Rest is Important!

Hello again.  Today is my scheduled rest day.  I take 2 scheduled rest days a week, not because I don't want to go to the gym, but because muscles only grow when they are at rest.  When you work out you break down the fibers in your muscles, when you rest your body repairs them which is muscle growth.  My goal in the gym is to gain some size, going the natural route it is going to take a lot of time, hard work and dedication.  One of the things I have learned over the course of last year is that the body needs to rest.

Last February, March and April I took only a total of 6 days of rest.  The result was that I ended up getting sick and needed to take a break from working out.  Granted that I had lost approximately 10% body fat during those 3 months, the wear and tear was too much and my body needed the break.  Last year I had to take a couple of weeks off due to injury, thankfully the injuries were not serious and did not happen at the gym.  The first one happened late at night, was going up my stairs and hit my knee on the corner of a wall, I could have gone back into my routine, however your knees are important and I felt it was best not to do any lifting until the pain had subsided.  The second one was a pinched nerve in my back.  I had car troubles, had to push my car and steer at the same time to get it off the busy street, but unfortunately (or fortunately), I had to twist while I was pushing the car to avoid another driver taking my shoulder off.

Each time I took a week off, I noticed an increase of muscle mass.  I didn't change my diet during those couple of weeks, so I didn't gain any fat or lose any weight.  More importantly it showed me that rest is just as important as making time to get to the gym 4-5 times a week.  So far this week, I have had two really good work outs.  Monday was chest day, and yesterday was back and shoulders day.  I will not feel bad about taking 1 day off, I will be back in the gym tomorrow for leg day as it is one of the most important work outs.  I love leg day, the day after leg day not so much, but working the biggest muscle in the body is essential for any fitness program as it will increase your ability to burn fat, at least it has for me in my experiences.

My current work out schedule is: Monday, Tuesday in the gym, off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday in the gym and off on Sunday.  Rest days are just as important as work out days.  I hope you will consider the importance of rest and schedule your own rest days.  Time away from the gym does help you reflect and re-evaluate your goals and your plan to accomplish them.  So today, even though I am not getting a work out in, I am going over my plans to accomplish my goals and planning my leg day work out.

Until next time, eat clean and train mean!