Over-training

I remember quite a few months ago when we (“we” being my Mom and I) were doing great on our diet. We were feeling really good about ourselves and we started working out everyday for hours! We would run, then go though the circuit at our gym that had a machine for each muscle, then we would walk with a steep incline. I also remember my feeling of disappointment when I couldn't lift as much as I could the first day. At the time I attributed it to simply not being as excited as I was the first day and thereby not having as much willingness to push myself, but I still felt disappointed. Now  I know that my problem was that we were over-training. We were working so hard that we were actually making ourselves weaker.

                Interestingly enough, your muscles do not grow when you’re working out; they grow when you are resting after a workout. Crazy, huh? It turns out that when your body is repairing your muscles after a work out your body will also try to make your muscle stronger in preparation for the next work out, so even though Mom and I felt very accomplished for working so hard everyday we were actually hindering our progress.

                That’s why it’s better to work out every other day. My textbook even says that you should work on a different muscle group each time you work out to give the muscles you trained during your previous work out plenty of time to heal. Rest days are, surprisingly, a very important part of a workout regimen.