Add Rest Days to Your Workout Routine
June 2, 2020
Henry Ford Health System
Whether you're new to exercise or a seasoned enthusiast, it's tempting to adopt an all-go, no-quit attitude. This is especially common when you're are trying to achieve a fitness goal. Maybe you want to run a 5K, or maybe you have 10 pounds you want to shed before going on vacation.
"Whatever the driver, it's important to remember that scheduling time for rest and rejuvenation is a critical component of any workout regimen," says James Moeller, M.D., a sports medicine specialist at Henry Ford Health System.
Building in Rest Days
From high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and spin to barre and Zumba, popular workouts increasingly push exercisers to go faster, longer, stronger. This prolonged physical stress can lead to overuse injuries, such as stress fractures, muscle strains and joint pain. Excessive exercise can also lead to hormonal changes, disrupted sleep patterns, decreased immunity and mood swings.
“Working out, especially resistance training, breaks tissues down, causing microscopic damage,” Dr. Moeller says. "Rest days allow your muscles time to rebuild."
So how much rest do you really need? There isn't a one-size-fits-all prescription. Factors like your age, fitness level, the intensity of your workout and the amount of training you do weekly will impact the amount of recovery time you need. But there are some basic guidelines for rest days:
1. Go easy: Rest is a relative term. "It's not just sitting on the couch with an iced tea," says Dr. Moeller. "You may still be exercising on 'rest' days, but at a lower intensity." Maybe you go for a brisk walk or ride your bike to work. Take a yoga class or do some dynamic stretching. The key is to make sure you're not overworking the same body parts.
2. Get sufficient sleep: Sleep is a key component of muscle repair and rebuilding. During sleep, your body’s production of growth hormone increases. Not getting quality shuteye thwarts your body's production of growth hormone and can impact your performance.
3. Give overtaxed muscles a break: You don't need to skip the gym on specific days each week, but you do need to rotate which body parts you're working. The general rule is to give muscles 48 hours to recover after a workout. So it's a good idea to take two to three days off before working the same muscle groups again.
4. Stay hydrated: Make sure to restore lost fluids before, during and after a workout. Dehydration can lead to overheating, headaches and muscle fatigue, among other ailments. You don’t need a sports drink; water is best. "Sports drinks aren't required unless you're getting into very high intensity activity, or exercising for more than one hour at a time," Dr. Moeller says.
5. Pay attention to your body: A lot of people try to work out through pain and fatigue. If there's a heaviness to your movements, or if you feel like your muscles are not responding appropriately to the stress you're providing, take a time out. "It's really about learning to read your body's signals," says Dr. Moeller.
Health authorities and news headlines widely publicize the health benefits of exercise — and the consequences of inactivity. The American Heart Association recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, plus strength training two or three days per week. Less discussed are the negative effects of not allowing your body sufficient time to rest.
Getting sufficient rest between workouts is just as important as participating in regular exercise. "Both are part of the total process required to build strength, endurance and muscle mass," Dr. Moeller says.
Want to learn more? Henry Ford Health System sports medicine experts are treating the whole athlete, in a whole new way. From nutrition to neurology, and from injury prevention to treatment of sports-related conditions, they can give your athlete a unique game plan.
Visit henryford.com/sports or call (313) 972-4216 for an appointment within 24 business hours.
NFHS Voice: Lessons Learned in Loss
January 31, 2020
By Karissa Niehoff
NFHS Executive Director
Sometimes in life things simply do not happen as planned. The unexpected is always right around the corner. When these situations occur, we must adapt to change and determine the best steps in moving forward.
Such was the case in selecting the subject for this week’s “Voice.” We were set on addressing the ugly spotlight on professional baseball with the recent sign-stealing incidents and that high school sports is not and must not be about “winning at any cost.”
This is certainly a worthy subject. High school sports is about competing fairly and doing things the right way. The wrong in the baseball scandal was not getting caught; it was players and managers believing that cheating was an acceptable means to winning. These are not the kind of heroes we want to follow.
And then came the events of Sunday morning in California. It was hard to fathom. Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were no longer with us. Along with seven others on the helicopter that crashed that morning, Kobe and “Gigi” were on their way to what else – a basketball game.
As people from all over the world – both those who knew Kobe on a personal basis as well as casual fans – expressed their shock and sadness about this tragedy, there were consistent messages about the value of sports and family that were ever present.
While Kobe Bryant was one of the best basketball players ever to play the game, it was apparent that more so than all the all-star appearances and scoring titles and NBA championships, his impact came from the relationships formed through participating in sports – from Lower Merion High School in the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, to his 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers.
And then it was about family as he supported his daughters, Natalia, who plays volleyball, and Gigi, a basketball player who was determined someday to play at the University of Connecticut, in their participation in sports. In an interview with PEOPLE Magazine in 2018, Bryant shared how he used his opportunity to coach his daughters in basketball as an opportunity to teach them valuable life lessons.
“A valuable life lesson that I can teach them is what it means to pursue excellence and the commitment level that comes with that,” Bryant said in the PEOPLE interview.
There are many lessons to be learned from this tragedy and the nine lives that were cut short. Our original plan of re-emphasizing that high school sports must not be about “winning at any cost” is certainly among those lessons. Success at the high school level has more to do with preparing students for their lives after high school than winning games or state championships.
Doing things the right way, playing the game the way it is supposed to be played, developing relationships and having fun along the way – that’s the message of high school sports.
As we listened to hundreds of people share their remembrances of Kobe Bryant the past few days, a few things were evident. Like all of us, he was not perfect; however, he showed us the power and influence of sports in our country. He played the game the right way, giving 100-percent effort every night. He regularly praised and supported others, always smiling. And he was passing on his love of sports to his daughters.
And the last lesson – be sure you tell those closest to you every day that you love them.
Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff is in her second year as executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is the first female to head the national leadership organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities and the sixth full-time executive director of the NFHS, which celebrated its 100th year of service during the 2018-19 school year. She previously was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for seven years.