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Five Things to Do on Your Next Rest Day to Reach Your Goals Faster

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How often do you take rest days? Do you ever find yourself afraid to take a rest day, or worried that resting will slow down — or even halt — your progress?

When I first started working out, I was convinced that rest days should be taken as sparingly as possible.

I thought that I needed to work out at least six days a week if I wanted to see any results. I didn’t actually get the results I was looking for working out this way. I just felt tired and stressed out and mentally drained.

Rest days are not just important; they’re essential for you to make progress toward your health and fitness goals. But, what you do on a rest day is just as important as what you don’t do.

Here are five things you ought to be doing on your rest days to ensure you’re seeing maximum results and getting closer to reaching your goals.

Why are Rest Days so Important?

Why do you need to take rest days? What happens when you give your body a break?

When you’re working out, you’re breaking down your muscle tissue. When you rest, your body has a chance to repair itself. During deep sleep, your body produces the bulk of its growth hormone, which is necessary for muscle repair and recovery.

Regular rest days also help you avoid injuries. When you’re regularly over-exercising, you put a lot of stress on your body and are more likely to experience overuse injuries. If you’re chronically stressed, you’re also more likely to experience other injuries like muscle strains and stress fractures.

Rest days also give you an opportunity to mentally recharge. Contrary to what fitness enthusiasts on Instagram will tell you, you need to take a break sometimes.

Burning the candle at both ends will just leave you feeling depleted and increase the likelihood that you’ll give up on your fitness goals altogether. It can also make it harder for you to see progress, which, in turn, may lead to disappointment and increase your chances of giving up on your goals.

How Many Rest Days Should You Take Per Week?

Okay, so rest days are important. But, how often do you need to be taking rest days?

As with many things health and fitness-related, the short answer is that it depends. Depends on what?

The following are some factors that influence how often you ought to be resting in between workouts:

  • Your specific fitness goals: If you’re training for a bodybuilding competition, you’re going to need to train more frequently than someone who just wants to lose a few pounds. Think about what kind of results you want to see and ask yourself how often you need to work out to — realistically — reach these goals.
  • The type of workouts you like to do: Generally, a good rule of thumb is to avoid working out the same muscle group two days in a row (at least with the same level of intensity). So, if you work your legs on Monday, you probably shouldn’t work them again until at least Wednesday.
  • The intensity of your workouts: The more intense your workouts are, the more rest days you ought to be taking. If you only do light mobility work, you can probably get away with exercising more frequently and taking fewer rest days. If you do intense weight-lifting or cardiovascular exercise, you need to rest more often.
  • Your current health status: If you’re a generally healthy person, you probably don’t need as many rest days as someone who is struggling with a chronic illness or recovering from an injury. If you fall into the latter group, excessive exercise could leave you feeling worse, rather than better.

There are many other factors that influence the number of rest days you need to take. But, taking these guidelines into account is a good starting point.

Five Things to Do on Your Next Rest Day

The following are five things you can do on your next rest day to promote recovery and help you feel more energized and ready to take on your next workout.

1. Go to Sleep

Remember, it’s when you’re sleeping that your body produces the most growth hormone. If you want your muscles to repair themselves, quality sleep is a must.

What does quality sleep look like? Sleeping all the way through the night without interruptions. Waking up after a reasonable period of time (7-9 hours) and feeling rested and ready to take on the day. Falling asleep relatively quickly without a lot of tossing and turning.

If quality sleep doesn’t come easily to you, you may need to address your sleep hygiene to ensure you’re maximizing your rest days.

2. Move

A rest day is not the same thing as a sit-on-the-couch-and-do-nothing day. While rest is important, you still need to be moving throughout the day.

Going for a walk, stretching, working on your mobility, and foam rolling are all good options that help to loosen up your muscles and minimize soreness.

Remember, rest is important, but there’s a middle ground between being totally sedentary and intense exercise. Shoot for that middle ground so you reap the benefits of movement while still giving your body a chance to recover.

3. Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated helps minimize muscle soreness and cramps. It also ensures that your body is functioning optimally, which is essential for muscle repair and muscle growth.

A good rule of thumb for water consumption is to drink half your body weight in ounces each day.

I like to add lemon juice and sea salt to my water at least once per day. This helps to ensure you’re getting sufficient amounts of electrolytes, which are needed for your cells to actually absorb the water you’re drinking.

I prefer the lemon juice/sea salt combination to sports drinks like Gatorade, which are typically full of sugar or artificial sweeteners.

4. Eat Repair-Promoting Foods

What you eat on a rest day matters just as much as your activity levels. Eat foods that are known to promote muscle recovery, including the following:

  • Whole eggs: A great source of protein and minerals like iron and phosphorous.
  • Salmon: Another great protein source that’s also loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which help minimize inflammation and promote cellular health.
  • Sweet potatoes: A great source of complex carbohydrates that can help replenish muscle glycogen stores and promote faster recovery.

5. Keep the Muscle-Building Signal Going

Finally, if muscle growth and increased strength are goals of yours, you may want to consider doing “trigger sessions” on your rest days.

Trigger sessions promote muscle growth by allowing you to increase the frequency of your workouts. They don’t damage the body, though, because they’re performed at a lower intensity.

If you want to work on growing your shoulders or legs, for instance, you might do a few rounds of resistance band lateral raises or bodyweight squats on your off days to keep the muscle-building signal going with promoting soreness and muscle breakdown.

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Fitness

Making Sure you Choose the Right Footwear for Fitness Activities

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How To Choose the Right Footwear for Fitness Activities

Sporting goods, also known as sports equipment, are all the materials, tools, clothing, and paraphernalia used to play a sport, and vary greatly depending on the particular sport. The equipment ranges from nets, balls, gloves, and other protective gear such as full-body protective clothes for extreme sports like mountain climbing or running faster in marathons. Other equipment may be more aesthetic, like flip-flops for beach volleyball, or functional, such as running shoes.

Categories of Sporting Goods

There are two basic categories of sporting goods. One type is designed specifically for the game of the athlete; this would include athletic shoes, athletic socks, gloves, shorts, and clothing. The other type is designed for use in general exercise or recreation. General sporting equipment is widely available, although not nearly as extensive as athletic sporting equipment. However, most people would associate the term ‘sport’ with the word ‘gear’.

There is a wide variety of sporting goods available to consumers. Some are necessities, such as cleats for basketball players and padding for high school football players. You can apply finish line coupons and get lots of latest fashion footwear at a very reasonable price. Other kinds of equipment would be more fun, such as wetsuits for surfing or skateboarding, or golf clubs or tennis racquets. While some sports require specialized athletic footwear, many products for everyday wear can be purchased at reasonable prices and found at most sporting goods retailers.

Athletic and Fitness Equipment

In recent years, the international supply market for athletic and fitness equipment products has increased significantly. This has been particularly true of the US sporting goods market. The increase in cross-country skiers, snowboarders, mountain bikers, runners, weight lifters, and other athletes has created a huge demand for a variety of athletic apparel and accessories. As supply has risen, demand has decreased. For this reason, the US sporting goods industry has traditionally operated on a large size. This has given the consumer a much larger selection of products from which to choose, which has led to an increased consumer spending power.

Different Types of Exercise Equipment

An increasing number of sporting goods manufacturers are producing items for both men and women. Many of these items target the female consumer, as well as the small to the mid-sized male consumer. Additionally, several manufacturers have developed sportswear that can be worn by both men and women for various sports. Cross-country skis, snowboards, mountain bikes, kayaks, paddleboards, exercise bikes, rowers, running shoes, and many other types of exercise equipment are being designed and marketed for both genders.

Athletic Footwear

The increased size of the athletic footwear and exercise equipment market has led to the growth of several independent athletic footwear, gym, and fitness retailers. These independent companies offer both athletic footwear and exercise equipment at competitive prices and provide a wide selection of quality brands. For those who wish to have further savings, several chain stores, have also entered into the sporting goods industry. In many cases, establishments run by a single individual serve as a home base for multiple outlets, allowing the consumer the opportunity to buy many items at one location.

The Internet has become a valuable tool for shoppers searching for the latest in sporting goods. Retailers such as Amazon offer a large selection of products ranging from books, movies, music, tools, and more. The advantage of shopping on the Internet is that consumers can compare prices, find available sizes, read detailed descriptions of items, watch videos, or download and save photos of sporting equipment. In addition to these benefits, shopping online is the wave of the future for consumers looking to save money on sporting goods. By having a good sense of which sports and equipment is of interest, saving time and effort by searching the Internet for prices, or having a friendly, knowledgeable sporting good store nearby, the online shopper can put together a complete sporting gear package at a significant discount.

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Fitness

3 Self Care Tips for Your Best Year Ever

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3 Self Care Tips for Your Best Year Ever

In today’s modern world, it is very important to focus on self care. Whether you want to care for your body, mind, or heart, there are many ways to go about finding what you need for a successful year. Here are three ideas to help get you started.

Find Your Fitness Path

Fitness comes in many forms, so it is important to find what works for you and your body in order to best focus on your physical health. Working out should also be something you enjoy doing. Consider multiple options for getting in or staying in shape. Join a tennis club, start swimming, play on a local softball team, or hire a personal trainer Northern CA to help you get started on your fitness journey.

Start Something New

Goals are very important for having a good relationship with yourself. The goal you choose can be a challenge, like running an 8-minute mile, or something for you personally, like quitting smoking. Whatever you decide to work on, make sure it reflects a positive change in your life. Besides quitting bad habits, you could also focus on starting new good habits, like journaling every day, reaching out to your parents or siblings once a week, or saving money more frequently.

Make Time for Rest

People are getting busier and busier in today’s world. Between work, raising children, and other family obligations, there can be little time to relax. Rest is pivotal for taking care of yourself, so make sure to set aside time to unwind and get a healthy night of sleep. It is also beneficial to find time during the busy day for a quiet moment for yourself. There are many apps you can download on your phone that will lead you through breathing exercises, meditations, or daily prayers.

Take time for your personal health and wellness, and you will have a better year than the last.

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Best Steroids for Cutting – Proper Stacks for Expected Results

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Best Steroids for Cutting

Some people think that anabolic steroids such as hilma biocare are only for putting on bulk. Certainly, these are very helpful in bulking phase to build muscle, but not supportive in cutting cycles.

To gain a lot from your supplement and workout routine, you can use specific fat burning supplements in cutting phase. Several steroids are designed for total weight loss only and a few to sharpen the physique and maintain lean mass.

Which Are Best Weight Loss Steroids?

Many natural steroids are formulated to shed only fat content, but it is not as simple as using an anabolic supplement and waiting for miracles to take place. The best popular natural steroids are Winstrol, Anavar, and Trenbolone. To turn expectations [melting pounds rapidly] into reality, it is necessary to blend proper nutrition and right steroid stack.

Ignoring the significance of proper stacking, users get attracted to popular ones and add them to the stack. This can hinder their cutting cycle progress. As mentioned above some steroids just support weight loss, but a few enhance your fat trimming cycle and take it to the next level.

Testosterone is crucial component of a good stack, even during the trimming cycle.

Best Steroids For Cutting

1. Clenbuterol

Clen was designed for patients suffering from asthma or breathing disorders. Soon, it became popular in the sports arena because of its anti-catabolic properties. It means fat gets burnt without affecting the muscles. Clen is thermogenic, so raises body temperature, which in turn increases metabolism. This increase in metabolic level helps convert stored calories into energy.

2. T3 Cytomel

Sometimes, Clen is stacked with T3 Cytomel. Cytomel [Liothyronine] is used in treating hypothyroidism, thyroid cancer, and enlarged thyroid glands. Cytomel is formulated to replace thyroid hormone. However, people with normal thyroid functionality apply it for weight loss. FDA strictly warns not to use T3 for obesity treatment or in weight loss program. There are many other natural steroids available, why take the risk.

3. Anavar

It is highly popular because of its negligible low side effects and efficiency in maintaining lean muscle gains in the cutting phase. Users can reduce their caloric diet without any concern about destroying lean muscle mass.

4. Winstrol

Winstrol is a powerful performance enhancer and helps to perk up muscle mass definition by shedding belly fat effectively. Body holds the gain and strength level, which can often creep in during cutting cycle.

Make sure to take right kind of steroid stack to create a toned physique. Follow proper dosage and cycle duration to eliminate the potential risk of side effects.

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