how often would you take rest days as a beginner?

kiela64

I have been very, very inactive since about september (not taking the stairs, taking the bus, not going for walks, etc). I've had full clearance from my physiotherapist since November to get back to working out like I was before, but I was worried and only just started exercising again.

I went for a maybe 40min walk (mostly uphill) on Monday, and went for a mostly flat walk 30min yesterday, in addition to 1 circuit of a nerdfitness beginner bodyweight exercise that was recommended to me. I've been careful to stretch afterwards & I've been taking epsom salt baths to try to help sore muscles, but yesterday I felt sore while walking, and it didn't ease up. Today I was quite sore in the morning and decided to not work out today.

I don't want to allow my stiffness/soreness to let me get away with not working out very much (or worse, giving up entirely), but I also don't want to overdo it and injure myself or be sore all the time. I realize what I'm describing is very minimal exercise, and generally the suggestion is to do a short walk to just do something physical, but I find short walks pretty taxing at the moment.

So I'm wondering what you would do or what you did do as a beginner to exercise with regards to rest days? Would you suggest one day on/one day off, or a rest every couple days, or just stretching to relieve soreness?

(Just to add, I get anxious and one of my symptoms is muscle tension, so I'm always mildly sore like headaches, neck aches, sore legs, etc so I especially don't want to just go "oh I hurt better not exercise today" because then I'll end up doing zilch. It's happened before. I used to exercise maybe once or twice a week, but they'd be bigger workouts, like 30-45min of swimming or jogging or elliptical + 20min on the weight machines + 30 min of bodyweight and stretching or 1h of a yoga class. Now I'm trying to do more at home so I can exercise for a shorter time but more frequently to make it a routine so it's less easy to give up)

rankinsect

If you're pushing your limits, regardless of whether you're a beginner or a pro, you want at least one day off for any muscle you train. It's only when you've stopped expanding your limits on a particular exercise that you can really do it on a daily basis.

Note that "off" can mean doing lower levels of activity that aren't pushing your limits - e.g. if you were training yourself to be a runner, a light walk would be fine on one of your rest days.

Cherimoose

I think it's good to walk about 20 minutes every day (or work up to that) if you have a relatively sedentary lifestyle. If you go longer than that and it leaves you feeling overly sore, then you might take a day off from walking. You can do a different activity on that non-walking day (strength training, swimming, yoga, etc). I like the idea of doing something every day, even if it's short. There are both physical & mental benefits to that.
For strength training, it's usually recommended to work each muscle group every 2 or 3 days (assuming you're not on a bodybuilding program).

Why did you see a physiotherapist?

kiela64

Cherimoose wrote: »

I think it's good to walk about 20 minutes every day (or work up to that) if you have a relatively sedentary lifestyle. If you go longer than that and it leaves you feeling overly sore, then you might take a day off from walking. You can do a different activity on that non-walking day (strength training, swimming, yoga, etc). I like the idea of doing something every day, even if it's short. There are both physical & mental benefits to that.
For strength training, it's usually recommended to work each muscle group every 2 or 3 days (assuming you're not on a bodybuilding program).

Why did you see a physiotherapist?

I did that in high school, when I walked to school, but I'll have to work up to it now :P Yeah, I like the something small every day thing, I'm trying to do that also because I sleep better when I'm active. Insomnia has been pretty irritating this semester.

I saw a physiotherapist for a knee injury, my knee cap slipped sideways and it was very painful, but nothing serious was injured from the slip. I just needed to relearn how to properly carry my weight in my leg muscles when I walk, and how I place my feet, to reduce strain on my knees. I also had very weak glutes, so it was overworking my quads, and it was just messy. But all of the inner bruising and stuff from the slip is all better, so there's nothing serious to worry about anymore, except keeping up with exercises and stretches. More exercise is supposed to help it as well

kiela64

rankinsect wrote: »

If you're pushing your limits, regardless of whether you're a beginner or a pro, you want at least one day off for any muscle you train. It's only when you've stopped expanding your limits on a particular exercise that you can really do it on a daily basis.

Note that "off" can mean doing lower levels of activity that aren't pushing your limits - e.g. if you were training yourself to be a runner, a light walk would be fine on one of your rest days.

Yeah, I've seen that. I guess maybe my phrasing is off. I mean because I'm not training to be a runner, and a "light walk" is more what is my current limits, I'm unsure how to have a still-active "rest day" from certain muscle groups, and days off entirely from exercise feel dangerous because they can run together & keep me from working out at all.

katnisscatnip

The recommended dosis is 30 minutes of an enjoyable workout activity - find out what you like most- to start with. One rest day during a week period.

nordlead2005

You essentially need no rest days from general walking. Walk whenever you want, if you are tired you'll either sit or lay down and rest and recover. If you are pushing yourself (walking multiple miles or faster for exercise), you'll feel the difference and maybe on a rest day you just walk where you need instead of walking for exercise.

macgurlnet

On days that I feel more sore than usual, I still try to get in a short walk - even just a lap around my kitchen every hour or so. Yoga is also my go-to on sore days. Stretching feels lovely!

If you're coming back from minimal activity, shoot for a workout every other day until you don't feel sore on the off days. Then, add in another day, and keep going like that, making sure you have at least 1 rest day from intense exercise.

An uphill walk is a taxing thing when your muscles aren't used to it. I would say take a day off, making sure you do something like a 1 minute walk around your house every hour, as well as some yoga. If you have a foam roller, using that may help with the soreness, too.

And make sure you get plenty of protein! I found that upping my protein intake helped a lot with making soreness back off.

~Lyssa

wilsoncl6

If you're sore in your legs from the cardio activity, I wouldn't suggest a day off, just take it a little easier the next day until the soreness eases. There's a lot of ways to deal with this, a hot soak in an Epsom salt bath, topical creams for aches (Bio Relief is one), or just pop an aspirin or other analgesic to temper the discomfort. You're soreness is related to micro tears in the muscles you haven't used in a long while and will repair themselves (thus muscle growth) but completely stopping the use of the offended muscles is not the way to go as it doesn't force your body to get used to the stresses. However, listen to your body, there is pain from exercise and there is pain from injury, learn to distinguish the two.