Rest & Recovery

The Importance of rest days for fitness. Why you need rest days for optimal fitness performance.

Embracing rest: the Ekrin athletics approach

No days off? Psshh. More like intentionally designated and purposefully designed rest days. At Ekrin Athletics, we value rest and recovery as much as the act of working out itself. Here’s why.

What to know about rest days

Establishing a prophylactic rest schedule is the only way you’ll avoid overtraining. This is true even if you primarily do low-impact or low-intensity exercise.

Whatever your fitness level, your body has a threshold that you should respect.

Otherwise, you’ll push yourself past the point of overreaching and into the territory of overtraining, which leads to symptoms like decreased performance, demotivation, injuries, persistent and severe performance, disturbed sleep, and cranky moods.

How rest affects workout recovery

Rest days facilitate recovery by giving your body a chance to breathe. Many people believe that your muscles grow during workouts, but the opposite is true. During workouts, your muscles become damaged and break down. During rest, your body repairs damaged muscles and builds them back stronger and bigger.

Rest days allow your muscles to repair

If you continually pummel your muscles, battering them day after day with more volume, they’ll eventually stop growing. You’ll hit a major plateau because your body is essentially trying to survive. Without time to rest, your body can’t keep up with important processes that contribute to recovery, such as the muscle protein synthesis and the release of growth hormones. After a while, you’ll notice feats that were once easy start to feel extremely challenging.

Rest days allow glycogen to replenish

In addition to muscle repair, rest days give your body time to replete energy stores lost during tough workouts. Your body stores carbohydrates in your muscle in a form called glycogen. It uses up those stored carbohydrates during workouts, and if you never allow your body more than 24 hours to recover, your glycogen stores will remain partially depleted. This leads to early fatigue during workouts and potentially decreased performance.

Rest days allow time for other priorities

Some people say fitness is life. We like to say fitness is a means to a greater life. Taking time away from the gym makes space for other important things, like spending time with your family, reading the book you’ve been meaning to open, experiencing a new spot in your city, or simply catching up on sleep (few things beat a rest day nap). Instead of feeling lazy on your rest days, remember that you’re fulfilling other desires and duties — and letting your body do its thing.

Things to consider

A rest day is a rest day. Try to fill it with activities that fill you up, not activities that drain you even more than a workout. It’s just as important to rest your mind as it is to rest your body. Choose things that make you feel relaxed mentally and physically. For example, a long walk listening to your favorite playlist or podcast can shake out muscle soreness and reduce stress.

Frequently asked questions

How Often Should You Take a Rest Day From the Gym?

Workout and rest schedules look different for everyone. Some people can work out six days per week with no problem, while others thrive on a four- or five-day plan. Still others require more rest, and get the best results with a three-day workout plan. If you’re just starting out, we recommend starting with two or three workouts per week. If you’re an advanced exerciser who feels burnt out, try dropping a day or two of workouts and see how you feel. No matter your fitness level, at least one rest day per week is necessary for recovery.
Can You Work Out When You’re Sore?

Sure, it’s usually okay to work out when you’re sore. You don’t have to take a rest day every time you’re sore. However, it’s wise to keep things to a moderate intensity level when your muscles feel sore. We wouldn’t recommend going for a new deadlift personal record on a day you feel the burn with just the bar.
What Should You Do on Rest Days?

Many people think that rest days should be pure couch potato days, but that’s not necessarily the case. There’s nothing wrong with a do-nothing day — we all need them from time to time — but you can make your rest days even more productive by engaging in active recovery. Active recovery generally means moving your body in an easy, light way, such as walking or stretching. Active recovery also includes things like foam rolling, massage, cryotherapy, and other recovery tactics. The most important thing is to avoid doing strenuous activities, because then you’re not resting at all.