Getting enough rest is crucial for athletes and active people. Rest allows your body to recover from exercise and strengthen itself for the next workout. However, it can be tricky to know exactly when your body needs a break. Here are some signs that indicate you should take a rest day and allow your body to recover.
You’re Extra Sore
A little muscle soreness that lasts for a day or two after a tough workout is normal. However, if you are still very sore 3-4 days later, it’s a sign you need more rest. Extreme soreness that limits range of motion and lasts for many days indicates overtraining and microscopic tears to muscle fibers and connective tissue. Give your body 48-72 hours rest to heal itself.
Decreased Performance
If you notice a steady decline in your workout performance, such as shorter running distances at the same pace or lower weight lifted for the same exercises, it likely means you need a break. Fatigue is setting in from inadequate rest between training sessions. Performance declines when your body hasn’t adapted to the stress of exercise. Take 1-2 days off to recover and come back stronger.
Elevated Resting Heart Rate
Check your resting heart rate first thing in the morning by counting your pulse for 60 seconds. If your resting heart rate is 10 or more beats higher than usual, your body may be fatigued. When exhausted, your heart works harder to pump blood even at rest. Allow your heart rate to return to normal levels with 1 or more days of recovery.
Increase in Minor Aches and Pains
Pay attention to any mild muscle soreness, joint discomfort, or light headaches during and after workouts. Small pains that tend to increase over time often indicate overtraining. Your body will give you signals that it needs a break. Taking a rest day at the first sign of nagging minor aches can prevent more severe injuries.
Insomnia
Exercising helps promote good sleep quality. But exhaustion from overtraining can lead to restlessness and insomnia. Hormones and other chemical changes from intense exercise too often can make it hard to fall and stay asleep. Get back on a healthy sleep schedule by resting your body for a day or two.
Loss of Motivation
Mentally, you may notice decreased enthusiasm about working out when fatigue sets in. You may be tempted to skip exercises or cut sessions short. It’s a sign your central nervous system needs recovery time when you feel unmotivated and apathetic about training. One or more rest days can help restore excitement about exercise.
Weakened Immune System
Fatigue from frequent strenuous exercise can impair immune function. You may get sick more often. Taking a break strengthens your immune response so your body can effectively fight bacteria and viruses. At the first sign of coming down with a cold or flu, take 2-3 days off from working out.
Inability to Recover
Judge your recovery process honestly. Even with proper sleep, nutrition, and hydration, do you still feel tired and sore for days after hard training sessions? Does your performance continue declining without rebounding? You may need an extended break of a week or longer to fully recover and prevent overtraining syndrome.
Changes in Mood
Look for mood changes like feeling depressed, anxious, irritable or angry. Hormonal changes from overtraining can dysregulate your neurotransmitters and alter your mood. Irritability is one of the first signs your central nervous system needs rest. Taking a break helps modulate brain chemicals and improve mood.
Higher Perceived Effort
A sign of fatigue is exercises feeling much harder than they should at a given intensity. For example, running at your usual pace feels like a all-out sprint. Weightlifting weights that normally feel easy to lift may feel almost impossible to move. Increased perceived effort means your body isn’t recovered enough to handle the workout.
Trouble Concentrating
Exhaustion can impair focus, concentration, and coordination. You may notice mental fogginess, difficulty remembering exercise details, and lack of focus during workouts. Fatigue reduces brain activation. Rest recharges your central nervous system so you can think clearly again.
Disrupted Sleep Patterns
Though exercise can help you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper, exhaustion can have the opposite effect. You may lie awake for hours before falling asleep or wake up frequently throughout the night. Let your body rebalance hormones and neurochemicals with a day or two of rest.
Niggling Injuries
Minor injuries like a tight hamstring or tender elbow often occur when your body is fatigued. These nagging pains indicate you need more time for tissues to fully recover between training sessions. Rest allows overworked muscles and connective tissues to heal.
Frequent Illnesses
Because your immune function is impaired when exhausted, you may catch every cold and flu going around. Too much exercise can make you more prone to sickness. Give your immune system a break with extra sleep and 1 or more days off from working out.
Decreased Appetite
Prolonged exhaustion can suppress your appetite. You have no energy and motivation to eat enough, resulting in unintended weight loss and muscle breakdown. Your body requires adequate calories and protein to recover. A day of rest helps bring hunger signals back to normal.
Muscle Soreness Lasting Days
While delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) lasting 24-48 hours is normal, prolonged severe muscle aches indicate overtraining. Especially if soreness persists for 4 or more days, your body needs additional rest to adapt to exercise stress and fully recover. Soreness lasting a week or more can signal injury.
Elevated Resting Blood Pressure
Check your blood pressure before getting out of bed in the morning. Untreated high blood pressure should be evaluated by a doctor. But if your previously normal resting blood pressure rises by 10 mmHg or more, it may be a temporary sign of overtraining. Rest helps lower blood pressure back to normal.
Frequent Headaches
Frequent tension headaches or migraines can arise from repeated strenuous exercise. Headaches after workouts may indicate dehydration. But ongoing headaches could mean you need to take a break. Rest helps reduce inflammation in the brain that contributes to headaches.
Excessive Thirst and Urination
Intense thirst after exercise is normal. But if you feel thirsty all day long and urinate frequently, your body may be trying to prevent dehydration from excessive sweating during overtraining. Hydration alone won’t fix the underlying problem. Take a rest day to allow your thirst signals to normalize.
Decreased Sweating
Prolonged heavy sweating during exercise can deplete electrolytes like sodium and impair your ability to perspire. Noticeable decreased sweating during workouts is a red flag for overtraining. Rest replenishes electrolyte stores so you can sweat freely again.
Increased Injury Risk
Research shows excessively fatigued muscles are more prone to strains and tears. Tired muscles lose their ability to contract and relax smoothly. Coordination declines. Joints, tendons, and ligaments are subjected to excessive forces. An injury from overuse is your body’s way of forcing rest upon you. Take 1-2 weeks off for recovery.
Frequent Colds and Infections
Studies demonstrate excess training can lower immune function for 72 hours after a workout, reducing your ability to fight viruses. Athletes training more than 60 minutes per day are twice as likely to develop infections compared to lower training loads. Take 2-3 rest days at the first sign of illness.
Decreased Performance in Races or Games
Pay attention if your race times start getting slower or you play worse than usual in sports. Competition places greater demands on your body than routine training. Declining performance during races or games indicates your body needs more rest between hard training sessions.
| Signs of Overtraining | What it Means | Prescription |
|---|---|---|
| Extreme muscle soreness lasting days | Muscle fiber tears | 48-72 hours rest |
| Decreased performance | Inadequate recovery between sessions | 1-2 days off |
| Elevated resting heart rate | Your heart is working too hard | 1+ days of recovery |
| Increase in minor aches and pains | Your body needs a break | Rest day at first sign of pain |
| Insomnia | Hormonal changes from overtraining | 1-2 days rest to improve sleep |
| Loss of motivation | Central nervous system fatigue | 1+ rest days to restore motivation |
| Weakened immune system | Impaired immune function | 2-3 days off when sick |
| Inability to recover | Chronic fatigue; risk of overtraining syndrome | 1+ weeks of extended rest |
| Changes in mood | Hormonal changes; neurotransmitter dysregulation | Rest days to stabilize mood |
Conclusion
Listening to your body’s signals is crucial to determine when rest is needed. Pay attention to both physical and mental signs of excessive fatigue. While you may be eager to continue hard training, recovery is just as important as exercise for fitness gains and injury prevention. Allowing your body adequate rest strengthens your muscles, resupplies energy stores, restores immune function, and prevents overtraining. Use the tips above to determine if it’s time to take a break and come back stronger.