Recovery is an important aspect of workouts that many people tend to overlook. Yes it’s good to push yourself beyond your limits and see how far you can go, but it isn’t always good for your muscle recovery and muscle growth.
Your muscles need the proper rest and care to ensure you aren’t overdoing it and potentially leading yourself to injuries. Not to mention the strain you put onto your joints too!
How do you know when skipping the gym workout would be good for you? Here are some signs.
1. When you’re under a lot of stress. Sometimes it happens, life doesn’t always work out the way we want it to and there is a lot of negative energy that is pent up. Some may think it’s a good idea to bust a workout while their body is under this much stress, in hopes that exercise will make you feel better. But what you’re actually doing, is putting your body under even more stress – which means possibly tearing your muscles and depleting what little energy you even have left; causing you to feel weak.
2. When you’re tired. We aren’t superhuman as much as we like to think that we can do everything, we really can’t. Our bodies are going to be tired at some point, meaning we’ll be dragging our feet, our moods will probably be a little grumpy, and we’re just slower. This doesn’t mean you’re being lazy and caving into your weakness, but your body is telling you it needs some rest. When you push yourself in this state, you’re more likely to suffer an injury or you won’t be reaping much benefit from your workout anyway. Your body just can’t do it.
3. When you’re sick. Just don’t do it. First of all, your body’s immune system is weak so god knows what other germs you might pick up at the gym. Secondly, you may get other people sick and that’s really not cool. Thirdly, you aren’t fit for a workout. Rest and recover before you even think about making a comeback, or if you really need to, workout at home.
4. When you’re back hurts. Listen to your body because it usually tells you when something doesn’t feel right, or when something is a little off. When your back starts hurting, take a break and don’t do exercises that are too strenuous on your back muscles. Maybe do some yoga and strengthening sessions.
5. When you’re too sore. We all get sore after a workout, that’s the muscle growing and responding. But if you’re too sore you can barely function, then you’ve pushed yourself too hard and you need to work on muscle recovery. A drink of FitAID would be ideal for that.
– Cover Image: rd.com
