Why you should be taking a "Rest Day" from the gym.
Doing more is not always better. The quality of your workouts is what will determine your successes and in order to train effectively, you need to rest effectively too.
Incorporating at least one ‘off-day’ into your workout regime has multiple and necessary health benefits and should not be overlooked.
Whether you are a full-time competitive athlete or just super dedicated to your time in the gym, overtraining syndrome is a real thing and could be happening to you if you are not cognizant of what your body is telling you.
Overtraining syndrome causes fatigue, sleep loss, weight gain, depression, all the things you do NOT want to have happening if you are working towards a fit and healthy lifestyle.
When exercising, your muscles experience two types of stress:
1. Metabolic stress comes from depleting the energy stored in individual muscle cells.
2. Mechanical stress is created by physical damage to the structures of muscle proteins.
As the body experiences these stresses whenever you work out, you have to allow it time to repair the muscle proteins and replace the glycogen (stored glucose in liver and muscle tissue) that was used to fuel your workout.
Allow your body the time to repair and refuel, especially between challenging, high-intensity workouts. This doesn’t mean you can’t exercise every day, but it does mean that you need to space out your harder workouts and combine them with lower-intensity workouts.
For example, during a seven-day week, you might have two to three high-intensity workouts, two to three moderate-intensity workouts and one to three low-intensity workouts. There will be some weeks when you’re feeling awesome and can push for three hard workouts, while other weeks you can only handle one really hard workout and a couple of moderate-intensity ones.
Remember, if you’re going through a stressful time at work or home, it’s best to lay off the high-intensity exercise during this time because an accumulation of too much stress (mentally and physically) can be tough on your body.
Feeling stressed or burned out or having a tough time falling asleep even though you are physically exhausted are all possible signs of overtraining and an indicator that you need to allow for more rest time in your workout program.
Down time is imperative. Your body needs it and so does your mind. Taking one day off from lifting weights or pounding the treadmill does not mean that you are lazy, it just means you’re listening to what your body needs.
We know that for many of you, the gym is your happy place and working out is your stress reliever.
Did you know that you can head to Body20 as usual, maintaining your routine and simply incorporate a Relax20 session, which is exactly as the name suggests.
A Relax20 session allows the EMS technology to do all the work, on a low intensity setting whilst you enjoy some light stretching or simply lie still and allow your mind to unwind for 20 minutes.
Not only is the session a fantastic way to take some time out for you at the beginning (or end) of a stressful week, but the health benefits are extensive. From boosting immunity to speeding up recovery after an injury, a Relax20 session also improves circulation and assists with lymph drainage.
An absolute bonus to any workout regime, chat to your Champ about incorporating a Relax20 session into your fitness journey.
Remember, your body is always talking to you. Take the time to listen to what it has to say.
To find out more about the benefits of our Relax20 Sessions, book a free demo at your nearest Body20 Studio.
