Rest is something most people tend to overlook. They believe that if they take “some” time off or get “some” sleep that it is “good enough” but that couldn't be further from the truth. Rest is a variable that effects recovery, growth and future strength gains. The following are 6 ways rest can change everything.

Maximize Recovery

As soon as you complete a workout your body goes to work attempting to recover. It tries to mend the torn muscle fibers. Recovery can be thrown off by the number of days you train or the amount of sleep you get. Adjustments to both can help you recover better.

When I was doing a High Intensity Training (HIT) routine, it asked me to lift 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). After pushing hard for 3 weeks my weights were at an all-time maximum. Suddenly I was having trouble with my favourite exercise—-the deadlift. At the suggestion of my friend and mentor, Carlos DeJesus, I cut one day out of the weekly schedule. I dropped to 2 days a week. My instincts said this was crazy, but I listened to my mentor and took the extra day off. Almost instantly my weights began to grow again. I saw gains after a period of being stalled. Just trimming one day from the training schedule gave me what I needed to take my body to that next level.

Maximize Growth

It is during rest that the body repairs and grows the muscles. The more rest you get the more you will wash your muscles with natural growth hormone. You need to sleep to grow.

Maximize the Next Workout

Resting aides in recovery and recovery makes it possible to do our best at our next workout. By resting properly we will be able to follow the Overload Principle and continue to add weight, sets and reps to our routine.

Maximize Strength

Rest makes us stronger. It is a fact. Our body cannot run efficiently when it is run down. Take the time to rest in order to improve your strength.

Avoid Illness

When we let our body run down we increase the odds of getting sick. Being sick will likely keep us out of the gym. This is why it is important to get enough rest. Stay healthy and you can continue making gains in the gym.

Maximize Mental Ability

I don't care what you've read, the brain plays a huge part in our training. I personally use visualization when doing exercises, seeing myself in my mind maximally contracting each muscle on every rep. Getting enough rest will boost your mental capacities considerably.

Do not ignore the importance of adequate rest.

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The purpose of weight training is to get and stay in shape, promote your overall health and to make you feel better. In order to maximize your results you need to focus on more than just proper technique and executition. The following 6 techniques are more advanced and will pay off for you in the long run.

1. Use the Post-Exhaust Technique

Conventional wisdom used to be that it was important to pre-exhaust certain muscles prior to doing compound movements. The problem is that this limits how many heavy sets you can perform later. Since research has indicated that we get the best results from the total work we perform (sets x reps x weight) with the heaviest weights possible.
The post-exhaust technique involves getting your heavy compound sets done first and doing isolation exercises later.

2. Increase weights and sets weekly

The Overload Principle states that exercise must become more taxing as time goes by in order to continue to yield results. This can be accomplished by adding more weight to the bar. You can also execute this principle by adding sets and reps as well.

3. Deload every 5 or 6 weeks

The high volume of training you will be conducting will eventually result in Fatigue Accumulation. This is fine, but it will lead to poor gym performance and increase the risk of injury. To avoid both scenarios, deload.
During your deload week you will train with lighter weights. It is a good idea to use 60% of your 1RM. You should also cut your reps in half. Thus, if you were doing 4 sets of 200 for 10 reps, during deload week you would do 4 sets of 120 for 5 reps. By doing this every 5 or 6 weeks you will see better results in your training.

4. Train with High Volume

Using higher volume training will really stimulate your muscle growth. When you want to get bigger this is obvioulsy desireable, but it is also essential for weight loss. When we lose weight we tend to lose muscle. By increasing the volume we will insure that the muscle loss will be minimal.

5. Train with Low Volume Every 3 to 4 Months

Your body quickly adapts to the volume you throw at it. It also becomes increasingly difficult to recover when using high volume training. As a result, every 3 to 4 months you should lower the volume of your training for about a month. Upon returning to high volume training you will see enhanced gains.

6. Get Enough Rest

We do not grow in the gym, we grow outside of the gym. To enhance your recovery and thereby your training efforts be sure to get plenty of rest. Rest is one of the most important factors in enhancing your training gains. When you don't get enough rest your body just does not recover and that causes problems. Get sleep at night!

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