Introduction
Now, this is a phrase people don’t like to use that much, “I’m taking a Rest Day” or “I’m going to have a day of the gym today”. Rest days are critical to helping you progress, they allow your muscles time to recover, to build and allow your body to reload and be fresh for the next workout. Now, if you have read our blog post on 3 things you need to be strong (if not you can read it here), then you will notice that one of them is rest. Rest is very important, however, for some reason, people don’t like taking it. People will only rest 1-2 times a week. They have the approach that is if you are resting you will fatigue and lose muscle. This isn’t true!
How Many Should you have?
Now long term rest, you may see some muscle fatigue, but it takes a lot longer than people think. Anyway, we are not on about long term rest, we are on about one maybe two days extra a day. If you are working out 6 days a week, and are only having 1 rest day in this period, for a few weeks try decreasing your workout days and increasing your rest day periods. You will notice a spike in performance, Mood, recovery and most things will increase! If you need help choosing a Gym split that is perfect for you, we have written a blog that covers everything from 3 days a week, up to 6 days a week (Which again, you can read here). I encourage you to try a few of these out, you might find something that you like.
Now, this isn’t to say that maximum rest days and minimum workout days is better. You need to find the balance that works for your body. You don’t even have to keep it to a strict 1-week schedule. Why not do it over 2 or 3 weeks. Workout for 6 days, have a rest day then workout for 4 days having 3 days off. Then repeat? Don’t tie yourself down to a strict 1-week routine.
Another reason to bring in more rest days is that you gain more social time, time to spend with loved ones or personal projects. Now, remember that as long as you are hitting the correct volume (Blog post on this soon) and having productive gym sessions and making progress then that is all that matters. Days off will only help increase this.
Outro
As you can see taking rest days can help you recover, refresh and recharge. Everyone is different so what might work for your favourite bodybuilder might not work for you. You have to experiment. Never fear a day off. Your progress won’t collapse because of a few extra days of a week. Let us know over on our Instagram how may days off you take, Did you use to take more or less?
Don’t forget to download our Workout application! Great for Home Workouts or helping to get the most out of your gym workouts! filled with helpful Features to aid your fitness journey! You can download and use the app for free! Download Here
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.