Where Is This “Rest Muscle” And How Do I Train It

Are you working out too much and not seeing the results you want? Chances are, you're overlooking your rest muscle. Here's how to train it for better overall fitness.

February 22, 2022

Where Is This “Rest Muscle” And How Do I Train It

It’s not uncommon for people just starting to work out to want to go hard – like 7 days a week hard. And here’s a little confession from me – it’s not uncommon for me to want to go 7 days a week (maybe even 8 or 9 times a week) hard when it comes to exercise

We’ve been programmed to think “more is more,” but that’s not actually the case when it comes to exercise.

Here are just some reasons why we need some R-E-S-T:

YOUR BODY REBUILDS WHEN IT RESTS. During the course of your workout, we’re asking your body to do a lot of work. We’re essentially ripping up the muscles. During your rest days (and while you’re sleeping – more on that “sleep thing” in a later blog) your body rebuilds those rips and rebuilds them to be stronger. No rest = no rebuilding.

DECREASE RISK OF INJURY. While injuries can’t always be prevented, we CAN do some things to decrease injury potential. When you’re body is fatigued, it finds ways of compensating – and quite often those “ways” aren’t the best ones. It’s kind of like when you’re so tired your feet are literally dragging. Sure, you’re still walking, technically, but we want that “pep in your step” – especially when you’re doing step-ups.

OVERTRAINING CAN MESS UP YOUR ZZZZ’s. It can get in the way of your sleep. You’d think that more exercise would mean your body wants to sleep more. But more exercise can also get in the way of your sleeping ability. As explained by Muscle for Life “your sympathetic nervous system can remain excited at all times and you’ll feel restless and unable to focus, and your sleep will be disturbed and broken.”

NOT RESTING CAN GET IN THE WAY OF WEIGHT LOSS. Okay, so this might be number one. Not resting can get in the way of weight loss. Yup! Read that again! If you’re trying to lose weight and you’re not resting, all that work you’re doing could be for not. WHY?It kind of goes along with #4. With that increased feeling of energy, the adrenal system kicks up in order to deal with the extra demands being placed on it. This can cause spikes in insulin. When insulin increases, fat burning decreases and your body starts to store exactly what you’re trying to get rid of with all that exercise.