Why You Should Take A Break

This blog post from T2 Fitness is aimed at those who firmly believe that more is more, and that rest isn’t for the weak. The target audience power through workout after workout with little regard to the needs of the body to recover. ‘No Pain No Gain!’ and all that.

Don’t get it round the wrong way, you need to work hard in the gym and you need to train the body with ever-tougher sessions in order to generate a stimulus worthy of adaptation. Goals mean little when it comes to the necessity of rest and recovery. You could be training for any end goal, it makes no difference. You need rest. The need for rest is arguably more obvious if you train with weights as you will have local soreness from your sessions, whereas if you’re a cardio-bunny you’re more likely to just feel lethargic. This is your cue to take a day off.

You see, when you rest you give your body a chance to recover from the workout and adapt to the stimulus. This may mean you actually make that changes you are trying to make! Wouldn’t that be nice?!

When you train your body is forced to make adaptations in order to make itself more efficient at performing the tasks you put it through. When you take some rest it will still secrete the additional hormones it has been secreting in order to deal with the stressors you are subjecting it to. This obviously has a relatively small window of opportunity and won’t happen indefinitely but taking advantage of this window of timeis really important if you want to achieve your goals.

It also allows the workouts you do to be a damn sight more effective. If your body is fresh it will lift more weight, run faster and jump higher. In short you will be able to offer it a greater stimulus to adapt to. A greater stimulus translates into accelerated goals. A greater stimulus requires a more restful recovery and a more restful recovery in turn means a greater stimulus over time, and so goes the upwards spiral. Happy days!

Now the same can be said in reverse. If the body can’t recover from the stress you deal with in daily life if has a negative effect on immune function, mood, anxiety and potentially chronic issues. A similar effect can be expected if you don’t balance your training with your recovery effectively. Overuse injuries are a possibility, as are fatigue symptoms which will effect daily functioning.

I speak to this subject in a happy place, my mental state fresh and clear following some travel. In the recent months I have been lucky enough to run some courses abroad prior to a holiday and in each of these trips I have felt the day-to-day stresses melt away. Things that seemed like a big deal transpired to be the result of an accumulation of a million small ‘problems’ that blend together. It’s amazing the refreshment a few days out of routine can offer and it is astounding how the little things get on top of you to the point they create real stress.

I’m coming from a place not everyone is lucky enough to ever reside in as well. I don’t mean the destinations of my travels, I’m referring to the fact that I live in a truly exclusive neighbourhood. To be a resident you have to love what you do day-to-day and as 90% of the readers of this post will know, it’s a tough place to get in to. I’m lucky enough to have laid my foundations and built my house here and I know from

experience that not everyone shares my excitement at heading off to work for the day. What this makes me realise is the importance of R and R, especially for those who maybe don’t enjoy their day-to-day quite so much.

Put it this way, hormones don’t take a day off. If you carry a lot of stress, regardless of the origin, it will effect you in the ways I listed earlier. Some people have a higher tolerance, and some feel the effects immediately, but everyone has a threshold. If your stress level is high in life you’ll do your best to have a coping strategy for it, I’m asking you to do the same thing when it comes to your training regime. I am lucky that work offers less stress that a lot of occupations due to the fact it is so enjoyable. It takes a lot less to impact on the stress state of those individuals who have jobs that are perhaps less enjoyable.

Try taking a little time out from your working day and focus on a positive coping strategy. You’ll be amazed at the effects a walk outside the confines of the office can have. The same goes for your training. More is not always better, sometimes working hard for 40-minutes and focussing your time better in the gym to achieve a greater stimulus, followed by proper recovery will yield a far greater result than hammering away day after day. Answer this question honestly How has the current regime worked for you? If it’s working for you and you feel fresh, good for you. If not maybe realign those goalposts and schedule your sessions a little more effectively. If you’re not sure how let us know. One of our Trainers will happily help. Happily being the operative word.

The results might just surprise you!