Rest days are just as important as exercise. In fact, a successful workout regimen wouldn’t be complete without rest days.
Regular rest allows your body to recover and repair. It’s an important part of progress, regardless of fitness level or subject sports you do. Skipping rest days can lead to overtraining.
According to Dr. Vo Van Giau, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, National University Regular physical activity with appropriate intensity is an independent factor in preventing and improving cardiovascular diseases in different population groups.
Exercise and sports Helps maintain anti-aging health and has a beneficial effect in preventing the occurrence of many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease.
Specifically, maintaining daily physical activity is reported to increase life expectancy by 8-10 years and prevent diseases. chronic versus sedentary lifestyle.
However, excessive and unscientific exercise for a long time can cause acute cardiovascular events such as myocardial ischemia, acute myocardial infarction, and stroke.
A recent scientific statement from the American Heart Association also points out that excessive physical activity especially when performed by unhealthy people can significantly increase the risk Acute myocardial infarction and sudden death in susceptible individuals.
The benefits of rest time
Allow your body time to recover
< p>According to Healthline exercise creates microscopic tears in your muscle tissue. During rest, the body will repair it, helping tissues heal and grow, making muscles stronger.
In addition, your muscles also store carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. During exercise your body breaks down glycogen to provide energy for exercise. Rest gives your body time to replenish these energy stores before your next workout
Prevents muscle fatigue
Rest Rest is necessary to avoid fatigue caused by exercise. Remember that exercise depletes your muscle glycogen. If they are not replaced you will experience muscle fatigue and soreness.
In addition, your muscles need glycogen to function even when you are not exercising. By getting enough rest, you will avoid fatigue by refilling your glycogen stores.
Reduce the risk of injury
Rest Regular breaks are essential to stay safe while exercising. When your body is overworked, you will easily lose weight or lose weight.
Overtraining also puts your muscles under repeated pressure and stress. This increases your risk of overtraining injury, forcing you to take more days off than planned.
Improve Performance
When you Without enough rest, it can be difficult to carry out normal routines, let alone challenge yourself. Even if you try your best, overtraining will decrease your performance. You may experience reduced endurance and reduced agility.
Rest has the opposite effect. It increases energy and prevents fatigue preparing your body for continued successful workouts.
Supports healthy sleep
While regular exercise can improve your sleep, it’s also helpful to take rest days.
Physical activity increases energy-boosting hormones like cortisol and adrenaline . However, continuous exercise will produce too much of this hormone. It will be difficult for you to get quality sleep, which will only make fatigue and exhaustion worse.
Rest can help you sleep better by allowing hormones to return to their normal state. normal balance.
How to have the right day off?
The ideal day off looks different for each person. It depends on the intensity and frequency of your workouts along with your lifestyle outside of exercise.
However there are general guidelines for incorporating rest days in different workouts.< /p>
Cardio
Normally rest days are not necessary for light cardio. This includes activities like leisurely walking or slow dancing. This is safe enough to do every day unless your doctor says otherwise.
But if you’re doing moderate or vigorous aerobic activity, rest days are essential. You should take a day of rest every three to five days. If you do vigorous cardio you will want to take rest days more often.
You can also have an active rest day by doing light exercise such as gentle stretching.
To determine when you should rest consider aerobic activity recommendations. Each week adults should get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity. You can also do a combination of moderate and vigorous activity.
Running
Running is a form of cardio, but it often requires a different approach when it comes to rest periods.
Running p>
If you’re new, start running three days a week. Running too much too soon can lead to fatigue and overuse injuries. On other days let yourself rest or do other activities. Your other workouts should involve muscles you don’t use while running.
Rest days are even more important if you’re training for a marathon. During the last three weeks before the event it is best to rest more often.
Bodybuilding
With bodybuilding or weight training, combine rest days by rotating the muscles that have been worked. After training a specific muscle group, let it rest for one to two days. This gives your muscles a chance to repair and heal.
On other days train with a different muscle group. Make sure you also work the opposite muscles to keep your body balanced.
One way to implement a rest day is to designate a day for each body part. For example the second could be a leg day the third could be a chest day…
For weight loss
If you are trying to lose weight You should still have regular rest days. Rest allows your muscles to rebuild and grow.
Plus when you feel good you’re more likely to maintain your exercise routine.
What to do on your day off?
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To make the most of your rest day consider the following:
Diet and protein</p >
On rest days your body usually needs fewer calories because you are not as active. But instead of trying to skip a specific number of calories, just listen to your body. It will naturally ask for less food through satiety and hunger signals.
It’s also important to eat enough protein even on rest days. Adequate protein intake supports muscle repair that occurs during rest.
Active people need 1 2 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. This should be done at regular intervals throughout the day.
On your rest days you should also focus on:
– Carbohydrates: Eat complex carbs to restore your glycogen levels Friend. Depending on your activity level you will need 3 to 10 grams per kilogram of body weight per day.
– Water: It is essential to drink enough water even when you are not exercising . Staying hydrated will prevent muscle cramps and deliver nutrients throughout your body.
– Fruits and vegetables: Fruits and vegetables provide healthy carbs and nutrients that support recovery. feedback.
Yoga is one of the best things You can do it on a rest day. It is great for improving breath body awareness and flexibility. It also helps you build strength while relaxing your muscles.
Plus, yoga promotes calmness, helping you feel refreshed and ready for your next workout session. You don’t need much time to enjoy the benefits of yoga. Just 10 to 15 minutes will help with post-workout recovery.
Low-impact workouts
Like yoga high-impact exercises low is a great rest day activity. Low-impact exercises help you stay active without putting too much stress on your body. They also allow you to enjoy exercise in a more relaxing way.
Examples of low impact exercises include walking casual swimming cycling dancing kayaking …
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