REST!!!

Today I would like to discuss rest and its importance when exercising. Earlier I was at my gym working out and I would see guys just go from exercise to exercise without any rest between. It probably wouldn’t be that bad if they were working opposite muscles such as biceps then triceps or quads then hamstring. Furthermore, when I talked to them about it I found out that they would fail to designate days so that their body could recover. I would advise that people do not do this for risk of causing an injury to the muscles. Rest is probably the most neglected aspect of fitness. Not only does an individual increase the chance of reducing injury but a key component of rest is that it facilitates muscle recovery and growth. Truthfully, if an individual does not rest then they might as well forget getting those big muscles they’ve been longing for and hope to show off on the beach.

If you talk to any trainer or fitness enthusiast, they will tell you that rest is probably the most important part of exercising. Regardless of what you have heard, all muscle growth takes place during the periods of rest. Moreover, after your muscles are able to rest/repair themselves following training they become stronger that enables people work harder and promote further muscle growth. Another important tidbit is that you allow muscles to fully recover (usually two to three days per muscle group) in an effort to avoid injury or retardation of the muscles. Based on the workout there needs to be variations in the amount of rest allotted.