8 Reasons to Take a Rest Day

Feeling stressed or burned out or having a tough time falling asleep even though you are physically exhausted are all possible signs of overtraining and an indicator that you need to allow for more rest time in your workout program. But if the thought of a day away from the gym or not enjoying your favorite activity leaves you feeling concerned, here are eight benefits of taking a complete rest day.

1. Taking a day off from the gym makes it possible to spend that extra time with your loved ones. This is especially important if you have young kids. They’ll love the extra time together and, because you know they grow up quickly, you’ll cherish your time with them.
2. Pushing through a tough workout requires mental toughness and stamina, which means that physical exertion is not only hard on your body, it can really fatigue your brain as well. Spending a day away from your typical training environment can give you a psychological break from exercise and help your mind relax, allowing it to recover along with your muscles.
3. Moderate- to high-intensity exercise can rely on the glycolysis energy pathway, which uses carbohydrates to fuel muscle activity. Feeling sluggish or drained at the end of a workout could mean your glycogen levels are depleted. If they get too low, your body could catabolize protein for fuel instead of using it to repair muscle tissue. Taking a rest day can help your body properly replace the energy stores in your muscle cells so that you have a full battery for your next hard workout.
4. A day of rest allows your body to repair tissues damaged from the mechanical stresses of exercise. Specifically, rest allows time for the fibroblasts—individual cells that repair damaged tissues such as muscle proteins—to do their job and repair any tissues that need it.
5. If your muscles have been feeling a little sore, a day of rest can allow your circulatory system to perform its job of removing metabolic byproducts in muscle cells (from using energy during exercise) while also delivering the oxygen and nutrients used to help repair damaged tissues.
6. While some consider spending time at the gym or sweating to a favorite workout a hobby, ]it’s important to have other hobbies as well. Learn or practice a musical instrument. Coach a team. Volunteer at your kids’ school, or visit an older adult community. Taking the time for other hobbies or to perform volunteer work can help reduce feelings of self-importance, while benefitting your local community.
7. Taking a rest day can benefit your work life, especially if you find yourself cutting your work short to make it to a class or meet friends for a run. Use your rest day to spend some extra time at work to become fully organized or get ahead of the next big project, which will demonstrate your commitment to your team.
8. The best reason for a rest day? Finish reading that book you keep starting or binge-watch that show that all of your friends are talking about. Tell yourself that you’re not being lazy, but rather you are focused on the recovery phase of your workout program.

When it comes to exercise, sometimes less is more. Avoiding rest days can set you up for things like repetitive stress injuries or overtraining, which will eventually force you to take some rest days—whether you like it or not. A well-designed exercise program—one that will help you meet your goals—includes adequate rest  to fully recover from the stresses of hard exercise.