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Why you need to have a rest day

Date: Nov 20, 2023    By: Genesis Fitness

Picture this. You're in the process of improving your overall health and wellbeing and have just sat down on the couch with a cup of tea and your favourite Netflix series.

Two things:

  • Please feel free to share the show. We're always looking for rest-day recommendations.
  • Although it may sound counterintuitive, resting allows your body the well-deserved time it needs to (literally and metaphorically) prepare for your next gym session.

Still not convinced? Here's why YOU need to have a rest day for:

Your Body

Denying yourself of anything that supports your health journey is never a good idea, especially when your body works so hard to keep you up and running. Now, consider your current fitness routine. Are you giving yourself enough time to rest between workouts? Unsure? The answer is likely no, and we're glad you're here.

Say you've recently gone down the path of strength or resistance training. These workout styles are also known as hypertrophy and relate specifically to the development of muscles (AKA #Gains). But did you know they actually create microscopic tears in your muscle tissues? Allowing your body time to rest and recover enables it to repair these tears so you can come back feeling stronger and better than ever. Or, if you prefer Reformer Pilates low-impact and dynamic movements, there's no denying this workout style warrants some post-class downtime.

How ever you choose to move your body, you deserve to follow that progress with some rest, including straight after your session and in the days that follow it. If you don't, you may find yourself with a case of "overtraining syndrome", which can cause fatigue, reduced performance, and potential injury. Enough said.

Your Mind

Improving your health and wellbeing wouldn't be complete without contemplating the thing you're using to process this information. Exercising requires sensory receptors from your muscles, tendons, and joints to work overtime to send information to your brain, so allowing it some time to rest is important. Relaxing your mind can come in all shapes and forms. Whether it be with a good book in the backyard or a Yoga class with your favourite instructor. If you're allowing it some downtime, you're giving it what it deserves for helping you crush your goals.

Your Lifestyle

Enjoying time away from your fitness program is a great way to spice up your life. Instead of hitting the gym on a Tuesday afternoon, tee up a run with a friend or a kick of footy with a mate. Mixing up your routine will do wonders for your overall health and wellbeing in the long run.

Yourself

Last but most certainly not least, you never have to look for an excuse to treat yourself to a rest day. If you want to, that's enough of a reason. We recommend using your downtime to do something different. Been meaning to test out your gym's sauna? Lock in a time dedicated to rest and recovery. Buy a movie ticket, enjoy a treat, or even hit snooze on the alarm and sleep in — the options are endless. Experts suggest you should have at least one rest day every seven days, but we recommend taking the opportunity when you can. There's no hard or fast rule on this for a reason, so it's up to you to decide what works best and run with it.

Can't remember the last time you had a rest day? You know what to do.

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