You’re probably not a bodybuilder if you’re asking this question. However, if you’re looking to gain muscle, it’s a terrific question to ask. Bodybuilders, after all, have mastered the art of packing on the most muscle in the shortest amount of time. But do they ever catch a break? Let’s find out.
Professional Bodybuilders take rest days for recovery of muscles, neurological/mental recovery, and glycogen recovery. They usually take 1-2 days of rest every week to rebuild muscles. Otherwise, if they do not receive adequate rest, the potential for muscle growth is greatly reduced.
Next, we will dive more into why rest days are also crucial for pro bodybuilders, how much do they rest, and examine is true whether some pros don’t take rest days at all.
Enjoy.
Why Are Rest Days Crucial
Rest allows the muscles that have been broken down to recuperate and regenerate, making bodybuilders stronger. It permits them to recover so that they can be strong enough to withstand the increased weight and number of repetitions and reps required to grow even more muscle.
Rest is essential for muscle recovery for a variety of reasons. Growth hormone (GH) levels are at their maximum during sleep, for example. Bodybuilders can only improve their physiology during the recovery phase after a hard workout. This is why it’s so important to eat the right foods and take the right supplements right after a workout.
Hard, intense training, such as weight training, conditions the body by applying stress on the cardiovascular and muscular systems. These workouts will enhance cardiac efficiency, enlarge capillaries in muscles, resulting in increased blood flow (more oxygen and nourishment), and boost glycogen stores and mitochondrial enzyme systems within muscle cells (resulting in a much fuller look).
These systems increase to greater levels during the recovery time following an exercise to compensate for the stress bodybuilders have imposed. As a result, they are now operating at a better level of efficiency. However, if adequate recovery time (rest) is not provided, the body will not be able to regenerate. When bodybuilders overtrain, their body stores less glycogen, which is why they may appear flat. If the mismatch between excessive training and insufficient recovery (rest) time continues, performance will suffer.
Without adequate recuperation time, professional bodybuilders will not only approach a performance plateau, but they will also risk injury and maybe suffer from lower performance (less strength, less endurance, etc.)
How many rest days do Pro Bodybuilders take per week?
It is not a good idea to work out every day to gain muscle. Bodybuilders generally take 1-2 days of rest every week to allow their muscles to heal and grow, and if they don’t receive enough rest, their muscles will shrink since their bodies won’t be able to repair them quickly enough.
Your muscles are actually shredded and pulled apart when you exercise. Your body requires rest in order to rebuild this muscle; if it does not receive sufficient rest, the muscle will eventually shrink rather than expand.
Pro bodybuilders frequently take a day off after working out for three days in a row. They then return to their three-day split following that rest day and then rest one more. This is a sufficient amount of time to rest and recuperate.
Failure to allow appropriate rest time for muscles after a workout is one of the most prevalent bodybuilding mistakes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Each muscle group should be worked no more than three times a week, and never on consecutive days, in a healthy routine.
Muscles must operate against resistance in strength programs. A good workout causes minimum bleeding and ripping of muscle fibers, which often results in pain. Damage is an important component of bodybuilding since it signifies that your muscles are healing and strengthening. Muscle regeneration takes two days on average, therefore 48 hours of rest is required to allow for growth and avoid damage, which can lead to muscle atrophy.
More reasons for taking rest days
When it comes to bodybuilding and rest days, several factors must occur for these days to be completely utilized and ensure optimal recuperation, including:
Muscle damage repair and building – This is the most evident, and many people mistakenly believe that it is the only factor in workout recovery. But it’s not the only issue at stake.
Neurological recovery – We’re talking about restoring the neurotransmitter systems to their pre-workout state in this scenario. The central nervous system, neurotransmitter levels, and (most crucially) receptors may all be involved. People must realize that if their central and/or peripheral nervous systems aren’t functioning properly, their performance, motivation, and well-being will suffer. In fact, when people think of overtraining, it’s almost often due to neurological weariness rather than a problem with muscle recovery.
Glycogen replenishment – This isn’t going to sit well with keto devotees, but lifting performance isn’t optimal when intramuscular glycogen levels are low. You can run on ketones during a workout, but the results will be subpar. A low-carb diet can help some people achieve good performance and muscle gain, but it’s not the best method for most bodybuilders. Because glycogen is used to fuel hypertrophy workouts, its stores will be depleted afterward, and part of the recovery process is to refill them.
Mental/emotional recovery – Because it is so reliant on neurotransmitter systems, it doesn’t even need to be in its own category. However, it is necessary to mention it individually in order to comprehend recovery. A workout can be mentally and emotionally draining. The more you strive, the more likely you are to feel drained for several days.
You’ve probably realized that muscular and neurological recovery issues over which you have little influence. Diet can help with glycogen replenishment (eat more carbs), and mental/emotional recovery varies from person to person (but should not be overlooked).
Is it true that some bodybuilders don’t take rest days?
Some professional bodybuilders work out seven days a week, focusing on at least one muscle part each day and doing cardio every other day (on average). Each workout might last anywhere from 60 minutes to four hours. Every day, some bodybuilders spend four hours in the gym. For example, at his prime, Arnold Schwarzenegger would train six days a week, twice a day, for two to three hours every session.
First and foremost, bodybuilders are massive men with a lot of muscular mass who need to work out for long periods. It takes longer to break down muscle fibers as a muscle grows larger. they are able to train so frequently because they recover so quickly. Usually, a bodybuilder can target the same muscle 2-3 times each week, but the average weightlifter targets large muscle groups once a week.
Because they optimize all factors of muscle recovery, bodybuilders can work out so frequently. Hormone levels are the single most essential factor in recovery. Testosterone levels, to be precise. Anabolic drugs allow athletes to work out for longer periods and recover faster.
What needs to be noted is that here we are talking about only one element of rest days – muscle recovery, how this affects other elements is a topic we will leave for another time.
So back to the point, as anabolics enable professional bodybuilders to train every day, regular and natural lifters could only exercise at a high level every day for a short length of time before the effects of overtraining caused injury or illness. The time between workouts is crucial for non-steroid users so that their muscles can recuperate and adapt. Muscles can get sore or stiff, which means their next workout will be less effective.
In conclusion, this is not a common practice among most pro bodybuilders, but there are still individuals who opt for this method of training.
Conclusion
The truth is that there isn’t a direct correlation between how much a bodybuilder works out and the outcomes they achieve. Yes, they can work out more, and yes, this can lead to more results, but they must balance this with their ability to recover. As a result, pushing it too hard too soon fails to provide any results. Finding the correct stimulus is a delicate balance.
It’s also typical to believe that everything comes down to hard labor. In truth, it’s a result of putting in less but more consistent effort, employing the proper techniques, and having good genetics.
All things considered, sometimes making progress means taking rest days.
