Why Rest Days Are Just as Important as Workout Days?

Working out brings an abundance of benefits. It improves our cardiovascular system, releases endorphins and leaves us looking better. But it’s not just our physical health that benefits from a strict gym routine. Whether you’re piling on muscle or trying to lose a few pounds, you’ll also experience the mental benefits of training

Despite physical activity bringing so many benefits, a key ingredient in a strict workout routine that is often forgotten is rest. It sounds counterintuitive to suggest spending time away from training can be good for us when training itself has so many positives, but a rest day once in a while can be just as important as those tough days grinding in the gym or wherever it is you get your training in.

If you’re someone who never likes to take a day off from your training, read on to see the many benefits that a rest day can bring to your life. 

Benefits Of A Rest Day

Prevents Injury

Although some would tell you that you can’t get too much of a good thing, there can be such a thing as too much training. Whether you’re a fan of strength training or you are training for a marathon, working to 100% of your capability every single day is unrealistic. Failing to allow your body to recover before jumping back into training will likely lead to injury, and this will even impact professional athletes.

The amount of rest you need depends on the type of training you do. A marathon runner will need many more rest days as their training will be a lot more intense on their feet and knees.

The easiest way to avoid injury through overtraining is by simply listening to your body. When your muscles are aching and crying out for a rest, don’t feel bad for treating yourself to a rest day. While a rest day may result in 24 hours without training, continuing to train and injuring yourself would result in far longer on the proverbial sidelines.

Maintains Motivation

Don’t just listen to your body when considering a rest day, listen to your mind, too. Resting isn’t just great for recovery, it can be a great way to ensure you stay motivated to keep training. That’s because forcing yourself to stick to a strict gym routine can become repetitive and while you may experience an initial spike in motivation, long-term trainers can experience a loss in motivation.

Taking a rest day once in a while can ensure you don’t end up falling out of love with your training. On the other hand, dragging yourself to the gym every single day may lead to an unpleasant experience. 

Boosts Performance

If rest days can keep your body in peak condition while also helping to keep you motivated, this should obviously lead to increased performance when training. A tired body in need of rest won’t be able to lift as heavy, run as fast or work out for as long. A demotivated body will also experience the same problems, so don’t expect to smash your PBs when not at your physical or mental best.

A rest day gives you time to recover both physically and mentally, allowing you to not only perform better when training but also enjoy your training. You’ll also find this to be a virtuous cycle. Increased performance will lead to increased enjoyment and increased enjoyment will lead to higher levels of motivation.

Time For Mental Health

While training is mostly done to improve our physical health, the mental benefits of physical activity are becoming more known and discussed. And a rest day doesn’t have to be for physical recovery. A rest day can be the perfect time to work on your mental health.

This can come in the form of reflecting on goals, journaling or taking time to meditate. However, working on your mental health looks different for everyone, so find out what works for you. It could be socialising with friends, catching up with family or playing video games. Anything that makes you feel relaxed and less stressed is acceptable, so don’t feel bad for taking a day off training for a bit of you time.

Hopefully learning about the benefits of resting will help you view rest days in a different light. While there can be a perception that needing a day off is a sign of weakness, it’s actually the opposite. Listening to your body and giving it a rest when needed is a big part of your gym discipline and shows strength to realise when your body is in need of some time off.

So the next time your body feels like it has been hit by a truck due to excessive training, spend the day on the sofa with your comfiest cushions or book yourself in for a sports massage to relieve those aches and pains.