I'm like you - for me, exercise is as much for an anxiety/stress release as for anything else. I work out really hard every day. I've tried to do yoga or a walk, and I find that my mind wanders the entire time, and not sweating makes me feel like I'm not doing anything! On weekends, I like to do different types of things, like jogging with one of my kids, or riding bikes with the family.

Yoga for rest days. Is great cross training for a runner and can be rather difficult if you don’t pick a gentle class. Try hot vinyasa yoga and I think you’ll see you still feel like you’ve gotten a great workout but it’s not as hard on your body.

How about yoga? it can be difficult, but definitely lower intensity and not hard on the body.

Do some steady state cardio on rest days, at a lower intensity. You won't get as much out of your intervals without that; mentally and physically you need a break. It doesn't have to be a day off entirely, just something different than the norm can be helpful.

I use these days to do lower intensity work that still makes me sweat, and work on muscles that can be worked everyday. Example workout from yesterday:

4 Sets of 20 pushups
Various ab exercises with weighted ball
Walk on treadmill at 4mph, increasing incline every 2 minutes til reach 15, then back down.

Run without intervals, and at a slower than normal pace - and likely slower than you are used to. Here's a calculator: https://www.chicagoendurancesports.com/runcalc.htm - calculate your easy pace.

I don’t have rest days for cardio... that you can do 7 days a week. Just pick a day to do something shorter and less strenuous like a walk or elliptical.

Why can't you do a light work out on rest days (swimming, power walking, play a drop-in game of basketball, or the like)? Or work an entirely different muscle group?


How many rest days are you giving yourself ?

How long have you had this regiment?

I exercise fairly intensely and find it helps my stress and anxiety. I run 3-5 miles daily doing intervals and add in elliptical, weights, and body resistance exercises (push ups, planks, etc.).

I alternate days that I do muscle work, but have a hard time (anxiety and stress) if I don't exercise at all. I'm also trying to lose 20ish pounds. What's your rules about rest days, and for people like me who use their exercise as a focus to their day and to help with anxiety and stress, how do you make rest days easier?

I think rest days might help bump my weightloss, but not if I'm depressed or stress eating from missing the feel good parts of running.

I'm not worried about injury. I have stretches, shoes and equipment that mitigates any injury worries.