Why your Rest Days are Vital

Remember that it is the repairing process after the muscles have been “damaged” by lifting weights that actually creates new muscle tissue, so the muscles are actually built during your rest days. It takes at least one day and sometimes two or three days for a muscle to fully repair itself and build new muscle tissue. If you have pain and soreness after your workout you should wait until the pain is gone to work that muscle again, because this will indicate that the muscle is completely recovered.

Working out before a muscle is fully recovered is counterproductive because it would mean breaking down the muscle again and any gains that would have been made during recovery are completely wasted. This is why some people work out all the time and do not make the same gains in size and strength as someone who works out less often. This kind of goes back to the “workout smarter, not harder” mantra we’ve been working on.

By resting a muscle until it is fully recovered, you will ensure that the workout nets you the greatest gain in muscle tissue possible and maximize your results. One workout done properly and followed by adequate nutrition and rest is worth 10 workouts done incorrectly without proper rest.

Another very important reason that a hardgainer needs his rest is that his metabolism is so high. Working out too often or too long increases the metabolism and burns more calories. Reducing the duration and frequency of workouts means burning less calories and since the less calories you burn, the more weight you can gain that means more weight gain in less time.