Rest for Good Health

Some people become so preoccupied with exercising to improve their health that they forget to take adequate rest. Anytime they wind up doing nothing, they would want to think up ways to fill up that time to make the most of their workout routines. However, the importance of rest in good health cannot be underestimated. Perhaps you are, even now, raising your eyebrow at the idea I am presenting. But there are several reasons and examples that I can give you wherein rest is actually a key ingredient for an overall good health.
1. Rest allows cells to rebuild. This is especially true for those who are undergoing strength training to build up muscles or to tone them up. Studies show that unless muscles get at least one day to rest in between workout sessions, they will wind up damaged. In contrast, the 24-hour time period in which they are not being worked will result in their recuperating and repairing themselves for maximum output. Other than muscles, even ordinary cells are found to be repairing themselves while a person sleeps, and not otherwise. That is why doctors usually recommend at least eight hours of sleep a night, in order to allow one’s cells maximum time to repair themselves.
2. Rest energizes you for the tasks ahead. Obviously, when you are tired, you will need to rest, sometimes in the form of sleep, other times simply by becoming still. Instead of pushing yourself to reach a goal without resting, you may wind up more energized if you took a few minutes of shut-eye. Studies have estimated the best length of a nap to take during the day to recharge is between fifteen to thirty minutes. Anything longer than that may actually make you feel more sluggish.
3. Rest results in greater productivity. Ancient writings such as the Bible and the Torah emphasize this principle, and the Jewish community even stretches the principle further to their farm lands. In obedience to God’s instructions given to them through the Torah, they not only physically rest themselves every seventh day, even their farm lands are given a one-year rest every seven years! Interestingly, while we may expect them to lose one-year’s worth of crops, the opposite actually happened.
The well-rested land wound up re-nourishing itself that year when it was not cultivated, and the land turns up a greater harvest in the years when it is in operation than it would have without that rest period. Now, Israel has the best bumper crops throughout the whole world. I wonder if that is just a coincidence? If that works for something inanimate as land, would you not agree that your living body will benefit just as well?
4. Rest allows us to think over things. Not only do our physical bodies get to recharge, we also get a chance to mull things over that we may not have time for while being very busy with many things. This makes us more clear-headed to make important decisions, which is vital for the many aspects of life. After all, someone who is groggy from lack of sleep tends to be cranky and can make many poor decisions he may later regret.
Once you realize the importance of rest for your overall good health, you will find it easier to incorporate it into your week and not feel guilty about not being active. Just remember that the whole cycle of working out and resting is to be taken as a whole, and you cannot have one without the other. Now you feel you have permission to take it easy one day a week and enjoy the other recreational activities you have missed, such as reading a good book or just taking a long nap.