The Magic of Rest

If you've played with me before you know I usually talk about breath as the secret weapon and I still believe that it may indeed be the most important piece in our wellness arsenal.

But today I am talking about rest.

I say this in every single program that I write, "Your body needs time to rest and recover to build muscle." But this month I want to share with you my own experience with over training and frustration with muscle development. Leading up to and after surgery two years ago I experienced a great deal of muscle atrophy and sarcopenia (don't worry if you don't know what that is, it is the topic of a day coming soon). I did not take my own advice and hit the resistance training hard and daily as soon as I was cleared. After 3 months of effort with little result my Physical Therapist asked me how often I was working out. When I told her "every day" she hit the roof. I got an earful about practicing what I preach and then strict orders to rest each muscle group 48 hours between workouts.

Guess what.

It worked. Just a few weeks down the road the difference was dramatic. I still have some nerve related weakness on one side but overall both muscle strength and endurance are vastly improved AND some of the excess weight that accumulated during the bedrest found it's way off my body.

So there you have it. But there is no need to take my word for it, check out what Shape Magazine has to say about the benefits of rest days and then be sure you are getting them!

Let me know if you have any questions about this or anything else you hear me talk about in my programming, on FaceBook, on my website or here in this blog. That is what I'm here for.
Erika