The Key to Fitness Is Rest

Nothing affects your fitness routine as powerfully as how you help your body meet your goals

It is easy to work yourself to exhaustion and push yourself past your tipping point. Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

In fitness, the worst thing you can do is work out hard after a poor night’s sleep. The second-worst thing you can do is not rest enough during your workout. And the third-worst thing is to not rest enough after your workout.

Fitness is not a technique or new fad—or a machine. Fitness is a request: We are asking our bodies to adapt. Some of us want a beach body and others want to run a marathon. The good news is that the body is designed to move and adapt. Given the right conditions, your body is in it to win it.

Exercise Is a Stressor

It’s important to remember that exercise is a physical stress on the body. Without this stress, the body has no reason to change. Fitness is a measured, specific stress that tells your body that it needs to change to meet these new demands. You are literally tearing your muscles apart just enough for them to rebuild stronger and become more flexible. But it is still stress—and too much stress is detrimental to your health.