Rest Days – Slowing Down is Just as Important as Going Fast

It can seem weird, but taking things slowly when it comes to exercise and fitness is just as important as working up a sweat.

When you are focussed on results, progress and performance, it can naturally seem that going at full throttle all the time is the best way to see change. It can seem like slowing down or taking a rest day is just a waste of time.

But, when you want your fitness regime to become a permanent lifestyle change, you can’t rush it. You can’t speed in and cut corners and expect your body to happily keep up.

Let’s have a look at why.

You Can’t Always Exercise at Full Throttle

Your body can’t healthily adapt to sudden bursts of activity without warming up, stretching and cooling down again afterward. This goes for each individual routine as well as when you go from a lifestyle of no exercise to suddenly deciding to work out every day.

You need to work your body into things gradually – abrupt changes in speed cause your body to go into shock mode instead. This can cause injury and also puts the body into a response mode where it is resistant to change.

Physically and mentally, you can’t go from 0-100 and then sustain that. You may see good results immediately, but you can’t maintain that concentrated effort on working out without rest and recovery in between. This is one of the best ways to fail in your new regime.

Psychologically, we can’t keep our focus and motivation at a high level all the time either. You need to stop and rest and mix up your workout routines to keep recharging your motivation, and to have new things to work towards and look forward to.

Slow and steady wins the race

There are always moments when going as fast as you can or pushing as hard as you can is necessary (and it can feel amazing!) But these moments need to be balanced with periods of warming up and cooling down, stretching, and also complete and utter rest.

One of the best routines is a routine – this means having a structured schedule of workouts and training sessions, including focussing on different muscle groups from day to day, as well as regular rest days. On rest days you can switch your mind off the workout regime and give your concentration and focus a little break too.

Consider taking time to just be, instead of rushing all of the time. Be actively and mindfully in this moment in time – because doing very little can be as good a self-care activity as working out.

Rest Days

Think of rest days not as days of doing nothing, but days when your body is doing all of its hardest internal work.

This is when your body is repairing the muscle tissue you’ve tested during your workout, which is a necessary step in building fitness and muscle tone. It is also time to replenish your energy stores.

Instead of using these days for training, they are a part of sustained performance and progress.

Exercise followed by rest allows for strength building, whereas exercise followed by more exercise keeps your body at stress levels, and raises your body’s propensity for inflammation.

Rest days give your immune system the time it needs to rebuild and stay strong, and will prevent you from getting tired, rundown, overworked and sick. They also reduce the chances of injury and will vastly lower any rehabilitation time you may need if you really did yourself some damage.

Better for Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep every night is also an essential part of a balanced fitness regime.

You will sleep better every night if you give yourself regular rest days, because if you are exercising constantly, your body is always producing stress hormones, meaning it gets harder to just turn off and sleep well.

Low Intensity Workouts

It can seem like low intensity and low cardio activities aren’t going to get you the performance results you need as much as high power exercises, and again these can feel like a waste of good work out time.

But these exercises have incredible benefits as well and form an essential part of a long-term, balanced fitness regime.

You are not only getting a good cardio workout through controlled movements such as yoga and pilates, but you are also building much-needed strength and resilience as well.

How Often Should You Rest?

Rest and recovery days, cheat and treat days, whatever you want to call them, they should be scheduled into any healthy life. How often you should rest depends on your level of fitness, but beginners should have around 2 days a week of rest.

You don’t have to stay in bed or lie on the couch all day to rest – you just need to stop pushing your body to stress levels. You can still go for a walk, play with kids, throw a frisbee for your dog, go for a casual swim or wander around some shops or an outdoor market.

If you are becoming achy and fatigued from your workouts, and the stress on your body doesn’t go away, this is a sign you may need to take more rest days. Inability to sleep, loss of appetite and getting sick with colds and minor bugs are also a sign that you’re overdoing things.

If you notice any of these signs, then take a break and let your body do its hardest workout – fixing itself.