Rest, a word for me that is extremely tough to take in, why because I am one of those people that thinks I can do everything and anything no matter what.
Over the years I can admit that I have done more then I should of without realizing it, but it wasn't because I didn't want to take a break, but I like many others that I know, felt that if I did rest, I was taking a step backwards with my goals.
My mind set was stuck! If you challenged me I would accept that challenge. Tell me I can't and I will, it was that simple.
After some time I came to realization that I was not getting any younger, my body was a temple and in order for me to continue progressing it was time to take a step back and incorporate days of rest.
What is the importance of a rest day?
The very first time I realized I was over doing it came with demanding schedule of competing in natural bodybuilding.
I can not speak for everyone just myself, but it wasn't until I got a taste of the stage after my first show that things got out of control. I became that person that wanted to push myself to the limits, without letting the engine every rest. I was so set on the goal at hand that I lost control of what I was doing to the inside of my body.
I think for most of us, we do not understand how precious and delicate our organs are. I thought I get rest when I sleep, but was I getting enough sleep? I combated that with I am fueling myself correctly, so I will be fine, but forgetting that I was also depleting myself.
It didn't matter at the time, because I viewed myself as a well oiled machine.
Well, that quickly changed after my show in 2014 and my last show in 2015, after I had a scare in May of 2014 which I had found myself in hospital bed with irregular heart beat, high blood pressure, and liver enzymes that were through the roof. All that stress and not giving myself a break finally caught up with me.
Obviously, bodybuilding was not something you just do, and to get my body fat down to 2-3% naturally was in my eyes insane, but I loved the thrill of showing how hard I worked!
The general rule when it comes to rest, especially with the lifting aspect is to allow the muscle group that you trained at the very least 48 hours to rest and recover. This really depends on a few factors though which include intensity of the training, your age and your experience.
When we lift we create microscopic tears which is how muscle is built, but without the proper rest those tears can never be repaired. This leaves you open and pron for injuries.
I personally still train 5-6 days a week in my off-season, which you would think makes it more difficult to get the required 48 hours. However, I do space out the workout splits to allow at least 48 hours in between, it just takes time to make a schedule that works.
What role does sleep play?
Sleep is probably in my mind one of the most important aspects when you are heavily into training because this is the time that your body works the hardest to repair.
What is meant by sleep is a solid REM sleep (7-8 hours), reason being is it increases your GH levels while lowering cortisol levels, extremely important when looking to build and maintain muscle.
What are some additional benefits of rest?
Simply stated resting prevents injuries from over training, performance won't diminish, you allow your immune system to stay in tip top shape, and mentally you will be able to focus on tasks more thoroughly.
Over training can also prevent you from sleeping! If you are one of those people constantly working out and trying to figure out why can't sleep, well here is the answer.
In conclusion, it all comes down to listening to your body and understanding that rest will actually help more then hurt. It took me a long time to realize this, but I guess sometimes you really do have to live and learn.
For any questions that you may have please email me directly:
[email protected]
Over the years I can admit that I have done more then I should of without realizing it, but it wasn't because I didn't want to take a break, but I like many others that I know, felt that if I did rest, I was taking a step backwards with my goals.
My mind set was stuck! If you challenged me I would accept that challenge. Tell me I can't and I will, it was that simple.
After some time I came to realization that I was not getting any younger, my body was a temple and in order for me to continue progressing it was time to take a step back and incorporate days of rest.
What is the importance of a rest day?
The very first time I realized I was over doing it came with demanding schedule of competing in natural bodybuilding.
I can not speak for everyone just myself, but it wasn't until I got a taste of the stage after my first show that things got out of control. I became that person that wanted to push myself to the limits, without letting the engine every rest. I was so set on the goal at hand that I lost control of what I was doing to the inside of my body.
I think for most of us, we do not understand how precious and delicate our organs are. I thought I get rest when I sleep, but was I getting enough sleep? I combated that with I am fueling myself correctly, so I will be fine, but forgetting that I was also depleting myself.
It didn't matter at the time, because I viewed myself as a well oiled machine.
Well, that quickly changed after my show in 2014 and my last show in 2015, after I had a scare in May of 2014 which I had found myself in hospital bed with irregular heart beat, high blood pressure, and liver enzymes that were through the roof. All that stress and not giving myself a break finally caught up with me.
Obviously, bodybuilding was not something you just do, and to get my body fat down to 2-3% naturally was in my eyes insane, but I loved the thrill of showing how hard I worked!
The general rule when it comes to rest, especially with the lifting aspect is to allow the muscle group that you trained at the very least 48 hours to rest and recover. This really depends on a few factors though which include intensity of the training, your age and your experience.
When we lift we create microscopic tears which is how muscle is built, but without the proper rest those tears can never be repaired. This leaves you open and pron for injuries.
I personally still train 5-6 days a week in my off-season, which you would think makes it more difficult to get the required 48 hours. However, I do space out the workout splits to allow at least 48 hours in between, it just takes time to make a schedule that works.
What role does sleep play?
Sleep is probably in my mind one of the most important aspects when you are heavily into training because this is the time that your body works the hardest to repair.
What is meant by sleep is a solid REM sleep (7-8 hours), reason being is it increases your GH levels while lowering cortisol levels, extremely important when looking to build and maintain muscle.
What are some additional benefits of rest?
Simply stated resting prevents injuries from over training, performance won't diminish, you allow your immune system to stay in tip top shape, and mentally you will be able to focus on tasks more thoroughly.
Over training can also prevent you from sleeping! If you are one of those people constantly working out and trying to figure out why can't sleep, well here is the answer.
In conclusion, it all comes down to listening to your body and understanding that rest will actually help more then hurt. It took me a long time to realize this, but I guess sometimes you really do have to live and learn.
For any questions that you may have please email me directly:
[email protected]
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