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Fitness Training Rest Day
Crafting the Perfect Rest Day in A Fitness Training Program
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Breakthrough Improvement
in Athletic Endurance and Recovery
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Fitness Training & Rest Day? Of course! Having a safe exercise and fitness plan and a consistent fitness routine are very important. So is motivation. But… so often, we forget that rest days are also a very important component in fitness!
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We know the feeling when you get deep into your training pace and get ’addicted’ to iron. However, training every single day will do you harm, and the benefits of this approach will disappear after some time.
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If you think that more is always better, you’re being led by the wrong beliefs. Quantity can’t beat quality, and that’s why you need rest days. Do you have rest days and how do you handle them?
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A dedicated lifter’s problem is that they neither take enough off days nor time them wisely in their training week. They feel like they’re slacking off and slowing down their progress.
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The most common training frequency of successful bodybuilders and athletes is four days a week (sometimes five). If you overtrain, you’ll progress slower.
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Rest days are growth days
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Training means stimulation, rest means growth. You don’t build muscle while lifting, you build them while resting, when your body works to restore its energy and regenerate. It heals the micro tears in your muscles, making your muscle fibers stronger and bigger in the process.
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Rest also improves your performance the next time you hit the gym, because it brings your nervous system back to its optimal working state, and replenishes glycogen stores.
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This is why you’ll make less progress if you invest more of your body’s resources in training sessions. The body’s resources are limited, and you’ll have less of it available for growth and fuel adaptation.
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Off days should be reserved for repairing the immune, nervous, and hormonal systems. Your sessions will be more effective, in terms of high level performance, if you’re well-rested.
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Support your rest with proper nutrition
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A lifter shouldn’t lower carb or calorie intake during rest days, but most of them will tell you exactly that. It’s a mislead, in spite of being commonly recommended.
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There may be some truth in consuming less amount of carbs if you’re trying to lose weight, because you don’t want to risk gaining more fat.
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However, if you want to build strength and muscle, you should do everything you can on your off days in order to maximize performance and growth.
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So, if you’ve found your optimal diet plan, follow it even on rest days, because your body needs to support protein synthesis and new muscle fiber production, and it can’t do it without the same amount of nutrient-dense foods.
Eat the same amount of calories and carbs to allow your body to take advantage of insulin’s anabolic properties and replenish muscle glycogen.
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How to organize your training week?
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The most important rule to follow is to avoid taking two rest days in a row. After two days off, performance tends to be flat and the quality of training then suffers.
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The optimal training plan is having four training days and three growth days (without two days of rest in a row). Train on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with Wednesday, Friday and Sunday being growth days.
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How to spend your rest days?
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There are some key things you can do to relax your body and maximize your rest gains after a strenuous performance.
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You can stretch to keep your body elastic and pliable and also maintain blood circulation in key body areas.
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During these rest days, you can practise mental relaxation exercises to help destress and decompress.
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Additionally, never try to skip on sleep, because it’s essential for your physical and mental functioning. If you don’t provide yourself with enough sleep, stress hormone levels in your body will increase, which will reduce your recovery rate.
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Other forms of active recovery include foam-rolling, Epsom salt baths, and light exercises such as walking, cycling, and swimming.
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Some athletes (particularly bodybuilders and runners) find consuming marijuana quite relaxing for the body and use it as an aid to their training routine.
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Luckily, many states have legalized or decriminalized the possession of marijuana, among them Connecticut, Ohio, Washington, and Nevada.
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Today, you can purchase quality strains of medical marijuana in Las Vegas and take a few puffs on your day off to relax your body, and let it regenerate.
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Each day of the week will have its purpose when you follow your lifting routine, diet plan, and your rest days as well. Sub-optimal workouts can occur, but don’t let it be because you were under-recovered from the last workout.
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Deficits in recovery accumulate, and once they build up enough, you’ll notice smaller gains each week. So, be mindful of fitness training rest day! Look at rest days as growth days, change your mindset, and your performance will go through the roof.
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Breakthrough Improvement
in Athletic Endurance and Recovery
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Article by Samantha Olivier: Samantha.Marry.Olivier@gmail.com
Samantha has a B.Sc in nutrition. She has spent 2 years working as a personal trainer. Since then, she has embarked on a mission to conquer the blogosphere. When not in the gym or on the track, you can find her at Ripped.me, or in a tea shop.
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