As a hardworking and dedicated individual, your first instinct may be to work out as often as possible. But, in reality, rest days are a crucial part of any great fitness regimen. In order to gain strength and maintain balance, your body needs regular rest days so that muscles can recover. While you don’t want to take huge breaks from physical activity, depriving yourself of rest will truly work against you.

Still skeptical? Here are three major reasons to give your body a rest day this week.

• Injury Prevention

Among athletes and fitness enthusiasts, injuries are a worst case scenario. A serious injury could keep you out of the gym for weeks, if not months. Even a minor injury will force you to take more than one or two days off in order to recover. One full rest day in your week will definitely help prevent overuse injuries, allowing you to push harder during your gym sessions.

• Fatigue

If you’ve before tried to work out when you’re exhausted, you know that it’s simply not productive. Our bodies perform the best when muscles are properly rested. While heading to the gym multiple days in a row is, of course, a natural part of any training program, you need a weekly rest day to recharge those muscles. Your progress will soar when you avoid fatigue with a recovery day.

• Proper Recovery for Increased Strength

We’ve all heard, time and time again, about the importance of post-workout recovery. Hydration and proper nutrition after intense workouts are critical to fitness success, but so is a day off per week. A day entirely dedicated to rest and recovery gives muscles time to repair, which also makes them stronger. It’s not too good to be true–taking a day off really will improve your strength, not make you weaker.

Recovery is far more important than you may think. By neglecting to let your body rest, you could be sabotaging your fitness goals and putting yourself at risk for injury. Take 24 solid hours every week to take a break from physical activity–your body will thank you.