5 Important Signs That Indicate You Need A Rest Day

News Flash!! You do not have to work out every day to reach your weight loss or fitness goals. Working out and following a healthy routine is great, but that is not everything. If you are on a fitness journey, you must know that rest days are as important as the days you work out.

We know you have a few questions, but do not worry. We will answer them. So, how does resting your muscles influence your fitness journey? When you allow your body to take a day off you are actually helping your body to adjust to your fitness routine.

Every hard workout causes your body to naturally break down your muscles. This happens when you push your body to the limit, but without resting and allowing your muscles to build, all this would be useless. When you take a day off to rest your muscle fibers get time to repair and come back bigger and stronger. So what happens if you don’t take rest days?

If you donot take these rests or gaps, you will be continuously breaking down your muscles without letting them repair. Thus, taking rest days is important. Most gym rats know when to rest and let their body recover from all the week’s workouts.

However we have noticed those who are new to the gym often tend to over workout because they are always under the misconception that the more they workout, the faster they reach their health goals.

But this mentality is wrong and actually stopping you from reaching your goals faster. Here are the top five signs your body needs rest from exercise. Keep in mind you can always adjust your rest days to suit the type of activity that works best for you!

1. When You are Moody and Feel Tired

If you feel like you need another hour of sleep even after getting your required 7-9 hours, it can be a sign of overtraining and burnout. Also, overtraining can make it hard to fall asleep, which only makes it worse. Besides being tired all the time, you might experience headaches or mental fatigue, resulting in moodiness and feeling off. If your body doesn’t feel right, it’s a clear sign you need a rest day!

You might ask, isn’t working out an endorphin booster that keeps you in a good mood? So how is working out making you moody? Well, the answer is simple: working out is completely different when compared to overworking your body when your body is crying for rest.

2. When You are feeling unwell

Lack of proper rest after exercising can weaken your immune system, making you more susceptible to illness. Although regular exercise can strengthen your immune system over time, overdoing it shifts your body’s energy towards muscle repair instead of maintaining immune responses to fight off sickness. When you fall ill, it is one of the signs you are too tired to workout, and now you need to take a day or two off.

3. When You are always dealing with injuries or soreness

If just started to work out or have been working out for months now, I bet you still remember the first few days of your journey when you were always sore. Walking down and up the stairs was a nightmare. But being sore is common when you are changing up your routine or adding new moves to your fitness chart.

But the problem arises when you still feel sore even after 2 to 3 days of resting. This is a clear sign of overworking and over-training at the gym. More importantly, new and unfamiliar exercises can sometimes lead to minor injuries. These injuries need extra days of rest to let your body focus on healing.

When you add an extra gym rest day into your routine, it can greatly improve the effectiveness of your workouts. If you have a serious injury, you should know when to take a rest day from gym without overworking yourself.

4. When You Are Hitting A weight Plateau

Imagine working hard at the gym and also maintaining your calorie intake but seeing no results or being stuck at a particular weight for weeks. The reason is that you have hit a weight plateau due to over-training.

When you exercise too much without giving your body time to repair the muscle tissues you are breaking down, you end up losing more muscle than you gain. Adding a few rest days to your routine while maintaining your calorie intake will allow for proper recovery. And you will be amazed at the progress you will make after a much-needed gym rest day.

5. When You Feel Like Taking a Rest Day

We have only 1 advice for you  – LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. You are the one in charge of your body, and only you can understand how you feel after a long week of training. You also have to give importance to your mental health as much as you care about your physical health. If you need to keep yourself moving while you are taking the day off, you can try out some low-intensity workouts and stretches to keep your body in motion.

Feeling Burned Out? Take a Break!

If you are serious about your fitness journey, you already know that rest days are just as important as workout days. Sports West Athletic Club in Reno is here to support you with personal training to keep you on track without overtraining.

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Our experienced personal trainers at Sports West specialize in strength training and can guide you on the best practices to avoid burnout. With their help, you can make sure that your workouts are effective and safe, allowing your body the rest it needs to build stronger muscles.