3 Reasons Why Rest And Recovery Are Important
Have you heard of the saying, “rest is rust”? It’s time you chuck that out the window. The year is 2023; working yourself to the point of burnout is a thing of the past. The same goes for working out. To this day, it is a common sight to see people work out when they clearly shouldn’t and bear the rather painful and long-term consequences later.
Building in rest days and partaking in active recovery can support recreational athletes in maintaining a better balance between their personal, professional, and physical goals. For the muscles that were worked, 48 to 72 hours of rest is ideal.
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Benefits of taking rest
- Helps you Relax
Your mind and body will benefit from a rest day, and it will prevent your schedule from getting too full. Instead of exercising as usual, engage in a pastime and spend time with your loved ones.
- Muscle Recovery
The body’s energy reserves, or muscle glycogen, are depleted during exercise. The breakdown of muscle tissue is another effect. Giving muscles enough time to recuperate enables the body to “correct” both of these problems by refueling energy reserves and mending broken tissues.
Your performance will be affected if you don’t take enough time off to restock your glycogen supplies and give your muscles time to repair themselves. Continued neglect of replenishment might result in chronic muscle pain and tightness.
- Overcome Adaptation
According to the adaptation principle, our bodies adjust to stress from exercise and become more effective. It’s similar to learning any other new skill. It’s challenging at first, but eventually, it comes naturally. Once you’ve adjusted to one stress, you need more stress to keep moving forward.
Muscle damage or injury will arise from performing too much work too rapidly. There won’t be any progress if you work too slowly and on too little. For this reason, personal trainers design specialized programs that gradually increase time and intensity while allowing for rest days.
What do I do on my Rest Day?
On a day of rest, you can engage in either passive recovery or active recovery. Passive recovery entails skipping all physical activity for the day. Active recovery is when you perform a low-intensity activity with little to no stress on your body.
Exercises for active recuperation include yoga, stretching, and brisk walking.
Rest is also crucial. Rest frequently, especially if you are working out hard. Long workout sessions can suffer from even one or two nights of bad sleep, but not at the expense of peak performance. However, chronic sleep deprivation can affect hormone levels, especially those that are connected to stress, stress hormones, muscle healing, muscle growth, and—worst of all—performance.
Lack of sleep increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol decreases the action of the human growth hormone, and impairs glycogen synthesis, according to research.
How do I Know I Need a Rest Day?
According to ACE, you may be pushing yourself too hard if you feel agitated, moody, have trouble sleeping, lose appetite, or are unhappy or stressed. Another reason to take a day off and give your body a chance to unwind and heal is because of high levels of stress at work or home.
The key to living a good life is finding a balance between working hard and chilling out. It entails figuring out how to divide your time between your workout routine, job, and home. By taking a day off, you can take care of these other concerns while allowing your body the time it needs to recuperate completely from your workouts.
