Are You Overtraining? Importance & Benefits Of Rest Days
It is important to stay active and move, but it is often overlooked that rest is also important. Sometimes more is not always the best.
Overtraining refers to when your body is under greater stress than it can heal from. This results in lower performance in the gym.
What can I do to tell if I’m overtraining?
These symptoms include persistent muscle soreness, fatigue, reduced heart rate variability, and decreased immunity.
You should first ask yourself how your sleep is. Do you have enough quality sleep?
Consider your energy level. Are you always fatigued?
You should also be mindful of your overall recovery. Do you feel constantly sore or worse than usual?
Take a look at how strong you are. It may be time to retrain if your strength has dropped in recent months.
You must consider other factors, such as how you sleep, your diet, and your lifestyle when making changes to your training.
Benefits Of Rest Days
This Reduces The Chance Of Injury.
You can reduce your risk of injury by taking rest days. Overtraining can cause you to not do the exercises correctly, lose your focus, and make mistakes that could lead to injury.
Your muscles and connective tissue also need to rest.
Give Your Muscle The Chance To Grow.
Muscle grows when you’re resting and not training. You break down muscle fibers during training, which is called muscle tears. These microtears are repaired after recovery and proper nutrition. They then grow and form muscle mass.
For Muscle Growth, Rest Is Essential.
It can be difficult to motivate yourself to exercise if you don’t give your body enough rest. Your workouts become boring if you don’t give your body the time to rest. Your performance will also decrease if you’re overtrained. This can also lead to a decrease in motivation.
It Will Help You Sleep Better.
While regular exercise and staying healthy can improve your sleep quality, it is possible to overtrain.
Overtraining can lead to sleeplessness. Sleep is when hormones are released, and you are in recovery. Your recovery will be compromised if fewer hormones are produced.
Cortisol, the stress hormone, is also increased. Cortisol causes your body to store fat rather than use it for fuel. This can lead to weight gain, difficulty sleeping, and a never-ending cycle of inexorable cycles.
Support Your Immune System
Your body’s first line of defense against viruses and bacteria is your immune system. Your inflammation levels rise when you exercise too much. This can decrease immune system strength and make it difficult for you to fight off bacteria.
Don’t stress about it. It can also cause a weak immune system by stressing whether your recovery is going smoothly. Relax and do what is best for you and your body.
What To Do On Your Rest Day
Prioritize Nutrition And Protein
Listen to your body and don’t try to reduce calories because you are not as active as before. Sometimes you’ll need to eat more to aid your recovery. Other times, you won’t.
Remember To Prioritize Your Protein Intake. A Good Source Of Protein Is Essential For Muscle Repair.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein (RDA) is approximately 0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. Ideal for athletes who exercise weight lifting or any other sport, this is 1.2 to 2g protein per kilogram. Remember to stay hydrated!
Yoga And Other Low-Impact Workouts
Listening to your body is important during any fitness journey. You might need to relax and do nothing while you’re recovering. Sometimes you may feel the need to get your blood moving.
Low-impact workouts can make you feel great without compromising your recovery time. On your days off, you can do yoga or a long walk. Yoga can lengthen muscles and tendons, which can aid in recovery. Yoga can also improve flexibility, mobility, and overall stress reduction.
Deload Week
A week of deloading refers to reducing your training load for a few weeks. This prevents injuries from becoming too severe and makes it easier to train hard again. It also helps to improve long-term results.
You can deload by cutting down training volume and reducing weight by 25-50%. You can also deload your training volume and give your connective tissue a complete break without losing any progress.
One study found that those who trained continuously for 15 weeks experienced the same gains as those who took a three-week break.
Last Words
Everyone needs to rest. You should prioritize your recovery, especially if you’re a regular gym-goer. This will improve your muscle recovery and performance. Sometimes, letting your body relax is the best thing that you can do.
