Resting

Lack of recovery time between workouts can leave you feeling depressed and fatigued. Worst still it can lead to illness and cause injury. Proper rest days are essential for long term progress and over training can result in a decrease in performance and lack of energy. This in turn will lead to a decrease in activity and burnout.
For long term improvement in fitness and muscular gains it is absolutely vital that the proper rest is taken to allow muscles and body tissues to recover. Rest days don’t have to be completely inactive and a slow paced cardiovascular workout or a technique workout (with minimal weight) will help blood flow and can aid recovery.
In addition to scheduling recovery days throughout your workout week you should also be getting at least eight hours of sleep each night. Lack of sleep will kill your energy and a study by the University of Chicago found that sleep deprivation can slow metabolism of glucose, your body’s energy source, by 30 to 40 percent. It also raises your body’s levels of cortisol, a hormone which has been linked to impaired recovery.
To aid with sleep try to keep to a regular sleeping pattern, avoid stimulants before bedtime and make you room as dark as possible. Keep electronic devices out of the bedroom especially those with LED’s which can stimulate brain activity and disturb a good nights sleep.
Everyone is different and people’s bodies react differently to different exercises. Be sensitive to your body’s needs when training and listen to it particularly when you are feeling lethargic. It can often mean your body needs rest. Having a flexible approach to your training in this respect can mean you are less likely to burn out by over training. You will maintain your training over a longer period when you give your body adequate rest when needed, allowing you to progress at an overall faster rate.
Over training which results in burnout may mean months of recovery from illness or injury in which you cannot train. Results from previous training will be short lived and you will lose previous muscular gains.
Proper nutrition is a similarly important factor in developing a defined six pack.
Make sure you are eating the correct foods for your exercise program or you may have similar problems. You body won’t be able to maintain the increased demand on its resources if you fail to provide it with the correct nutrition. You may find you become fatigued or even become ill and have to stop training if you don’t.