Why are rest days important? Along with helping to prevent injury, repair your body and optimize your performance, a rest day (or two) is a critical part of your fitness progress.
You might already be using one of the best rowing machines a few times a week to enjoy a full-body sweat and clock up some all-important minutes of exercise. But according to research published in ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal, too much overload or not enough recovery (or both) can result in physiological and psychological symptoms that ‘limit performance’.
Even so, in a fast-paced world, it can be hard to slow down yet a rest day doesn’t have to be a day spent resting. Forms of active recovery such as walking, swimming or stretching can become the backbone of your rest day programme. But first let’s find out exactly why rest days are important, how often you should take them and what happens if you skip them.
Why are rest days important?
1. They can prevent injuries
According to Araceli De Leon, Certified Health Coach, Personal Trainer, and Group Fitness Instructor at the American Council on Exercise, rest days are essential in preventing overuse injuries from too much exercise and preventing burnout.
“An overuse injury can happen when someone is constantly working the same or assisting muscle groups, De Leon says. “Rest days and proper sleep allow muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones and other major body functions like the endocrine system to regenerate from working out or consistent physical activity.”
Araceli De Leon is an American Council on Exercise (ACE) certified health coach and certified personal trainer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in sports performance from Point Loma Nazarene University. Araceli is also a certified 200-hour yoga teacher and has been practicing yoga since 2012.
2. They can repair the body and mind
When you are building muscle, the body goes through a phase of muscle hypertrophy. But what is hypertrophy? Well, this term refers to the muscle growth that occurs from lifting heavy weights. When you strength train, you inflict trauma on the muscle fibers. As a result, cells around the fibers work to knit together the damaged fibers causing them to strengthen them and your muscle mass to increase. The more resistance training you do, the more muscle you gain.
“Rest days allow for repair and healthy muscle growth,” De Leon says: “Taking a rest from your regular physical activities allows the body to repair and recover, and thus prepare for the next time you participate in physical activity or exercise.”
3. Rest days can help optimize your performance
A study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science compared the effect of 24, 36, 48, 72 and 96-hours of rest in men who were already engaged in resistance training.
Researchers found that 48 hours between sessions allowed for ‘sufficient recovery to optimize performance’. Leaving less than 48 hours between sessions resulted in a ‘significant decrease’ in the 10-repetition maximum load for three exercises: back squat, bench press and leg press. But leaving more than 48 hours between sessions resulted in no reduction in maximum load.
4. They give you an opportunity to try recovery activities
Active recovery activities involve low-intensity exercises such as swimming, yin yoga, walking or foam rolling. According to researchers, active recovery workouts are beneficial to the overall health of your body.
A study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that active recovery can clear blood lactate which may accumulate after exercise. The accumulation of blood lactate can lead to fatigue and muscle contraction.
Meanwhile, a second study published in the International Journal of Sports Sciences found that cooling down in a pool after a high intensity interval training session could help improve exercise performance the next day, “possibly due to the hydrostatic properties of water and its associated influence on inflammation.”
How often should you take rest days?
How often you take a rest day will depend on your current fitness level. “If you are new to exercise, taking a rest day every two to three days will be needed,” says De Leon. “The body may take longer to recover and there may be lingering soreness from exercising – if so, more rest days will be needed.
“If you have a higher fitness level, rest days may be taken once or twice per week. The body may be more accustomed to exercise, and many split their workouts by body part or activity type, not needing as many rest days.”
However, each week and training session might be different which is why it’s important to listen to your body and go with what feels right.
What are the signs you need a rest day?
If you’re struggling to know whether or not you need a rest day, the American Council on Exercise draws attention to some warning signs. These include:
- Feeling fatigued and sluggish after a workout
- Persistent soreness or muscle pain
- Struggling to complete normal training routine
- Starting to binge eat/overeat
- Constant changes in behaviour
- Increased incidence of injury
“If the body is telling you you’ve had enough, then a rest day is needed,” says De Leon. “If you have been working out or doing intense physical activity for two or three days in a row, check-in with how you are feeling on day three or four and take a rest day, even if it wasn’t scheduled, to allow for proper regeneration.”
What can you do on a rest day?
Contrary to popular belief, rest days don’t have to mean you do nothing. You could try recovery activities such as stretching, a slow yoga class, foam rolling or a massage.
“People may also enjoy the sauna or a cold-water plunge as recovery methods,” De Leon says.
Less active options such as reading, journaling, spending alone time or enjoying quality time with friends can be just as beneficial, though. “Non-activity options are great to decompress the mind and reduce stress levels,” De Leon says. “Generally, doing things that you enjoy are a good call on a rest day.”
What happens if you skip rest days?
Consistently skipping a rest day doesn’t just leave you feeling tired and achy, it can have damaging consequences too.
“Over time, if one consistently skips rest days, the probability of injuries and other disorders increases,” De Leon explains. “The body, the nervous system, the endocrine system and other functions of the body may become overworked and a person can develop high cortisol levels for example, keeping the body and high stress levels, which is not healthy. This can lead to poor sleep, low energy and fatigue, and moodiness, leading to burnout.”
So, as we can see, rest days are not only a very important part of your fitness regime, they are crucial to your overall health and fitness goals too.
