Taking Rest Days - I need your advice!

arielangel1991

Hello, all! So, I've been hitting this diet and exercising thing HARD. In the beginning, I had a mindset of "I am going to exercise every single day. No excuses and no exceptions." I thought if I took a day off, the next day, I might not have the motivation to work out, and I would fall back into my old lazy habits. I had been pretty much keeping up with this, except on days where I was out all day long and absolutely couldn't work out. But I never let myself have a rest day "just because". If I was able to work out at all, I did.

I should note that a lot of my exercising revolves around running. I try to do at least 2 miles a day of running outside. I am training for a 5k. In addition, on some days, I go to the gym and do strength training and use the elliptical/bikes/treadmills there. My goal each day is to exercise for at least 40 minutes, and I try to do both strength training and cardio.

Here is my issue: about 4 or 5 days ago, I went to the gym and found that I could not get myself to actually exercise. It was like my body...and my mind were exhausted. I literally could not force myself to exercise. I got on the treadmill, started to run, and quit about 40 seconds in. So I walked for 10 minutes and tried to do some other stuff. But I couldn't really force myself to do anything. I ended up leaving the gym.

I was pretty upset, and I didn't really understand what was happening. But, the next day, I got up and went for a 2 mile run in the morning. I ran faster than I ever had before. I couldn't believe it. It felt amazing. My muscles weren't sore. I didn't feel exhausted at all. And I could actually perform better than I ever had!

So, my question to you is: are rest days really THAT important? Do I NEED to start scheduling these in? And if so, how often? What do you guys do?

My biggest worry is that I won't lose weight or worse, I'll gain some back on the days that I don't exercise. I'm kind of terrified of not exercising each day. I take this whole dieting and exercising thing pretty seriously lol. I have goals!

Meganthedogmom

Listen to your body. Clearly your body needed the rest. It's completely okay to have a rest day!!
I am kind of addicted to exercise too and even on my "rest day" (Monday) I still end up getting at least 10k steps in from intentional walking. However, every once in a while I have days like that where I really just need a true rest day from exercise. And that's okay!

everyusernamewastakenso

Work out 5 days a week and take the weekends off. I usually just work out four days a week and I haven't a problem with weight gain. As long as your eating a reasonable amount of calories you should be fine.

vespiquenn

Yes, you should be scheduling those things in. Especially if running is new as it seems to be. Rest days allow your body to repair. Honestly, I would reevaluate your expectations on working out. If you fear not working out that much, there could be the development of unhealthy habits. In fact, you're starting to exhibit traits of exercise bulimia with the fear of gaining weight. So addressing that before it becomes a problem is key. You will not gain if you don't exercise for a day or two.

One thing you can do is view workouts as a work schedule. Say you need to workout mon-wed-fri. Set times that you cannot miss. That way, you're building in proper rest days while developing a good habit. And even then, if there is a day you're feeling off, just don't. Listen to your body. Nothing is worth an overuse injury that can have you sidelined for weeks.

mochachichi

Ya...it's kinda really THAT important and something most people don't schedule into their week. And don't worry...you won't stop losing weight I promise ok?

It sounds like you do a mix of things so that good...you want to keep mixing things up so that 1) you don't get bored or burned out and 2) helps prevent overuse injuries (which I can see happening if you run every day)

One good thing though is that a rest day can be an active or passive rest day. Passive...sit and catch up on Netflix all day (I love those days!!). Active rest day...do some yoga, do a half hour stretch routine, play in the garden, take the dog for a walk. Whatever suits you but yes, plan for a recovery day every week.

That one day where you just couldn't exercise...that to me is a warning sign of over training and if that happens you won't sleep as well, you'll have trouble progressing to your goals, you might become a little grouchy and well, life will just seem like it sucks.

Good luck....and remember, I promised you that you won't stop getting the same great results you've been getting!

arielangel1991

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I kind of knew that was my body's way of telling me to rest. And I definitely like the idea to do some stretching or low-intensity walking on the days when I'm resting, so I don't feel like a total couch potato.

wtliftchick

Yeah rest doesn't need to mean zero activity. I try to work out six days a week, with one of those being a shorter or easier workout. Maybe 20 minutes of weights or something. Listen to your body but do plan a day of rest. Take a walk or do some extra stretching. You don't want to burn out.
Also, check out Hal Higdons training site. Its what I used to train for my ten mile race. Even if you don't follow his training schedules, his advice is priceless. .it really changed my entire mindset on running. The dude dude is like 90 and still running strong. Check it out!

mochachichi

Don't feel like a couch potato...feel like a Rockstar because look at what you are doing to reach your goals! Be proud of everything you are doing...and keep asking questions. We are all here for you.

macgurlnet

Most folks who commit to an exercise routine also take active rest/recovery days. On those days, they'll do things like yoga, walk around the neighborhood, garden, easy bike rides, etc, etc.

Rest is when the body rebuilds itself. If you don't rest, you don't get better and/or stronger, and you increase your risk for injury. You may also stall your progress or - like you noticed - crash and burn pretty hard eventually.

As you get more fit, you'll find that you can just have active recovery days and probably need just a handful of passive rest days overall, unless you're sick.

I still try to get in 10k steps on days I don't run. My routine is 2-3 days of running, 3 days of strength work, and one day that's casual walking and yoga. I'm dealing with some back issues right now so there's a lot more resting happening than I'd like, but I'm slowly working back to my routine

~Lyssa