Rest as important as exercise, maybe more so

FitnessTim

I have not seen any discussion on the forums about rest and sleep. As busy as most of us are today I feel it is an important topic to discuss. Often I let myself get so caught up in exercising and dieting that I fail to make adequate time for rest and recuperation.

I know I'm hitting a wall when I start to get lethargic, cranky and struggle to find the motivation to work out. Since I'm aware of the signs, I know that I need to take a break and get plenty of rest. It is during this rest period that I make the most progress for when I get back to working out I have more energy, strength, endurance and motivation than I did before.

Most workout routines I've seen usually set aside 1 day for rest, but I have found that the older you get the more rest you need. I can usually get away with one day per week of complete rest but about once a month or so I need 2 complete days of rest. In addition I have found and read that taking a complete week off from exercising every six months is also needed. In some cases a whole month may be needed depending on the level that a person trains at.

The trick with rest is timing. I often hold off on rest when I know that I may have an event or holiday celebration that may prevent me from exercising so I wait until then.

We often forget that muscle don't grow when we are exercising but rather in the rest period following the exercise. We can compensate for this by working arms one day and legs the next but ultimately the whole body needs some time to recuperate. How much and how often depends on the individual.

When was the last time you took a break? Is your so called "peak" just your body's way of telling you to lay off for awhile?

Determined1980

I agree 100%! I just recently realized that I have been focusing so much time working out (no matter what) that I have been only getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a night which is not healthy not to metion how lack of sleep can slow progress. I am glad you brought this up. Sleep is important for overall health in general.

Pinoy_Pal

bump

meggonkgonk

I have 1 rest day a week and 1 light workout week a month. Sleep, for me, has never been a problem tho- I konk out when I hit the pillow.

fasttrack27

Great topic - thanks for starting it!
I find it easier to fall asleep (and earlier) at night after getting up early and working out. Dont get to see the end of any sports games on tv now though I usually get 6 hours or so which seems to be enough for me. Any less and I hit a wall.

LisaZaugg1976

I rest on the weekends usually. sometimes I might do one more workout on the weekend but mostly workout monday thru friday.

mkirby

You need to rest, the rest period is when your body recovers. As you exercise you muscles tear as they work, when you rest these tears are repaired and your muscles get stronger and possibly bigger.

Im a cyclist and rest is always a big topic with us. You should have a full days rest after a very hard cardio session sometimes 48hrs. For strength exercises i would imagine its even more important as you can damage yourself through overuse.

if you're feeling down and lethargic then you are not getting enough rest, you may also not be eating enough. If you work out more you burn a lot more and need to compensate so you have enough energy to continue with your exercises. If you don't up your intake your body will think it is in starvation mode and try to store every thing as white fat. Rest is also needed to restore your glycogen and brown fat stores.

Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water and replacing your electrolytes i find that helps with my lethargy.

Hope thats useful just a few things i have picked up from the cycling community.