Lots of people believe that “more is better” when it comes to fitness, but that may not always be true. Overtraining can be a real problem and it can hinder your progress more than it helps.
Many people think that taking rest days means they’re slacking off or losing progress, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, overtraining without proper recovery can harm your progress more than it helps.
Rest days are as crucial as workout days for achieving your fitness goals, whether that’s for fat loss, muscle gain, or overall health.
Whether you’re focused on losing fat or building muscle, rest days are integral to ensuring your body can repair and replenish itself, helping you meet your specific fitness goals.
Today, we’ll explain the science behind rest, why it’s necessary, how to plan it, and tips for maximizing recovery on your rest days.
What Are Rest Days?
Rest days are planned days in your program where you stay away from intense exercise. This allows your body to recover from the stress of your foundational workouts.
Intense workouts cause microtears, or damage, in your muscles that need time to heal and grow stronger. Without proper rest, constant exercise will lead to fatigue, overtraining, and stalled progress.
During intense exercise, your muscles produce lactic acid, which can contribute to muscle fatigue and soreness, making rest days essential for recovery and optimal performance.
Lactic acid is a byproduct produced in the muscles during intense exercise when oxygen levels are low, contributing to the “burn” sensation and signaling the body to adapt to physical stress.
How Rest Days Support Fitness Goals
Muscle Recovery and Growth
During your workouts, your muscle fibers undergo stress and microscopic damage. You need this damage to occur to induce muscle growth. Our bodies are adaptation machines and when we put our bodies under stress repeatedly, our body will adapt and grow stronger so the same insult doesn’t damage our body again.
Rest days give our bodies the time needed for our muscles to repair and grow stronger through the process of protein synthesis. Without rest, your muscles cannot properly repair and grow, leading to overtraining syndrome and an increased risk of injury.
Energy Replenishment
Your glycogen stores (stored carbohydrates in the muscles) are depleted during exercise. During your rest days, the rest allows your body to restore these energy reserves, ensuring you’re ready for your next session.
Hormonal Balance
Exercise raises your cortisol levels, aka the stress hormone. Overtraining leads to chronically high cortisol levels, which can harm your progress with muscle growth and fat loss. Rest days help lower your cortisol levels and restore the hormonal balance within your body.
Improved Performance
Regular rest ensures that your central nervous system recovers. This recovery is part of the adaptation process that leads to improved strength, coordination, and overall performance during your workouts.
Signs You Need a Rest Day
If you’re experiencing one or more of these signs, you’re probably in need of a rest day or two (or more!).
Symptoms may include:
- Persistent muscle soreness or fatigue.
- Decreased strength or performance during your workouts.
- Mood swings, irritability, or lack of motivation.
- Poor sleep quality or chronic tiredness.
- Increased risk of injuries or recurring joint pain.
Types of Rest Days
Passive Rest Days
Passive rest days are days with no structured physical activities. Some examples would be: Watching movies, reading a book, or relaxing in general.
This type of rest day should allow your body to fully recover, especially for those who feel particularly drained or sore.
Active Recovery Days
Active recovery days are days where you engage in light physical activity to promote blood flow and reduce stiffness. Examples of active recovery activities are: Walking, stretching, light yoga, or swimming.
Active recovery helps the body flush out lactic acid and improve mobility without taxing your body.
The Science of Overtraining
Needing a rest day and overtraining are often labeled as the same thing, but they are actually two significantly different situations.
Needing a rest day is a natural response to physical exertion, allowing the body to recover and repair. It’s characterized by feeling fatigued but still capable of functioning.
Overtraining, however, occurs when the body doesn’t get enough recovery time, leading to chronic fatigue, decreased performance, and potential injury. The key difference lies in the ability to bounce back.
Rest days help restore energy, while overtraining requires more time to heal and recover.
Symptoms of Overtraining:
- Decreased performance
- Insomnia
- Chronic fatigue
- Elevated resting heart rate
- Increased risk of illness
The solution to overtraining would be to prioritize good sleep, adjusting your workout intensity if needed, or incorporating rest days into your routine (or combination of all 3).
How to Plan Rest Days
Frequency
Beginners may need 2-3 rest days per week. Intermediate to advanced people should have at least 1 day of rest per week.
Whether or not if you’re brand new to fitness or a 20-year grizzled fitness vet, you should always listen to your body and take as much rest as needed based on your workout intensity and lifestyle demands.
Try to adjust your rest days based on how your body feels using the signs we discussed earlier. Multiple signs of overtraining usually indicate the need for extra rest, so make sure to look out for those. Ideally, you would avoid overtraining in the first place (which is what this article is designed to help you do!).
For muscle growth, you’ll want to prioritize recovery for the specific muscle groups that you’re training.
For endurance athletes, alternate hard training days and easy training days.
What to Do on Rest Days
Nutrition
You’ve got to give your body the building blocks to build muscle, so prioritize your protein intake to support muscle repair. Aim for 0.6-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. If you’re overweight or obese, use your lean body mass number instead of your total body weight.
Try to incorporate anti-inflammatory foods like berries, fatty fish, nuts, and plenty of other fruits and vegetables.
Avoid overindulging in junk food as it not only can derail your progress but probably will cause even more inflammation.
The excessive intake of unhealthy foods, like those rich in refined sugars and trans fats, can lead to an inflammatory response in the body, slowing down the healing process and delaying muscle recovery during rest days.
Hydration
Most people don’t drink enough water. In fact, about 28% of adults in America are dehydrated. This is a little over 72 million people! (PubMed)
Staying hydrated aids in transporting nutrients and helps eliminate waste during your recovery.
Sleep
Sleep is absolutely vital! This is when your body does most of its recovery work, including repairing your muscles and restoring your energy levels.
For better sleep quality, try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule, create a relaxing nighttime routine to ease into bed, and reduce your screen time.
Mobility Work
Light stretching or foam rolling will help improve your flexibility and reduce soreness.
Examples may include: dynamic stretches, hamstring stretches, and cat-cow poses.
There are plenty of free mobility programs that you can find online. A great mobility program that I use (but isn’t free and I’m not sponsored to say this) is MAPS Prime Pro by Mind Pump.
Mental Recovery
The mental side of recovery doesn’t get enough attention. Mental recovery is just as crucial as physical recovery when it comes to fitness. Taking time to rest your mind helps reduce stress, improve focus, and restore motivation, allowing you to perform better in your workouts.
During your rest days, engaging in activities that promote mental relaxation can help replenish mental energy, preventing burnout and setting you up for continued success. Activities like meditation, light stretching, spending time outdoors, or spending time on your hobbies are all great practices for reducing stress.
Common Rest Day Mistakes to Avoid
- Skipping rest days – which leads to burnout and increased risk or injury.
- Poor diet choices – treating rest days as “cheat days” can ruin your progress.
- Being completely sedentary – sitting all day can cause stiffness. Opt for light movement even on passive rest days
Sample Rest Day Schedule
Morning: Light yoga or stretching.
Midday: Focus on hydration and eating balanced meals.
Afternoon: Taking a leisurely walk or engaging in your hobbies.
Evening: Prepare for quality sleep with a relaxing nighttime routine.
Key Takeaway
Rest days are an essential component of any successful fitness journey. They provide the crucial time needed for muscle recovery, energy replenishment, and hormonal balance, which in turn supports long-term progress and prevents overtraining.
Skipping rest can lead to stalled results, increased risk of injury, and chronic fatigue. Remember, rest is not laziness, it’s an integral part of your fitness process. By planning your rest days with intention, focusing on proper nutrition, hydration, and sleep, you can ensure that your body is primed for continued success.
So, plan your next rest day using the strategies we’ve discussed here and give your body the recovery it deserves. Your future self will be grateful for it!
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