I have previously written about getting the most out of both cardio and strength workouts. That’s a lot of work, pun intended. So, today, let’s switch gears and talk about rest.

Yeah, I knew that would bring smiles. Who doesn’t like rest? And most of us get far too little of it. There is a lot of chatter about what to do during workouts. I certainly pay my fair share of lip service to it around here. Just about every conversation you overhear at the gym involves somebody asking somebody else how many sets/reps/etc. of an exercise they are doing, or what new exercise to try, or a new way of arranging cardio to make it more effective. And then there’s always that random conversation about what new juice flavor the gym is offering, but I digress.

Very rarely do you hear a conversation about rest. And here’s the thing. Rest is actually the most important part of your workout. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. Rest and recovery time should be viewed as part of your workout if you want to get the most out of it. I’ve covered frequency, intensity, and volume of training as it relates to both cardiovascular and strength workouts. Rest is directly related to intensity. In short, the harder you go (cardio or strength) the more recovery that particular system needs.

Now, an important point of fact here… I am using the terms rest and recovery somewhat interchangeably. If you have a HIIT cardio workout one day, you should have a recovery cardio day the next. However, unless there is considerable muscle soreness, there is no need to have a light strength day the next day. Why? Because cardiovascular exercise and strength exercise are training two different systems. Therefore, recovery is most important for the system that was just stressed.

Why recovery? For years, and I’m showing my age here, “no pain, no gain” ruled the fitness world. Everyone was pushing themselves to the limit. That meant a lot of exercise and a lot of very intense exercise. Well, guess what? “No pain, no gain” actually led to a huge amount of attrition (it’s why the New Year’s Resolutioners usually don’t last past February) and a huge amount of more pain. Yeah, a lot of injuries. The body needs time to recover. See, your body becomes more awesome (at whatever you are asking it to be better at) when it has proper rest and recovery.

That means, you should not be doing seven days per week every week. You should not be doing HIIT every session. You should not be pushing distance or time every workout. You should not be training a muscle group more than twice per week with heavy weight. For every two really intense sessions, give your body an easier one to recover. And make sure you have at least one day per week of actual rest. Trust me, your knees/hips/ankles/back will thank you for it.