The Importance Of Rest In Your Fitness Routine

When you’re trying to get in the shape and have the kick of motivation to do so, you may think that training more often is how to get fit quickly.

We’re often all or nothing in our approach to health and fitness but in fact, training 7 days a week for hours on end is not the best way to get fit and here’s why:

It can cause injury

Over training can cause exhaustion and increase your risk of injury. When you’re pushing your body too much it can cause more harm than good because of the constant pressure and impact to your muscles and joints. If you train too much you can end up causing some long term issues such as join pain and stress fractures. There’s actually a condition called Overtraining Syndrome which is when your central nervous system comes under strain when you’ve been training too much without enough rest. Not only is this not good for your physical health but it can cause your mood to plummet too so think twice before overtraining and enjoy regular days off!

You need time to recover

Between sessions, you need to let your body recover from the trauma of working out so leave at least 24 hours between training the same muscle group. When you perform any type of intense exercise such as a HIIT routine or a strength session to build muscle, you’re creating microscopic tears in your muscles which then need to repair - but this takes time. This is why it’s good to split up your training into difficult muscle groups such as lower body, abs and upper body. Mixing up your routine will not only help with muscle recovery but it will give you some variety in your exercise regime too.

You won’t be able to give 100%

If you’re working out too much it’s likely that you won’t have enough energy to give 100% to every session. Just coasting through your workout will not be beneficial so it’s much better to be able to put your maximum effort into your sessions rather than completing them half-hearted. Believe it or not, rest days can improve long term morale because it helps you be consistent for much longer and incorporate fitness as part of your lifestyle. In other words, if you train too hard for too long you’ll eventually burn out and feel exhausted so you won’t be able to train for a while or quit all together. It’s better to train less but be consistent every single week.

You need to sleep properly

Overtraining can disrupt your sleep pattern and sleep is a very important part of the recovery process not to mention you’re overall health. During sleep, the growth hormone that helps repair your muscles is increased so you need to make sure you’re getting quality sleep post-workout.

It’s important to remember that strength training is only part of the story; rest is when your muscles recover and become stronger after the strain they’ve been put through. So next time you feel like you’re 'on a roll’ in your fitness routine, just make sure you’re getting enough rest each week and not only will you feel rested but you’ll be able to smash your next workout too!