Rest and Recovery 101
If you’re anything like me, then rest days are hard. Like really really hard.
But rest days are just as (if not more) important in your fitness journey as your workouts. Because muscles aren’t actually built in the gym, they’re built after your workout.
Here’s what you need to know about rest days, as well as how to do them properly to optimize your results and gainz.
- Lifting weights creates micro tears in your muscles. It’s actually not until after your workout that your muscles begin to repair themselves and become bigger in response (this is why protein after working out is so important, it aids in muscle synthesis!!) When you don’t rest properly after the gym , your body doesn’t get an opportunity to fix itself and your muscles never have a chance to grow.
- Skipping rest days can lead to overtraining. Signs of overtraining include fatigue, weakened immune system, irritability, and soreness..AND it makes you more prone to developing injuries. Usually when you overtrain, you hit a plateau and stop progressing. Best way to avoid this? Adaquete rest.
- Rest days don’t have to mean laying in bed all day. You can still be active by engaging in low impact exercises such as walking and yoga. Personally I like to stretch lots on my rest day to elongate my muscles and help eleviate soreness and stiffness. Stretching also not increases your range of fitness which can improve your workouts and form immensely.
- You should have anywhere between one to three rest days a week, depending on the intensity of your workouts and your level of fitness. The stronger you get, the less rest you may need. If you are working out two days in a row, make sure that you’re not training the same muscle group (ie. do arms Tuesday and legs Wednesday) to give yourself a chance to recover.
- Optimum nutrition on rest days is KEY. Eat lots of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to give your body the macronutrients it needs to repair itself. I would highly recommend protein pacing (eating 20/30g of protein at intervals throughout the day) to give your body a steady stream of muscle building protein. Fun fact: it’ll also keep you satiated and can help you lose weight.
- Listen to your body and remember, more is not always better!! If you feel tired, then take a break. The gym will always be there tomorrow (or the next day). While you may feel like you want to go hard all day everyday to speed up your progress, this way of training is largely unsustainable and can actually do the opposite of what you want it to do.
Xoxo
Insta: kellyeatskale