“Train hard, recover harder” is something I’ve seen thrown around over the last few years. And it couldn’t be more true.
Some find it very hard to allow themselves to miss a day of training and end up doing some resistance work. However, if they knew that their body was only growing while they are resting and recovering they might think differently…
Rest days, and ideally a ‘recovery’ rest day need to be implemented to repair and grow our body naturally. Adding some low intensity cardio, foam rolling and stretching have been proven to have a benefit of both muscle growth and performance in the gym. An elevated heart rate will result in increase blood flow, which in turn will drive more nutrients to the worked muscle. This will result in growth and repair!
Furthermore, mentally – it is good to switch off from weights every now and again. It is obviously physically fatiguing on the body but everyone always forgets about it’s mental implications.
In summary, take your rest days! Ideally, let’s get some active recovery in. This will help the body grow and repair both physically and mentally!