One of the least used and one of the very best 'secret' training tools for maximum weight loss and peak performance is......drum roll please......REST.Our bodies healand regenerate tissue while we are at rest, if we don't give our bodies the rest is needs then we arenot taking full advantage of one of the most successful training tools. Professional athletes know and understand the importance of rest in order toachieve peak performance. Every time wedo a strength training workoutwe break down tissue, it takes 24-48 hours for tissue to heal. If we don't let our bodies rest in between strength training workouts we are actually preventing weight loss, which for most people is the ultimate goal. You can strength train every day IF you train different parts of your body. An example of this is doing a lower body strength workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday while doing an upper body workout on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. You should always take one day off each week from all exercise to let your entire body recover. When we don't allow our bodies the rest it needs the muscles will breakdown and continue to break down which results in loss of muscle which is high maintenance tissue,this is the opposite of what we trying to achieve through strength training. Some othercommon problems associated with lack of rest is over trainingwhich results inoveruse injuries, an increased resting heart rate and the slowing of our metabolisms when our bodygoes into famine mode. When the body goes into famine mode all calories are stored as fat with the exception of the calories needed for life IE: keeping your heart beating and so on. The number one directive of our bodies is to stay alive and our body will do that at all costs. It is important to workout but we need to be smart about it andstart using the 'secret' training tool-rest so that we can achieve true health and wellness.