I recall years ago sitting down with my personal trainer and reviewing my fitness calendar and his response was “Where is your rest day?” What rest day I thought!?! Why would I rest…I want to get stronger and faster!?! After reading numerous articles about the importance of rest days I took his advice and we built my training program with a weekly rest day. I wasn’t disappointed! Quite the contrary! I wasn’t always sore nor stiffer than a board anymore (yes he also taught me the importance of mobility/flexibility and stretching which I’ll touch base on later) I finally came to a realization that sometimes in life less is more and now that I understand the science behind it, it honestly makes total sense. Exercise causes micro-tears to your muscle fibers you’ve worked. When you allow the muscles time to repair themselves they in turn grow stronger. Simple right? Well we’ve all been there where a shoulder or a knee is giving you a little grief but you’ve so adamant about getting in a good workout you end up getting sidelined in the process. My advice is listen, listen, listen to your body and take the rest it’s asking you for!! We love to see you every day but sometimes the body knows exactly what it needs! I can also recommend some supplements that can aid in the recovery process when we’ve completed tough workouts as essentially an insurance policy if you will to brave days where back-to-back workouts are on the strenuous side. Stay tuned!!:)
