Although many of us may not realize it, rest days are very important when it comes to your overall health and fitness. Our bodies are amazing and can work hard when we want to. But it’s also very important to give our bodies rest, as well. When we take a day off from those hard workouts it gives our bodies time to repair themselves.

HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT REASONS THAT REST DAYS ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS WORKOUT DAYS.

Rest days allow your muscles time to repair.

Did you know that when you’re lifting weights, you’re tearing your muscle fibers? Giving your body proper nutrition (which includes plenty of protein) and allowing it to rest is the best way for you to build stronger muscles. If you work the same muscles multiple days in a row, you aren’t allowing them time to repair themselves and increase in size and could be doing more harm than good. You also may not see the results you’d like because your muscles aren’t being given enough time to heal, and your chances of injury can increase.

Rest days help you avoid burnout.

We’re putting in the necessary effort to see results but then it happens, we get burned out. Trust me, it happens to us all, me included back in the day. Giving your body a few days off will help you feel rejuvenated and ready to get back to work. Also, make sure you change your workouts up when exercising. I try to change things up a bit and swap out moves or try a different style of working out. If you feel like you’re getting burned out, try change your workouts up a bit.

Rest days reduce the risk for injuries.

If you work a muscle too often, it has a less chance to recover. This can lead to weak (tired) muscles and in turn potential injuries. Along with this, if you’re over-training certain muscles, your body will utilize other muscles to provide support to your skeletal system. You risk injuring these other areas because they are trying to provide support for those weaker areas that have been over-worked.

Over-training can affect our sleep.

Are your sleep habits all over the place? Over-training could be the reason. 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 big sign is an increase in your resting heart rate. Taking those rest days can help bring down your alertness and heart rate, which can help get you a night of sound sleep. Make sure to get a good night sleep, it will help heal and recover from those workouts.

WHEN SHOULD YOU TAKE A REST DAY?

How often you have days off from the gym depends on where you are in your physical fitness journey. If you’re beginning your fitness journey, a good rule of thumb is to rest every third day. If you’re a more experienced athlete, resting once a week is usually enough. But you should try to avoid working the same muscle group multiple days in a row.

What constitutes a rest day also varies depending on your activity level. If you’re doing high intensity interval training, or killing it in the gym, a full inactive rest day is more likely needed for your body to fully recover. If you’re workouts have been on the light to moderate side, an active rest day is enough. This could mean going for a long walk, doing some relaxing yoga or foam rolling.
Rest days are critical for our mental and physical health. Allowing ourselves rest can help fuel us to the next workout performance. Don’t be afraid to take a day off, they are just as important to our health as a workout.