We’ve all heard it at some point in our lives: “No pain, no gain.”
But what if I told you that this is simply a myth?
“No pain, no gain” is actually a proverb popularised by the legendary Jane Fonda in the 80s as an inspirational catchcry in her exercise videos.
It expressed the belief that if your muscles aren’t experiencing pain, then you must not be working hard enough.
The myth has been debunked many times by doctors and fitness experts, but it still persists.
If you really believe that soreness is the indicator of a good workout or feel guilty when you take a day off, I’ve got news for you.
In fitness, more isn’t always better.
Rest and recovery are just as, if not more, important than the time you spend at the gym.
This is because taking regular breaks allows your muscles to recover and repair and helps you avoid exercise-induced fatigue.
Without proper rest, you might not be able to fully reap the benefits of exercise and get the results you want.
What happens in your body during recovery?
At the end of a workout, your body starts to cool down while gradually returning to homeostasis (your body’s ability to achieve a relatively stable internal environment).
Having a post-workout recovery plan is essential because this is the time the real effect of exercise takes place.
While working out exposes your muscles to a form of stress (also known as eustress – stress that leads to a positive response), recovery allows your satellite cells to repair the microtears that happen after a muscle gets physically worked.
Satellite cells are small cells found in your muscles that are responsible for muscle regeneration.
Put simply, the rest and recovery period is when your body rebuilds muscle that would otherwise get damaged from intensive exercise.
Too much training without enough rest can lead to overtraining which may include one or more of the following symptoms:
- A plateau or decline in exercise performance
- Unusual feelings of soreness and heaviness in muscles
- Extreme fatigue and exhaustion
- Mood disturbances
- Slower recovery
- Lack of energy and decreased motivation
- Poor-quality sleep
- Chronic joint pain and muscle sprains
- Increase in resting heart rate
- Consistent declines in overall strength
- Changes in appetite (more or less)
Recognising the signs and symptoms of overtraining helps you know when it’s time to take a break from exercise and allow your body to recover.
Now, let’s have a more in-depth look at the benefits of post-workout muscle recovery.
5 reasons why it’s important to rest your body after exercise
1. Promotes muscle growth
Contrary to popular belief, muscles grow on rest days, not during training.
As I mentioned before, it is during your days away from the gym that the real effect of working out takes place.
Why is it so?
To repair the microtears in your muscle fibres that occur after a workout, your body begins protein synthesis (the process in which cells make proteins for muscle recovery).
To maximise the protein synthesis process, your body needs adequate rest. This promotes muscle growth which, in turn, will help you get a toned and defined body.
2. Helps you avoid adaptation
When you continue to follow a workout routine without any rest days, you’re more likely to hit a dreaded plateau.
Adaptation occurs when your body gets accustomed to a workout routine through repeated exposure, which causes your progress to level out.
Just like in the case of weight loss stages, results can be seen for a while without your body completely adapting.
However, after the initial phase is over, your body begins to adapt to the stress being induced externally (through strength training).
If you want to avoid adaptation in training, recovery is key.
3. Promotes better sleep
Many believe that exercise-induced fatigue makes it easy to sleep, while the exact opposite is true.
In fact, a study published in the National Library of Medicine proved that poor quality sleep may signal that you are not getting enough post-workout rest.
The study revealed that intense exercises paired with inadequate recovery may lead to difficulties falling asleep, restless sleep, and even heavy legs during sleep.
That typically happens because too much exercise increases your levels of cortisol and adrenaline which play an important role in your body’s “fight-or-flight” response.
This, in turn, contributes to poor sleep quality. Taking those rest days can help balance your hormones and get you a night of sound sleep.
4. Helps you avoid injury
Skipping rest days is detrimental to not only your workout performance but also your health.
This is because skipping the recovery period may result in overtraining injuries.
A 2018 study found that overuse injuries (injuries caused by repetitive trauma) are extremely common in elite athletics.
Overuse injuries typically occur when you’re not taking enough time to let your body recover.
So, if you want to avoid taking weeks or even months off so that your soft tissue injury can heal, make sure you include recovery days in your workout program.
5. Helps you stay accountable
Rest days are important to ensure you adapt workouts to your lifestyle and not vice versa.
When you follow a balanced weekly workout schedule, it’s easier to hold yourself accountable and make your exercise routine more sustainable.
On the other hand, working out daily can make it difficult for you to stay motivated, especially when you have a busy schedule and feel like there’s not enough time in a day.
Make sure you regularly take a break from exercise so you can build long-term habits and develop a lifelong fitness routine.
How many rest days should you take a week?
The number of rest days you need depends on your exercise program, workout intensity, and the time you allocate to each workout.
It may also depend on other factors such as age, genetics, and menstrual cycle which can affect your regular workout routine.
As a general rule, you should incorporate two rest days into your strength training program.
If you’re new to exercise, you can also get 3 days of rest per week.
Ideally, you should also schedule a recovery week 4-5 times a year where you should stay out of the gym completely.
Depending on your workout intensity, you may need more recovery weeks a year.
However, scheduling a week off from training once every 12 weeks is a good general guideline.
Remember, muscles recover and become stronger during your rest. Taking a full week of recovery allows your muscles to repair and recover from any damage that occurred during workouts.
Plus, taking a week off from weight lifting enables you to return to exercise stronger and lift heavier weights.
You can also schedule your rest weeks based on how your body feels and take a week off from the gym every time you think it is necessary for a full recovery.
The Bottom Line
When you start seeing results from working out, it’s tempting to skip rest days.
While you might think that more workouts can only lead you to greater achievements, the exact opposite is true.
Like most things in life, working out is all about balance.
If you don’t factor recovery and rest days into your exercise program, you’re actually sabotaging your workouts.
Rest gives your muscles the time to recover and grow, so you’ll have better chances to get the most out of your next workout than if you skip rest days.
Looking for a workout plan tailored specifically to your goals, fitness level, and health history? Here at Bring on Life, we create personalised workout programs that will accommodate your schedule, your home equipment, or the equipment at the gym you go to. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have. You can also join the Bring on Life Facebook and Instagram community to share your inquiries and start meeting like-minded people.
Sources:
Michigan State University – The importance of rest and recovery for athletes
American Council on Exercise – The science of post-exercise recovery
Healthline – Are Rest Days Important for Exercise?
Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) – Overtraining: What It Is, Symptoms, and Recovery
Healthline – 13 Signs of Overtraining and What to Do About It