Some people love it, other people skip it: rest times mean different things to different people. Whether it’s the calm before the storm or just something that keeps you from wanting to keep going with your workout, your rest time is such an important part of your fitness training. In this article, the FizzUp trainer will tell you exactly why it’s important and how to make the most of it so that your workouts are even more energetic and fun.
You’ve probably already noticed that taking the time to recover between every workout is a smart idea. This reduces muscle fatigue and the risk overtraining, which could lead to injury and stop your physical activity completely. Today we’re covering short-term recovery (the rest time that’s built into your workouts) so that it’s easier for you to understand why it’s important. It’s worth taking the time to really grasp the role it plays and understand why it’s giving your body a break is crucial.
We’ve designed your FizzUp workout with maximum progress in mind. The physical and muscular effort you need to do the exercises are adapted to suit your current physical fitness and abilities. The time you spend doing the exercises, which can be more or less intense, is interspersed with rest times that can vary in length, but are usually between 10 seconds and 1 minute. The length of the rest time is determined according to the format of your workout of the day: sets, circuit training, challenges or pyramids.
During your workouts, between every round and fitness training block, you need the rest times in order to return to rest and let your breathing go back to normal. This restores an efficient intramuscular blood flow, which carries enough oxygen to compensate for the oxygen used during exercise. These breaks are also important for regenerating adenosine triphosphate (the energy used by muscles to contract) and restoring muscle pH by eliminating the lactic acid formed during exercise. To find out more about recovery, how it works and how impacts muscular development, read this highly reliable study published by The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research.
As such, rest times serve a purpose: they help your body return to rest and give it a short time to recover, which is vital if you want to continue your workout and finish it while still feeling great. Giving your body time to rest, as FizzUp trainer recommends, has a significant impact on your muscles’ healthy development and your ability to reach your fitness goals. Now we’re sure you won’t skip another rest time again during your workout!
Like your rest days, rest times are an integral part of your fitness training program. They don’t slow down your progress in any way. Quite the opposite. They help you go beyond your limits, stay motivated and keep working out over the long term as you take better care of your body and muscles. To help you start working out regularly and make it easier to give your body some time to rest, here are five ways to make your rest times more fun and efficient.
1 | Take the time to relax: If you feel like you’re losing control of your breathing, use the rest time to catch your breath, relax and prepare yourself to breathe steadily during the next exercise. To do this, remember to inhale and exhale deeply to stabilize your breathing before continuing your workout.
2 | Don’t sit: Stay on your feet between two sets and move your arms and legs. If you’ve got some energy to spare, you can even gently run in place. Staying active delivers more oxygen to your muscles, which is vital if you want to finish your workout in one piece.
3 | Remember to stay hydrated: Not drinking enough water is one of the mistakes you should avoid during your workout. That’s why you should take sips of water during your rest time. It gives your muscles the energy they need.
4 | Prepare for your workout: Sometimes at the beginning of your workout, you might not be fully prepared. If you forgot to fill up your water bottle, get a towel or lay out your exercise mat for later in your workout, use your rest time to do this. That way you won’t have to do anything once the countdown starts.
5 | Recover with music: If listening to music while working out gets you motivated, it can also help you during your rest time. Create a musical and athletic atmosphere with the latest FizzUp motivational workout playlist.
Now you know how to use your rest time wisely. Stop skipping it and take the time to do your workout the right way. After all, it only lasts about 20 minutes. Get better results when you follow the workouts exactly as planned by the FizzUp trainer.
Your FizzUp workout gets a new twist when you know how to make the most of your rest times. Got another tip that helps make your rest time even more efficient? Let us know in the comments below!
Join the 7 million users already registered on FizzUp
Join us