week. However, for most of us, weekends would be a more relaxed time, which benefits the tissues restoration process. Either way, it is a highly recommended period of time to be taken somewhere along out week.
Furthermore, rest day should be considered according to each and every one of our personal sense of fatigue. Fatigue is one of your body signals to take a break. Nothing to worry about, but only to understand that you are exercising effectively and now should treat your body with well-deserved rest. Learning how to recognize signs from your body will help you prevent overtraining and unnecessary potential injuries. Take a rest day whenever you feel its right for you, which might be at a different time each week but surely will benefit you the most. But no less than 2 rest days every week.
Maximize sleeping quality on rest days
Most efficient physic healing occurs when we sleep. Regeneration of energy, repairing of tissue damages caused by growling exercises and refueling our energy storages for the following day. With that said, sleeping quality is varied on a daily basis for better or worse depending on many factors that should be taken under consideration for general knowledge and for maximizing sleep quality for best regenerating results.
One pivot factor is the status of stress hormones released. While the levels of adrenaline and cortisol are high and imbalanced there is a significant decrease in sleep quality and results in tissue regeneration deficiency. On a proper rest day, those hormones levels can be more ideally reduced and allow us to have an improved sleeping pattern that night.
Another factor to be taken under consideration is sugar consumption and how it affects our sleep quality on a rest day in specifics. Our sleep can improve simply by avoiding sugary foods and alcoholic beverages on rest days or for the very least avoid them a good few hours (about 6 if you ask me) before getting in bed.
These can influence sleeping patterns dramatically as fake stimulators that fool the nerve system into
Rest day gives us an opportunity to sleep in a much better and relaxed setting. The benefits are a part of the long term goals that fitness enthusiasts share which is best results for hard training. It comes as no surprise to me that many people tend to miss this important part of fitness, only to understand that they could have been much closer to their goals.
Sleep well on a rest day, it is super helpful for your health, well being and athletic results for all your hard work in training.
Overtraining and injury prevention
Professional athletes know that somewhere along their carrier an injury will occur. However, the extent to which it will harm their future performance is very limited as their body is more injury sustainable due to a better resting regime.
Meaning, by integrating rest days in their training routine will necessarily allow bodily recover and muscle and bone tissues repair alongside overtraining prevention. This method will help athletes achieve a long and healthy carrier and will shorten injuries recovery time.
With that said, fitness enthusiasts also need to know that sports activities hold risk for injury, however, injuries could be more cautiously prevented, as practicing sports is not a part of their carriers yet, but something that can be monitored more carefully. Proper rest days will prevent short term overtraining while keeping fatigue levels low and prevent serious injuries in the long term.
Healthy and injury free exercise should be the primary goal for fitness enthusiasts and pro athletes as one, but as this article is about a hobby to semi-pro fitness enthusiasts let us all keep in mind that this is our goal. Understanding the benefits in rest days between workouts will lead us to a better and active lifestyle with enjoyment and satisfaction. The benefits are just piling up as there are no drawbacks for rest days from any point of view.
So yes, organize your rest days as fits your routine, if you work on weekends rest in midweek, if workouts are part of your weekends activity try to take 2 rest days in between workouts over the week, if you train in after or prior work hours and like to rest and spend friends and family time over the weekend then do your rest days over the weekend. Just make sure you listen to your body, take the rest day, eat well as much as possible and get enough high-quality sleep to allow your body adjust and prepare itself to your next fitness adventure with a positive tools and motivation as healthy mind lives in a healthy body.
And above all – Rest enough to be able to enjoy the process cause in the end of the day, literally, we’re here to enjoy the process.
Best!