In the world of fitness and sports, there is a culture or myth that says “the more exercise, the better the results for the body”. Is that true? Then, is there a break after regular exercise?
Regular exercise is not always healthy because the body needs to rest
Many people believe that a fit body and toned muscles will only be obtained when they do regular exercise. The body needs a portion of rest or recovery which is as important as the portion of exercise and exercise that has been planned in the program.
Recovery is very important in sports because without recovery we cannot physically adapt to become healthier, stronger, or faster. Because basically, the body needs rest too actually. For example, if you exercise every day, you will psychologically ‘look’ and ‘feel’ stronger. But if you analyze it more deeply, it’s just something that is reflected in your mind.
Your mind that thinks “the harder or more often I exercise, the better my body will be!”, is not true. Exercise moderately, because exercising too hard will destroy the most beneficial results, namely hormones or expressive genes.
When we exercise, the body does not get stronger. When we exercise we damage our energy systems and tissues, causing us to become weak. The more and often we do sports, we will also become weaker and increase the likelihood of illness or injury or what is commonly called ‘ over-training.
For that reason, balance your regular exercise with recovery. It is the combination of exercise and good recovery that will take you to the next level of fitness. Because it requires rest for the recovery process (or repairing damaged parts) after a while of regular exercise. The importance of rest in between regular exercise.
However, it is important to remember that if there are too many stimuli, or the weight of the exercise itself is too heavy, the body will not adapt optimally. The body’s best response is to gradually adjust to the right level of ability, then increase as the body adjusts.
For example, weightlifters do not immediately lift the heaviest weights and exert maximum effort before gaining the stability needed to lift the heaviest loads (periodization phase).
Exercise with maximum effort can overload muscles and tissues. Making them more likely to cause injury. If you don’t give the body a chance to recover, then the stimulus from each exercise is. Or movement will provide further resistance to fitness and more strenuous exercise (fatigue and over-trained ).
Humans have different healing abilities. Therefore no one can know how long the recovery process will take other than your own body.
Some basic instructions can be followed to know when and how long recovery can take, depending on several factors. And if applied to a more advanced level requires experience such as trial and error.
Take note!
If you are feeling tired, then take a break. Don’t push yourself just because you’re glued to the program on a piece of paper. Many factors can stress the body and it is important to be more flexible in your regular exercise schedule.