Rest Up

Good Morning lovies!! Hope you had a great weekend, mine was definitely relaxing. I saw Bridesmaids with the girls on Friday.

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I thought it was hilarious, but then again I’m into the raunchy comedies.

The next morning I decided on Averie’s Banana Blueberry Oat cake.

Delicious down to the last bite and topped with peanuts, granola, apricot jam and cinnamon raisin peanut butter.

Yesterday I woke up with major pain in my legs. I don’t mean moderate soreness, I mean barely able to walk. Not fun. On top of it, the elevators in my boyfriend’s building shut off because someone set off the smoke alarm so we had to climb 16 flights of stairs. Again, not fun. I was beginning to question Monday’s workout because I deadlift.

Fast forward to today and still in pain. Not as bad as yesterday but still bad enough to stop me from doing deadlifts.

Not a happy camper, deadlifts are one of my favorite exercises but my boyfriend told me to take the day off and just do my back workout. This is why I do my leg workout Friday but I was busy all day so Saturday I pushed it to the limit with leg presses, leg extensions, and air squats. The air squats put me over the top.

So the question is when does exercising become too much?

During rest, we allow our muscles to repair, rebuild, and strengthen. Overexercising leads to burnout and over training which is the inability of a person’s muscles to properly repair themselves.  Athletic performance suffers and injuries arise. Remember, your muscles grow and fat is burned while you’re resting.  Working out too intensely or too frequently disrupts your recovery process.

When you do cardio, the muscle continually uses up it’s store of glycogen, your body’s storage form of carbohydrates. Taking a day off allows your muscles to restock that depleted glycogen.

Taking a rest day also reduces fatigue, muscle soreness and burn out, common symptoms that occur soon after people begin a weight loss program with the “all or nothing mindset”. Burnout reduces the amount of intensity exerted during physical activity, therefore reducing the amount of calories burned and hindering weight loss.

Exercisers who take a rest day have been shown to be more effective in their weight loss efforts through regular training. Studies have not been conclusive as to exactly why- but one may assume it must do at least somewhat with reduced stress and pressure to perform on a consistent basis.  Source

Never feel guilty from taking 2 days off from the gym, your body needs it and in the long run you’ll be doing more good than bad. By resting, you can maximize your training throughout the week. Take is as a day to refresh the body and mind.

Go from this

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To this

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• Do you take rest days? I aim for 2 rest days a week for maximum recovery