The Importance of Rest in your Health & Fitness Plan

You've been working hard and you're finally seeing the changes in your body. But, before you get too excited remember that it's not just about what you do at the gym or how many pounds of weight you lift - rest is just as important! This blog post will explore how rest affects your health and fitness journey.

For those who enjoy the feeling of endorphins and seeing results, it is easy to fall into a cycle that leads them to overwork their bodies.

Here are three reasons why you need to have rest days while on a fitness plan:

Rest help prevent burnout While taking a break may seem counterintuitive to someone full of enthusiasm for a new weight loss regime, it can be just the thing to ensure long term success. Burnout is a common result from over training and can lead to concerning side effects including muscle fatigue, insomnia, and even depression. If feeling like this, take a day or two off to stop and smell the roses. If rest is all that it takes to get you back on track, and is certainly an investment worth making.

Rest promotes healing Intense exercises, such as weight lifting, promote muscle growth by breaking down old fibres to allow thicker, stronger fibres to grow in their place. The process of regrowth doesn't take place in the gym however, but rather afterwards while you rest. Allowing yourself time to recuperate following a heavy session is actually a vital part of any fitness regime, and will help you bulk up in all the right places.

Rest reduces risk of injury Consistency is the key when it comes to exercise, but over exercising can do more damage than good. Pushing the body too hard without a break puts your muscles and joints at risk of injuries, ranging from torn ligaments to stress fractures. Regular rest days help prevent over-exertion, whatever your sport of choice, and ensure that you remain in good condition longer.

Exercise is a great way to stay fit and healthy, but it has its challenges. Among those include avoiding boredom or overexerting yourself during training sessions. There are many ways you can overcome these issues in order to incorporate exercise into your life that lasts long-term. First of all, taking rest days will help you avoid turning your routine into something mundane at the least, and dangerous at worst if done excessively over time without adequate recovery periods between workouts (2). Another tactic would be alternating challenging exercises with more relaxing ones so as not to psych yourself out when working on them (3). Thirdly - having fun doing whatever type of fitness activity works best for you!