Adequate rest is more important than you might realize, and if you’re not giving your muscles enough downtime, you could end up slowing your progress.
Your muscle tissue breaks down during a resistance training workout. It’s during the rest period between workouts that your muscle tissue repairs itself, causing an increase in muscle size.
How much rest?
How many rest days between workouts will be determined by how intensely you train, your nutrition as well as your genetics to some extent.
Research show that you should take 2 to 3 rest days before working same muscle group again. Bigger muscle groups like legs, chest, back require more rest to fully recover. These big muscle groups are probably going to need a minimum of two days’ rest and you may even need three days.
Follow a workout routine which is designed such that you are not over training your muscle and giving them adequate time to recover.
Our best advice would be to listen to your body, for example, if you are up for a leg session but your legs are still sore from your last leg workout, wait an extra day and give your leg muscles time to recover fully. Be sure to recognize the difference between pain and soreness, and most of all, don’t be afraid to take some time off.
Final thoughts
If you tend toward full-body workouts, you’ll need at least one rest day in between. But if you follow upper body – lower body split or one day one muscle split, you can lift weights on consecutive days while still giving individual muscles the rest they need.
It’s a bit of a matter of experimentation when it comes to finding your ideal number or rest days but this article should help point you in the right direction anyway.
Remember that no rest is worth anything except the rest that is earned!