Rest day simply means a day of rest. It is a break from exhausting, daily workouts that strain the body. A suitable training plan must also include relaxation, which is why the concept of rest day should be known to every athlete. What should a rest day look like and how often should we allow it?

Rest day(rest from training) is not a waste and a praise of laziness. It is an important element of any training plan, next to training and diet, allowing you to get the most effective results.

Advantages of rest day - regular rest after training

People who train daily after some time find that exercise without time to rest not only delays the improvement of results, but also has other unpleasant effects. It is i.a. the fastest way to overtrain the body. The more time we train without rest, the more difficult it is to exercise, and the body begins to refuse to obey - it loses efficiency, it becomes easier to get injured, it gets tired faster, and bothersome ailments appear, such as muscle cramps and pains, which make training difficult.

The mental state of the training person also deteriorates - motivation weakens, depressive states may appear, malaise takes away the joy of practicing sports. While some blame everything else for being out of shape, the truth is that these overtraining symptoms are clear signals from a tired body. A sign that he needs rest and time to recover. This is the last moment to understand that including rest in your training allows you to achieve better results in sports than daily, long hours of exercise.

One day in the training week devoted only to rest is enough to keep your balance and regenerate. By giving the body a chance to rebuild glycogen stores, you prevent overtraining and injuries and repair a damaged psyche.

The regenerated body produces more enzymes that accelerate the fat burning process, the muscles become more flexible, the heart function improves. It is such an energy boost for the next week of training. So why should we avoid it?

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Rest day - what to remember?

There are several rules that should be followed by athletes when planning a rest day.What should I remember?

  • Rest should be at least 1 day per week of training.
  • Rest day doesn't have to be a completely lazy day. Sports activity is allowed, but in moderation. It is supposed to give pleasure, not tire.
  • While resting, we should not give up diet and other he althy habits. A break from training does not mean a break from a he althy lifestyle. What you have achieved is not worth squandering.
  • It is worth doing a ritual on the day of rest. It is good to set one day of the week off from training, for example, and make it a tradition. The body will quickly get used to such a schedule.
  • The most important element of a rest day should be sleep. It is he who influences the regeneration speed the most.

Rest day - what should it look like?

Rest also requires sacrifice. Especially from athletes who have to slow down for a while and forget about training. This is not easily accepted by someone who strives for excellence in sports, raises the bar every day and sets new challenges for himself. In such a situation, it is difficult to understand that a day of rest will not worsen the form and will not break the athlete from the training rhythm. Then it is worth realizing that one day of rest a week is better than, for example, three days of non-exercise due to an injury. Understanding the need to rest takes time and is the ultimate expression of an athlete's maturity.

Important

It is recommended that you include a day or two of rest in your weekly training plan. Number of the so-called rest days should be adapted to the shape of the body and the intensity of training. The more tiring workouts, the longer the regeneration should be after them.

It is also worth remembering that people training 3-4 times a week should take at least one longer break a year, during which they will limit their activity to a minimum. This period is called de-training and it is used to reset the body - so that after a slight decline in form, it can quickly gain strength to achieve better and better sports results.

A rest day does not have to be completely sport-free, but it should be completely different from a normal training day. If your body is not comfortable doing anything you do, you may be tempted to do a short and easy workout, such as a longer walk, bike ride or swimming pool. The rest of the day should be devoted to laziness and relaxation. To make the joy of rest from training greater, it is worth filling this day with pleasures. Instead of lying in bed all day, you can, for example, catch up on film and book backlogs, meet friends, go out with your family to the lapnature, cook something good, pursue your non-sporting passion. Such activities increase the level of endorphins in the body, which has a huge impact on the attitude to the next days of training. When the head is at rest, the body is also at rest. It is worth remembering this. If we are tired of recurring injuries or troublesome muscle pains, it is worth devoting a rest day to the regeneration of not only the soul, but also the body. Relaxing treatments such as massages or a stay in a jacuzzi will certainly improve your form and well-being. And they will increase the appetite for further workouts.

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