Only rest when you are dead

[squatz]

I was reading an article that quoted Mark Bell as saying one of his principles is "Only rest when you are dead". I have mixed feelings on this as I understand where he is coming from but yet I need the rest in my days to help my body recover and to make me stronger. What do you think about it?

[Fazc]

He's not talking about planned rest days.

[ricka182]

Rest when you need it. Anything else is non-sensical. Some of the biggest and strongest people I know lift when the body tells them it is ready.

One of the most popular programs, 5/3/1 actually integrates a rest/deload week into it to allow for proper healing and growth.

[bruteforce]

Bell likes to say sensationalist things. his underlying message of "Stop being a P*ssy and load the damn bar" is something a lot of the dweebs in the gym need to learn.

[BendtheBar]

The exact quote is:

OK, now that I got you thinking, I'll help you train while you're banged up. After all, one of my principles is: "Only rest when you're dead." You may not be able to train at max effort, but we'll get you pretty dang close.

My interpretation of this is do what you can with what you got on any given day.