Welcome to the fifth and final pillar of whole body fitness.
This pillar might surprise you.
It’s REST.
Yep, nothing to do with jumping around or lifting heavy stuff; this aspect of looking after your overall fitness is about winding down and giving your body a chance to recuperate after all that hard work.
Rest is so important, yet so often undervalued.
If you haven’t seen the rest of this mini-series about whole body fitness, I recommend you start with the introduction.
The 3 R’s of rest
In relation to whole body fitness, giving ourselves much needed rest time is vital.
Maintaining a good balance between exertion and rest leads to improved results and a lower chance of overtraining.
Let’s have a look at the 3 R’s of rest: Repair; Replenish; and Recover.
Repair
When we train our muscles they become damaged with microscopic tears.
Our body needs time to repair these tears and to build up the muscles to be stronger.
Essentially the brain thinks: “if they’ve worked this hard once, they might need to do it again, so the body needs to be prepared”.
The muscles are then built up to be able to cope with the same load next time.
This is how elite body builders are able to grow such huge muscles – they understand the mechanisms of building muscle tissue.
Push the muscles to work harder than they have before. Then let them rest in order to recover and build up bigger and stronger.
OK, so we might not want to build muscles THAT big, but the concept is the same for everyone. You need to let your muscles recover to give them a chance to get stronger.
Replenish
Glycogen is a form of stored carbohydrate. It is mainly stored in the muscles and liver, and can easily be turned into energy during intense bursts of exercise.
During hard, intense training sessions (such as heavy weight training, sprint training or high intensity interval training) the body uses up its store of glycogen.
It is vital to give your body time to replenish this store of glycogen, so that it can perform again during your next workout.
If you try to do intense workouts day after day, your performance suffers and you can’t push yourself as hard. This is in part due to diminished glycogen stores.
By resting you give your body the opportunity to replenish its glycogen stores more quickly and adequately. According to an article on the National Library of Medicine, glycogen resynthesis is maximised through a mix of rest and appropriate nutrition.
Recover
Recovery is what we’re aiming for when we allow the body to rest.
Various systems in the body need rest time in order to recover after strenuous exercise: hormonal balance; the central nervous system; mental state; and the structural system (muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons).
By giving the body enough time to recover, we start our next exercise session with renewed power and can give it our all.
What counts as rest?
Rest doesn’t have to mean sitting on the couch watching Netflix, although if that’s something you love to do then there is nothing wrong with making it part of your rest routine!
Rest can be all kinds of different activities, but let’s start with the most important one:
Sleep
Ah yes, sleep.
So so sooooo important, yet so often neglected in today’s crazy-busy-trying-to-do-too-much-society.
It is beyond the scope of this article to go into the detail on the numerous benefits of sleep, but they range from better weight control to having a healthier heart.
We need sleep in order to restore, rejuvenate and strengthen our bodies AND minds. Make it a priority and make sure you are getting enough!
The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7 – 9 hours per night for adults between 18 and 64. For over 65s the recommendation is between 7 – 8 hours per night.
Gentle activity
Rest doesn’t need to mean doing nothing. Gentle activity is also a great way to help your body recuperate.
Gently activity gets the blood moving around the body more efficiently, allowing it to reach all the muscles, and can lead to a faster recovery.
Here are just a few activities that can help with recovery:
- Walking
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Yoga
- Tai chi
- Stretching
Remember, these recuperation activities should not be strenuous – uphill hiking or power yoga aren’t the intention here!
An afternoon stroll in the woods or some gentle stretching in the park are what you should be aiming for.
Chilling out with family or friends
Spending relaxing time with loved ones is a great way to chill out and wind down.
It is a good way to spend your rest time, as it not only let’s your body recover from whatever exercise you have been doing, it also benefits your mind and soul by building stronger connections with people you love.
Meditation
Research is ongoing into the exact effects of meditation, but one study by the University of California found an association between meditation and lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
Speaking purely from personal experience (my own and that of many family members and friends), I have no doubt that meditation reduces stress. I don’t need a controlled research study to convince me of that.
In terms of aiding recovery from a tough workout, reducing stress and cortisol levels should help your body to recover more efficiently.
Taking a bath
Relaxing in the bath gives our bodies the opportunity to really let go and recover.
Real life tip: If you want to step up the recovery a notch then try having a salt bath
- Run a warm bath
- Add in 1kg (2.2 lbs) of salt – not Epsom salt, just normal salt
- Optional: add in 10 drops of either lavender oil (to relax and wind down) or tea tree oil (for anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects)
- Lay in the bath for 20 minutes
Massage
Massage is a wonderful way to relax and get rid of some of the tension from your body.
There are so many different types that most people can find one which suits them.
Maybe you want a sports massage to help relieve the tension in your muscles and help to improve your flexibility. Or maybe you prefer a relaxing aromatherapy massage to help you unwind.
Whatever your preference, massage is a fantastic recovery tool.
How much rest do I need?
Well, it depends.
Sorry, I know that sounds like a cop out answer, but as with many things in life it really does depend on many factors.
Here are some of the considerations:
- How much exercise experience do you have?
- What type of exercise did you do?
- How long was the training session?
- How stressed are you in your daily life?
As an example, if you are new to weight lifting you will need to rest the worked body part for longer than someone who has been lifting for 10 years.
Rest after moderate cardio exercise
Generally speaking, you should be fine to do light to moderate cardio every day.
Rest after vigorous cardio exercise
Your body needs time to recover from vigorous cardio, such as high intensity interval training (HIIT).
If done correctly (and that’s a big if, as most people don’t push themselves hard enough during HIIT sessions), you will really challenge the major muscle groups in your body.
Ideally you should allow 48 hours recovery after a HIIT session.
Rest after resistance training
Resistance training involves lifting some kind of weight, whether that’s an Olympic barbell or your own bodyweight.
If you are training with very heavy weights you should allow 48-72 hours recovery for the body part you were working on.
If you are training with light or medium weights then the recovery time is shorter, 24-48 hours recovery is usually enough.
Summary
Don’t forget: ALWAYS listen to your body.
If you are still extremely sore from a workout, consider doing some stretching or going for a gentle walk rather than going for another intense HIIT session.
And if you are going through a very stressful time in your life, your body might take longer than usual to recover from your training sessions.
So be kind to yourself and give your body what it is asking for.
Conclusion
Rest is pretty under-rated and definitely under-practiced, but it is so important to our overall fitness.
Without adequate rest, we don’t give our bodies enough time to repair, replenish or recover AND we increase our risk of injury. Not a great combination.
Incorporate rest into your routine, (which can be anything from massage, to gentle walking, to chilling out with friends), and ensure you get plenty of sleep. Your body will thank you in the long run.
What do you like to do to for rest? Do you think you have ever suffered the effects of training too much?