When You Can't Work Out, Rest! And Definitely No Guilt

Many people adopt a certain mindset when it comes to exercising:

😟 Once they start working out, they feel the need to train every single day, and if they miss a day, they feel as though all their efforts have been wasted, and they're consumed by guilt...

😨 In the pursuit of better results or quick outcomes, they often increase their training intensity, sometimes even working out twice or three times a day!

😵‍💫 Some even choose to hit the gym after pulling an all-nighter at work, pushing themselves to train hard as a way to release stress (Go, go, go!).

If you identify with these thoughts, please heed my advice:

This approach is truly, truly, truly not advisable!

Today, I want to earnestly discuss with you the importance of another aspect that is just as crucial as working out: rest.

Learning to rest is incredibly, incredibly important! Make sure to read to the end!

Regardless of the Goal: Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, or Beyond, Exercise Should Always Include Rest

Whether you're aiming to lose fat, build muscle, maintain health, or simply keep up with your exercise routine, once you start exercising, you must also learn to rest.

Rest is crucial for several reasons! If you don't know how to rest properly, it can lead to:

01 Stalled Weight Loss and Muscle Growth

Lack of rest, especially after high-intensity workouts, can actually cause your body to 'resist'. This is similar to the principle of extreme dieting: your body thinks it's starving, so it stores more fat. Similarly, when you don't rest, your body perceives that you're exhausted, which can accelerate muscle breakdown and decrease fat metabolism.

Testosterone and leptin levels drop, reducing your sense of fullness, making you want to eat more, while also decreasing your body's ability to metabolize fat, leading to unnecessary fat accumulation and increasing the likelihood of gaining weight.

This creates a vicious cycle where you're stuck in a rut of "not losing weight or building muscle, and feeling like your workouts are futile..."

For example, as mentioned in the opening message,arranging rest days reasonably or reducing the intensity of your workouts might be what it takes to break the cycle of "working out hard with no results."

02 Increased Risk of Injury and Decreased Athletic Performance

Strength training places a significant strain on the central nervous system.

Without adequate rest, neurons cannot recover and re-establish connections, and your subsequent workouts will not only fail to accurately target the desired muscles, but your focus will also deteriorate.

Apart from reducing athletic performance, there's also an increased risk of injury if you're not careful!

03 It Can Be Life-Threatening!

Many people, in their commitment to 'disciplined fitness,' even opt to exercise late into the night after a long day.

While this spirit of perseverance is truly commendable, I must advise against it from a practical standpoint.

Even healthy young individuals can face an increased risk of acute cardiac stress and heart disease if they consistently suffer from sleep deprivation and suddenly engage in high-intensity exercise.

Especially during intense exercise, oxygen consumption increases, which can more easily lead to insufficient blood supply to the heart, raising the risk of sudden cardiac arrest (in the most severe cases, it can even lead to sudden death!).

After discussing all this, the logic is straightforward:

If you never rest, your body will operate beyond its capacity, affecting muscle growth and fat metabolism, reducing immunity, and causing hormonal imbalances, ultimately impacting your health...

😫😫😫

Remember this: when you're tired, the benefits your body gains from "resting" are often better than those from "forcing yourself to keep going!"

Rest Isn't Just Lying Down: There Are 4 Different Ways to Rest

You might think: Hey, isn't rest just about sleeping or doing nothing? Who doesn't know how to rest?

Wait a minute! You might not really know how to "rest" properly.

Many people equate "rest" with sleeping, lying down, or "lounging" (葛优瘫 - a Chinese slang term referring to a lazy, reclined position), which are just one type of rest method—"passive rest."

Passive rest mainly allows our muscle tissue and central nervous system to relax.

However, simply "sleeping" and "lying down" are not enough because, after exercise, our bodies also need rest to clear metabolic byproducts from the muscles, reduce inflammation, speed up recovery, and enhance performance in the next workout.

You must have experienced this:

😴 Even after a long sleep, you still feel like you haven't fully recovered. After spending a whole day lying around at home, you end up feeling more tired instead? On the contrary, going for a walk or doing some yoga & stretching can make both your body and mind feel much better, right?

So, "rest" can also involve movement.

In addition to "sleeping," which is a form of passive rest, don't forget about these two types of rest:

01 Active Rest:

Low-intensity activities such as yoga, walking, or slow cycling.

02 Active Recovery:

Foam rolling, using a massage ball, and other forms of recovery.

Additionally, for those with long-term training plans, there is a strategy known as "periodization rest."

This is a commonly used rest strategy in long-term training plans, which typically involves reducing the volume and intensity of training to allow the body a longer recovery period. The goal is to prevent overtraining and enhance the body's adaptability.

Learn to Rest: Several Things You Can Try

Now, how should you rest? You can follow these three steps:

✅ How to Arrange Rest Days:

🙆🏻‍♀️ When creating a fitness plan, ensure you have 1 to 2 complete rest days each week, during which you do not engage in any aerobic or strength training.

🙆🏻‍♀️ Depending on your personal situation and the intensity of your training, you can choose to arrange consecutive rest days or spaced-out rest days:

• Consecutive rest days refer to taking two days off in a row, such as during the weekend.
• Spaced-out rest days mean spreading out your rest days across different days of the week.

✅ What to Do on Rest Days:

🙆🏻‍♀️ Get plenty of sleep: Rest days are for your body to recover and repair, so ensuring adequate sleep is crucial. Aim for 7-9 hours of high-quality sleep each night.

🙆🏻‍♀️ Engage in light activity: You can perform some low-intensity activities such as walking, yoga, or gentle stretching. These activities can promote blood circulation, relax muscles, and aid in recovery.

🙆🏻‍♀️ Relax your body and mind: Reduce stress on your body and mind through relaxation activities like meditation, deep breathing, and massage. This is highly beneficial for overall physical recovery.

✅ For those with different goals, such as fat loss and muscle gain, in addition to the general rest day recommendations mentioned above, you might also consider:

🙆🏻‍♀️ During fat loss rest days: Focus on maintaining metabolic rate and fat burning.

• Control caloric intake: Continue to maintain a moderate caloric intake and avoid overindulging.
• High-protein meals: Consume an adequate amount of high-quality protein to promote muscle repair and maintain a feeling of fullness.

🙆🏻‍♀️ During muscle gain rest days: Focus on providing sufficient time for muscle repair and growth.

• Nutritional supplementation: Increase your intake of protein and carbohydrates on rest days to provide ample nutrition to support muscle growth and recovery.
• Stretching and mobility: Perform light stretching and mobility exercises to maintain muscle flexibility and joint health.

Never consider rest as laziness; knowing how to rest is just as important as knowing how to exercise! Smart resting can make your workout effects as effective as having a "buff" that multiplies your efforts.