When to take a rest day and when to push through!

No pain No gain!! - one of the most stupid quotes that gets thrown around within the health and fitness industry. Stupid because without actual context it can be interpreted in 100000’s of ways by everyone.

Is muscle soreness a good thing? - Yes, it is a good sign that you are pushing your body past where it is used to being, therefore forcing adaptation which will allow muscle to build and repair providing nutrition is also on point.

HOWEVER, a good workout can’t be judged on how much soreness you are suffering from (DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) because if you are trying to exercise 4-6 times per week you don’t want to be hobbling around the gym in absolute agony.

For some reason, probably people being scared of being ‘emasculated’ there are many people who will push there body in the gym to the point where they physically can’t walk the next day, can’t lift there arm above there head or even open a door without the body screaming in agony. This is in fact detrimental to your progression as your muscles are that ‘damaged’ they will take longer to recover.

Since they are taking longer to recover this means that you should be resting the muscles worked until they are recovered, otherwise you are just damaging already damaged muscle fibres and not allowing them adequate time to recover and build back up.

Another reason why having a plan in action for what muscles you are going to target and when is imperative to your performance and progression, a good plan will allow you to hit specific muscle groups a minimum of 2 times per week. This allows you to place significant load on them multiple times and not cause too much ‘damage’ that needs to be repaired, doing this twice per week will be far more beneficial performing bigger movements/exercises than if you were to spend an hour on one day beasting your arms to the point you can’t bend them for the next 3 days due to pain.

When to push through?

Let’s say we trained our lower body on monday and on wednesday morning we are wanting to go for a run, but our hamstrings are a little tight (tight not painful). It would not be the worst thing for you to do some mobility work before heading out on your run to loosen the legs up and then on your run just be aware there is a little tightness, as you are not ‘loading with excess weight’ the muscles will be able to sustain the demands of a run and may even thank you for it by the time they have warmed up.

Listen to your own body, you will know your capabilities and what your body can do. If you are in pain, then you 100% should not be working out. If you need to do something get on a bike or go for a walk and loosen the muscles up, but by pushing your muscles again in the gym it is only going to make the recovery longer and potentially increase the chance of injury.

So, don’t be stupid. If you are sore and struggling to function take a rest day. One day off the gym doesn’t make you unfit, one extra session at the gym whilst you are sore won’t make you any fitter or stronger.

If you are unsure what is the best way for you to train in the gym to get your results why not sign up to our online coaching? Use the link below!!