Have you taken a break today? Anything counts, even if it was your lunch break. As long as it gave you some downtime away from work and take some rest, we’re happy.
The importance of taking breaks stretches far and wide. Breaks help your productivity, energy levels, and ability to focus — not to mention your mental health and well-being.
But perhaps you struggle to take breaks. We know it’s not as simple as it sounds. You might think you’re shrugging off your work or being lazy, but you’re wrong. When you learn how valuable it is to give yourself a break while still in control, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start taking breaks sooner.
Taking Rest heals Your Body
The human body is built to thrive in a series of short sprints. This is why taking a break—even only for a few minutes—can offer you the refresh you need to persevere through your day. Breaks are brief cessations to work, physical exertion, or emotional stress. They promote mental health, boost creativity, increase productivity, promote well-being, reduce stress, improve mood, and strengthen relationships.
The amount of rest required depends on your individual needs. If you didn’t sleep well, feel angry, or stressed, you may require more frequent breaks.
Adequate rest helps your body activate its inner healing cascade and return to a state of homeostasis. This is when your body can repair and recover.
Productivity
For you to be effective with your work, you must rest. Being productive doesn’t mean working all the time. Rest is an important part of having enough energy to do great work.
It involves taking breaks throughout the day. You can be the most productive when you can break up the day by walking outside and changing up my environment. If you don’t have enough sleep and mental time to unwind, you are unable to do everything that you want to. Let alone do it well.
Promotes Muscle Recovery
Exercise depletes the body’s energy stores, or muscle glycogen. It also causes muscle tissue to break down. Giving adequate muscle recovery time allows the body to “fix” both of these issues, replenishing energy stores and repairing damaged tissues.2 Beyond treating initial tightness and improving circulation with therapeutic remedies like heated blankets, proper rest is the most important component.
If you don’t allow sufficient time off to replenish your glycogen stores and give your muscles time to recover from damage, performance will be compromised. Further disregard of replenishment can lead to sustained muscle soreness and pain.
Promotes Relaxation
Taking a rest day also gives your mind and body a break, and it keeps your schedule from becoming too crowded. Use your free day to spend more time with family and friends. Even if you live in your Alo leggings, take your normal exercise time slot and do a hobby instead.
Creating a healthy life is all about balance. It involves finding a way to split your time between home, work, and your fitness routine. Taking a rest day allows you to tend to these other areas while giving your body the time it needs to fully recover from your exercise sessions.
