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Rest as part of your Exercise Program

Rest, are you getting enough? I'm not necessarily talking about sleep but about taking time off between training days to allow the body to adapt.

Taking planned rest days is important to your health and fitness goals. Your body recovers and grows (or shrinks if you are trying to lose weight) during the rest period, muscles get stronger by letting them rest. However rest doesn't mean sit on your butt and do nothing, what you really want is Active Recovery.

Active Recovery is essentially just taking a n easy day to walk or swim (if those aren't your usual training activities), mediation, Tai Chi or other light and enjoyable forms of recreation.

The level of exertion should be low, no more than a 5 on a scale of Perceived Exertion (RPE) from 1 to 10, 10 being the hardest workout you've ever done which would leave you almost dead. This low level of activity keeps you moving, which is especially helpful if you are stiff and sore. AR also helps keep the metabolism revved up after a session of HIIT, so even though you might not feel like anything is going on you are still burning fat.

Active Recovery:

Allows the muscles to rebuild
Keeps the Post Exercise Metabolism Levels higher than being sedentary
Flushes the lactate acid build-up out of the muscles and pumps in fresh nutrients
Keeps you motivated by doing something different, but not strenuous
Lets you train more intensely the next session

Active Recovery Methods: