Are you currently training towards a running goal? Whether it’s a marathon run, a long-distance triathlon or making gains in the gym, taking the time off can be harder than it sounds, because training makes you feel good and keeps the momentum going.
But sometimes training more isn’t always better, rest days are just as important as exercising. In fact, a successful fitness plan is not complete without a rest day.
Yes, taking that time off can leave you guilty that you’re neglecting your training. But stop right there! There’s a reason everyone, even pro-athletes will schedule quality rest days into their training schedule.
Taking that quality break and rest allows your body to recover and repair. A critical part of progress, regardless of your fitness level or sports. Beyond that, it keeps you from overtraining, burnout and injuries.
Here are some great benefits of rest days which might surprise you and you should take the advantage of resting.
1. Allow Time For Recovery
Rest is essential for muscle growth.
Exercising creates microscopic tears in your muscle tissue, hence, while resting a cell called fibroblasts helps repair it. This helps tissues to heal and grow, resulting in stronger muscles and many effective workouts.
Moreover, your muscle stores carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. During exercise, your body breaks down glycogen to fuel your workout and resting helps your body to replenish this energy stored for your next workout.
2. Prevent Muscle Fatigue
The best method to avoid muscle fatigue is by resting. As mentioned previously, exercising depletes your muscles’ glycogen levels, if not replaced, you’ll experience muscle fatigue and soreness.
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3. Reduce The Risk of Injury
Regular rest is important for anyone who workouts to stay safe during exercise. When your body is overworked, you’ll be more likely to fall out of form, drop down a weight or take a wrong step.
Overtraining also exposes your body to repetitive stress and strain. That may lead to the risk of overuse injury causing you to take more rest days than planned.
4. Help Improve Performance
What happens when you don’t get enough rest? Well, it may affect you mentally in the long run. For instance, you might be less motivated to do an extra rep or run the extra mile.
Even if you push yourself, overtraining decreases your performance. You may experience reduced endurance, slow reaction times, and poor agility.
Meanwhile, resting has a positive effect that increases energy and prevents fatigue, which helps to prepare your body for effective workouts.
Image via : BHF
5. Support Healthy Sleep
Regular exercise can improve your sleep, but taking rest days is also helpful.
Yes, physical activity can increase energy-boosting hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Constant exercise with no rest days, however, overproduces these hormones. It may lead to poor quality sleep, which only worsens fatigue and exhaustion.
Hence, proper rest can help you get better sleep by letting your hormones return to their normal and balanced state.
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