Shane Lance B.S., MEd

Whenever you talk about your killer workouts or the awesome diet you are on, people get interested.  They start asking what you are doing or what you are eating.  It is fun to talk about how sore you are.  One thing you seldom hear people talking about is rest.  That’s right, rest.  Rest is one of the most overlooked parts of a good and complete fitness regimen.  I’m not just talking about rest in between reps and sets.  I’m talking about time between working body parts.  I’m talking about snoring like a chainsaw tucked away in your comfy bed.  Working out is great and necessary; however, the real magic happens after the workout.  You put your body through the ringer.  Then, your amazing system gets to work repairing and strengthening your body.  If you start working out again before the repairs are made, you can hinder your progress and over train.  Also, when you close your little peekers at night, every cell in your body gets to work repairing your body and mind.  If you don’t get enough sleep, the job doesn’t get completed. 

Years ago, I suffered from over training.  It was not fun.  Here I was working super hard but my muscles began to shrink.  I was tired all the time.  My muscles and joints began to ache all the time.  I fought it for a while.  When I finally realized what was going on, I took two weeks off from training.  Psychologically, that was hard and I then discovered I was addicted to bodybuilding.  After my time off, I eased back into it.  My workouts were shorter.  I worked out four days per week instead of seven.  It took a long time to get my gains back. 

I learned the hard way how important proper rest is for good health.  It is great to push yourself beyond your limits.  Just make sure you get the rest you need so you can continue to push for years to come.