Questions about taking rest days

[Anonymous]

I've been exercising regularly for about 2 years now, dropped a bunch of dress sizes, lost a bunch of weight. I'm at a point where I really love and enjoy exercise, and HATE rest days. I like moving, I like getting in a "zone." I like sweating.

I do not like rest days, though I do exercise 6 days a week (running, various classes, some strength training). I will tend to take a long walk on my rest day, but no impact, no resistance, and no sweating. But ideally I'd want to workout 7 days a week - not for calories or weighloss, but because I sincerely enjoy it now.

How necessary are rest days? Do you take them? How often? What does a "rest day" look like for you?

[Anonymous]

I do take rest days. Every Saturday. I chose Saturday for two reasons
1) My kids pre-school used to offer "parents night out" on Fridays so Dh and I used them for date nights. The next morning I'd feel all bloated (and sometimes a tad hungover) so I wouldn't want to workout on Saturdays
2) Saturdays are the most intense for us regarding sports, scouts, parties, etc. for the kids--so often I don't have time on Saturday anyway.

In the summers, sometimes I will still go for walk on Saturdays after dinner--but in general I do tend to completely rest.

FWIW I am currently training for my first triathalon, and for the past few years have been continuously training for marathons.

[Anonymous]

Rest days are crucial for recovery and rebuilding. But that doesn't mean you can't do active recovery days. I run 5 days a week and do resistance training on the other 2.

[Anonymous]

I've been running for nearly 25 years (started in high school), plus many years spent competitively rowing. I have always taken one day off/week. Sometimes, that day off is truly off and I'm a total sloth, others I'll go to a fairly intense yoga class. For me, having that one day off/week has been essential in staying active these many years, both physically and mentally. I *love* exercising--but that day off helps me work out harder on the days I do.

[Anonymous]

agree with pp that rest/recovery is crucial to making gains. if you're hardcore, i think your walking counts as rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:agree with pp that rest/recovery is crucial to making gains. if you're hardcore, i think your walking counts as rest.

+1. It depends on what your goals are. I used to do 5-6 days per week but dropped to 3-4 days per week because I can't build muscle ifI'm doing super intense exercises every day. I am amazed at how much more progress I am making than when I was exercising 5-6 days per week. That being said if you are more interested in the activity than the results, you're probably fine as long as you give yourself some chance to recuperate; you don't want to get injured.

[Anonymous]

I took a rest day and ended up injuring my back not working out! ugh!!

[Anonymous]

Would stretching/ foam roll/ trigger point have helped or prevented injury.? Can't hurt to do this on rest days.

[Anonymous]

Do some kind of mobility training or yoga on rest days.

[Anonymous]

What about just a walk outside to get moving, but nothing that is considered too much to sweat? Nice bike ride. Being active is one thing, but exercise you may need a rest from.

[Anonymous]

I'm a life-long exerciser and have been exercising daily since about 2003. I never take rest days unless I'm injured or really sick, or if I have a killer work day with no time to spare. I've taken 4 rest days this year and 9 total last year. I've been doing this for years and haven't had an injury since marathon training in 2006. (it wasn't an overuse injury.) I'm 43.

Instead of a full rest day, you could do something that is much less intense than your usual routine. If I'm very tired and super busy at work, I slip down to the office gym and do 20 minutes on the elliptical and that's my only workout for the day. Or sometimes I'll do yoga and skip the cardio or weights or anything else. Or you could go for a longer walk than usual, or hiking with your kids.

[Anonymous]

11:06 here - one thing I do is that most of the time, I alternate activities so I'm not doing the same thing two days in a row. I'll run on M/W/F/Su and do lower-impact cardio on the other days. I'll lift on Tues/Thurs/Sat but not two days in a row so the muscles can recover. And I'm completely in love with the foam roller when I have any soreness.

[Anonymous]

Listen to your body. You can't exercise intensely every day, but many people can do something that works up a sweat - e.g., jog, steady bike ride - every day without an problem. But you can't do intense exercise - all-out sprints, heavy weights, or Insanity-type workouts - every day.

https://www.acefitness.org/blog/3565/recovery-redefined-how-much-rest-you-actually-need

"How Can You Tell It’s Time to Have an Off-day? Easy. When you really feel like one."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a life-long exerciser and have been exercising daily since about 2003. I never take rest days unless I'm injured or really sick, or if I have a killer work day with no time to spare. I've taken 4 rest days this year and 9 total last year. I've been doing this for years and haven't had an injury since marathon training in 2006. (it wasn't an overuse injury.) I'm 43.

Instead of a full rest day, you could do something that is much less intense than your usual routine. If I'm very tired and super busy at work, I slip down to the office gym and do 20 minutes on the elliptical and that's my only workout for the day. Or sometimes I'll do yoga and skip the cardio or weights or anything else. Or you could go for a longer walk than usual, or hiking with your kids.

This is really just a mind game, your 20 minutes on the elliptical could be someone else's hour long walk. The takeaway for OP is to reconsider what you qualify as a rest day, which is what works for you. Your body will force you to take it easy if you work it too hard and don't allow it to recover, especially as you (and I) age. Somebody might consider an hour in the pool, lower intensity, zero impact as a rest day while another person would consider that a lighter workout.

It's all in the head OP.

[Anonymous]

21:34 - you and I are in agreement - not sure what your "mind game" wording is all about. I'm saying that I work out daily, but that occasionally one of those workouts is a very chill one, for an active rest day.

my point was that the OP could take active rest days, in which she was still doing something, just not something intense. It doesn't matter whether that's 20 minutes on the elliptical, or a power yoga class or a long walk or a hike. She wants permission from us to not take full-on rest days with no physical activity.

Some of us need full-on rest days. Some of us don't. If you are able to do some sort of exercise every day without feeling overtired or getting injured, you may not need full-on rest days.

But yes, you should ideally not do intense exercise every single day with no breaks. Even world-class athletes take days off from intense activity.