Why You Should be Taking Rest Days Between Your Gym Sessions?

Have you just watched a motivational video and decided to never miss a single gym session? Well, this enthusiasm can help in being consistent initially, but going over the board, in the long run, can instead hamper your fitness goals.

In addition to the right techniques, fitness equipment, supplement, and diet, what your body needs is adequate rest. During a strenuous gym session, your body goes through immense stress and tends to get exhausted.

Once you have pumped your muscles for the day, you must prepare them for another session. This preparation not only involves a nutritious diet but proper rest periods as well. Rest periods between your training regime ensures that your body recovers well from all the strain it has gone through.

Taking a day off from the gym would not affect your gains but continuing to exhaust your body without rest can definitely result in some health issues. So, we have listed some of the benefits of rest that will convince you to take a smart approach towards your fitness goals.

1. Muscle recovery
   Intense exercises during sessions, create metabolic and mechanical stress on the muscles. This stress is caused as an individual utilises the energy stored in muscle cells. Besides this, the muscles also experience physical damage to the tissues that causes pain the next day. Taking rest becomes important here as it allows the body to repair the muscles and replenish the glycogen levels.
2. Minimises risk of injuries
   Working out while your muscles are still sore might not be the best idea. When you overwork yourself during a gym session and again dive in the next day, the risk of injuries increases. Repetitive stress and strain without rest can lead to excessive muscle pain. Moreover, it also makes you lose proper form during exercise that in turn puts you under risk of getting injured
3. Performance
   A good exercise session not just needs fully recovered muscles but also a fresh mind. Your performance in the gym depends upon how ready you are to play with the iron. While a good diet helps immensely in enhancing performance, rest between trainings makes sure that you give your best in every session.
4. Good sleep
   Getting completely drained after workout definitely leads to a satisfactory sleep. As you indulge in rigorous exercise and stay active during the day, your body produces certain hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. However, excessive workout overproduces these hormones and can hamper your sleep schedule. Therefore, incorporating rest days will lead to healthy sleep.

It must be noted that taking rest doesn’t necessarily mean sleeping for the whole day. One can also opt for a lighter form of exercise on the rest day. Running, cardio, swimming or some sports can be a great way to enjoy your rest day.