Rest days are the most important days in the bodybuilder’s week. It is on these days that the body grows from the fruits of your labor and nutrition on all of the other days of the week. As you conduct your workouts each day, you tear millions of tiny muscle fibers. Provided you provide your body with plenty of protein, you blood delivers these amino acids to your muscle fibers, which allows them to rebuild bigger and stronger. Essentially, this is how muscle growth occurs.
Rest days are important because they are the time period when this required recovery takes place. Your central nervous system and immune system become weaker with each training session. They need recovery time as well. By the time your rest days arrive, your body is certainly in a weakened state and ready for all the recovery time you can give it. Despite this, many bodybuilders short-circuit their own training efforts by exerting themselves on rest days way more than is necessary. Here are a few suggestions for ways to spend what would normally be your training session time, on your rest days. These methods will allow you to elicit the most growth from your rest days.
Research
Hop in front of your computer, visit your favorite message board, and learn about the most recent advances in training, nutrition, and supplementation from today’s gurus. Visit your favorite training website and study some newly added articles. Or, open up your Arnold Schwarzenegger Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding and revisit some training protocols you haven’t thought about in many months. Use this time away from the gym to improve your performance in the gym the next time you go.
Measuring
If you have the time and a few extra shaker cups, you could effectively make use of your extra time on rest days by pre-measuring some shaker cups with whey protein, and loading up your daily vitamin boxes. Stock up your car and office with bottled water. Use this time away from the gym to prepare your essentials so that they are readily available when the next training day rolls around and preparation time isn’t as readily available.
Sports
You should spend your rest days waterskiing, boxing, shooting bad guys, and fighting aliens. Okay, not physically. But video games are a great way to clear you mind and really force you to sit still for 45 minutes to an hour on your rest days. Many people, particular Type-A ectomorphs, have a hard time sitting still long enough to grow. Playing a little PS3 or X-box can cure this problem. Just be careful when playing the Nintendo Wii – some of those games can be quite physical!
Cardio
Aside from a brief walk outside to enjoy some fresh air, you have no business completing cardiovascular training on your rest day. You see, rest days are designed to allow the body to release growth hormone and recover and grow. This cannot happen if you send it into a state of catabolism by forcing it to endure tough training. We grow while at rest, not while at work. Unless you’re in the final 6 weeks of preparation before a bodybuilding show and you’re trying to shed body fat, avoid cardio on your rest days.
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