Get Your Rest!

Rest is vital to a healthy lifestyle! It is a frequently ignored aspect of both everyday life as well as an effective workout regimen.

It is important to get your sleep. Studies show that you need anywhere from 6-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. It is generally genetically predetermined how much you need. However, the correct amount of sleep will make you more energetic, more alert, and better able to utilize your memory and creative thought processes.

When it comes to exercise, rest in a variety of ways is vital. It is important that you always plan for at least one full day of rest per week. Muscles need time to heal, and to grow. Without at least one day of rest to rebound, they will eventually begin to break down and exercise will become more of a chore, and it will even become counter-productive. Second, within any healthy program designed to reach goals, plan for at least one unplanned rest period. This should cover sickness, unplanned work or family obligations, or anything that makes exercise impossible. With this planned into your program, these unplanned breaks will not ruin your program!

Finally, rest between sets during a workout is as important as any other aspect of the session. Your body uses a completely different system to complete an anaerobic (basically weight lifting) workout than the system that is used for everyday tasks, aerobics, jogging, etc… This system is designed for maximum energy output in short bursts, generally no longer than 30-40 seconds. This system then needs to recharge to be properly used. Depending on the type of workout, a break of anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes is necessary. Without this rest period, not only will your workouts and your results suffer, but you put you body at risk for injury.

June 1, 2008 | Filed Under Health Tips | Leave a Comment 

  • Tip of the Month

    June 2010

    Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

    Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
    First of all, it is important to know what your overall fitness and health goal is before designing a strength program for any body part, especially the mid-section.  For overall fitness, it is smartest to treat your abdominal muscles as you would any other muscle group.  The tried and true guidelines for most exercise programs is to work specific muscles to fatigue within a 30-60 second set time limit (intensity and duration,) while giving the worked muscle group at least 24-48 hours of rest (frequency) before working it again.  The amount of sets you do in a given workout (frequency again) can vary from as little as 4 sets to up to 12 for the average workout.  The science behind these theories is sound.  While exercising, pushing your body significantly past the 60 second mark without fatigue generally incorporates aerobic energy, thereby not stressing the muscles most efficiently.  And rest is necessary so that your body can properly rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down.  Additionally, you want to be at 100% energy levels for your next workout!

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  • Recipe of the Month

    June 2010

    Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

    This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

    4 large eggs
    4 large egg whites
    1 cup nonfat milk
    2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
    1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
    1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
    5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
    4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
    1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
    1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
    3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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