Rest is Important and Usually Forgotten

Team - There are three important parts to your health: diet, exercise and rest.  Yes, rest and muscle recovery are very important.  Resting our bodies ultimately helps us become stronger.

Picure this - You make it to the gym and pick up a Stability Ball and a pair of heavier hand weights (20+ lbs) for squats on the stability ball.  Before you squat and curl, your primary muscles and other corresponding muscles are full of energy.  This energy is also know as glycogen.

You prep yourself and start performing the squats and bi curls.  As your muscles contract against the hand weights and your natural body weight, you create small tears in the muscle.  These tears regenerate in a resting period which result in muscle growth.  Muscles rest when the specific exercise in complete.

The November '95 study from "The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research" said longer rest periods, such as 3 minutes, between sets resulted in greater strength gains more than a shorter, 30-second, rest.

Let your muscles rest!  And do not work the same muscles consecutive days.  This includes abs as well.  Resting the muscles and the body is key to reaching your fitness goals.

Here is a recent picture of myself taking a quick break at the park with some friends. Two things:  1.  Yes, I did let me heart rate come down before perform this stunt 2. I was a gymnast.

How do you rest? Do you get enough rest? What are some pointers on getting enough sleep at night.  One pointer I live by is not checking my phone when I fall asleep.  The emails and texts can wait, rest is important!

Source:  Importance Of Rest