Earlier in the week I was on twitter and one of the people I
follow on twitter was sick and had to take an unplanned rest day. She is a
beast in the gym and you can tell by her progress, so naturally being the gym
junkie that she is, she hated the fact that she was ill, feeling weak and awful
but what she hated even more was that she had to take an unplanned rest day. A
few days later I too fell ill, so I missed a few gym sessions this week while I
was recovering and all drugged up on medication. I lost my appetite but I forced
myself to eat, was feeling tired and sluggish all the time (the medication
added to this feeling), I basically felt like death but the worst is over now
and I am looking forward to hitting the
weights again. I do not get sick often so when I do get sick, it usually hits
me hard.
follow on twitter was sick and had to take an unplanned rest day. She is a
beast in the gym and you can tell by her progress, so naturally being the gym
junkie that she is, she hated the fact that she was ill, feeling weak and awful
but what she hated even more was that she had to take an unplanned rest day. A
few days later I too fell ill, so I missed a few gym sessions this week while I
was recovering and all drugged up on medication. I lost my appetite but I forced
myself to eat, was feeling tired and sluggish all the time (the medication
added to this feeling), I basically felt like death but the worst is over now
and I am looking forward to hitting the
weights again. I do not get sick often so when I do get sick, it usually hits
me hard.
 |
| Rest days are the worst day of the week Image from: muscletown |
Rest days suck but they are important
Taking a rest day sucks for a gym junkie but if you want to
fully recover and continue making progress you need to have a rest day or two
in your week depending on the kind of workout program you are on. The more
demanding your workout is to the body the more rest days you need, for example
someone on a whole body compound exercise program takes more rest days than
someone who trains individual body parts every day. This is because the person
who trains individual body parts can have up to 5 days rest per muscle group
depending on their split even if they do not have a rest day whereas a whole
body program trains all muscles groups in each workout session so you are more
likely to train for only 3 days a week and rest the rest of the week to allow
proper recovery.
fully recover and continue making progress you need to have a rest day or two
in your week depending on the kind of workout program you are on. The more
demanding your workout is to the body the more rest days you need, for example
someone on a whole body compound exercise program takes more rest days than
someone who trains individual body parts every day. This is because the person
who trains individual body parts can have up to 5 days rest per muscle group
depending on their split even if they do not have a rest day whereas a whole
body program trains all muscles groups in each workout session so you are more
likely to train for only 3 days a week and rest the rest of the week to allow
proper recovery.
What you lose with unplanned rest days/forced rest days
Getting back to why it sucks to have to take additional rest
days or forced rest days. Imagine you have goals and a program in place to make
sure you achieve such goals in the designated time. If you are on a whole body
program and manage one gym session instead on three during the week that takes
you a step backwards, if you are on a 5 day split and only managed to get maybe
two gym sessions in this week that takes you a few steps backwards because that
means there are a few muscles that have had too much rest instead of the usual
5 day rest they now have 10 days rest. Basically you are losing muscle, losing
your muscle hardness and possibly the strength gains you had the week before,
this little extended break may have taken your progress a week back.
days or forced rest days. Imagine you have goals and a program in place to make
sure you achieve such goals in the designated time. If you are on a whole body
program and manage one gym session instead on three during the week that takes
you a step backwards, if you are on a 5 day split and only managed to get maybe
two gym sessions in this week that takes you a few steps backwards because that
means there are a few muscles that have had too much rest instead of the usual
5 day rest they now have 10 days rest. Basically you are losing muscle, losing
your muscle hardness and possibly the strength gains you had the week before,
this little extended break may have taken your progress a week back.
What good could come out of unintentional rest days?
On a positive note the extra rest days may have been what
your body really needed after a long period of extreme stress on your body. You
may find that after the extended rest you will gain back all your strength that
you lost, all the mass you lost out on in about week and you may even find that after this
extended rest period that you break through the plateau you had hit prior to the rest. These rest days may
have been all the recovery you needed to finally break through the walls you
were starting to hit and being the gym addict that you are you may be even more
motivated to lift with more intensity, lift heavier just because you feel bad
about missing so many days of gym…after all going harder is what all gym
beasts do when they get back to beast mode after a short hiatus.
your body really needed after a long period of extreme stress on your body. You
may find that after the extended rest you will gain back all your strength that
you lost, all the mass you lost out on in about week and you may even find that after this
extended rest period that you break through the plateau you had hit prior to the rest. These rest days may
have been all the recovery you needed to finally break through the walls you
were starting to hit and being the gym addict that you are you may be even more
motivated to lift with more intensity, lift heavier just because you feel bad
about missing so many days of gym…after all going harder is what all gym
beasts do when they get back to beast mode after a short hiatus.
Taking an extra day or two off the gym because of sickness
is a good idea because like the sickness, the gym is a stress on the body and
puts pressure on your immune system. If you are really sick and you continue to
push yourself in the weight room, you may find yourself worse off than you
would have been had you taken a few rest days off to treat the illness, giving
your immune system time to fight off the sickness and recuperate instead of
adding to the problem.
is a good idea because like the sickness, the gym is a stress on the body and
puts pressure on your immune system. If you are really sick and you continue to
push yourself in the weight room, you may find yourself worse off than you
would have been had you taken a few rest days off to treat the illness, giving
your immune system time to fight off the sickness and recuperate instead of
adding to the problem.
