How many rest days do you usually take?

LUHAN27

Normally, how many rest days do you take per week? I take 1 rest day, but is that too little? Do you generally take more rest days? I'm asking because I want to know a healthy amount of rest days.

godlikepoetyes

Rest from exercise?

Maxematics

I workout pretty hard and I only take one active rest day per week, which means I still walk my usual 10K+ steps, but don't do anything high impact. I never have a rest day where I stay completely sedentary. Rest days are important, but they're contingent upon both your fitness level and how difficult your exercise routine actually is.

brdnw

i lift every day and do cardio most days, for the month of june i only missed one day. I've lifted at nearly this consistency for almost 6 years now.

mysticatgal1

I have been working hard. I also do 10k steps everyday but do yoga one day and another day where all I do are stretches or just steps.

Willbenchforcupcakes

From lifting? 2 a week. But I'm usually still fairly active on those days. Running around, playing with my girls, doing prehab/correctives. Maybe once a month I'll be able to have a super lazy do nothing day.

danibabii11

You need to rest according to what your body is telling you.... for me i tend to take 2 or 3 rest days a week. Not always because i cant handle another gym session but therr are days that i just have to stay home and do laundry! Lol my ankle was screaming at me this week so i did take an extra day fornit to calm down. Dont push it if your body cant take it.

arditarose

Lift 4 days, don't lift 3. No cardio and I try to keep moving/walking no matter what.

Asher_Ethan

Technically I take 2 rest days a week. But I'm a dance teacher so I'm still dancing on those rest days.

VividVegan

2 rest days per week, which are mainly the days I'm doing my homework and studying. I personally can't study while lifting weights or running an elliptical. Single tasker

Christine_72

It depends on what type of exercise you're doing.. My only exercise is walking, I walk a lot! I don't have any rest days.
Whereas someone doing weight lifting would class my exercise days as their rest day lol

jemhh

Lift 4 days, don't lift 3 days. Sometimes I do cardio and sometimes I don't.

capaul42

I have one true rest day a week. Lift 4x a week and have active rest/cardio the other 2 days.

lauraesh0384

I don't really take "rest" days so to speak. Then again, my only form of exercise is walking. I might have a day or two where I don't walk as much (I'll still get over 10k steps), but I don't sit around all day and not do anything.

Machka9

If by rest day, you mean only going for a walk of a few kilometres in length ... I try to do that about once a week.

heatherheyns

It depends on what I am doing. If I am very sore, I will take more days off. If I am not that sore, I'll work out. I always try to walk, however, so I only avoid more strenuous exercise.

alanlmarshall

It depends on your goals and what you're doing. If you are new to training, it's a good idea to start with more rest and recovery time and to gradually build endurance.

Alarae21

I take one lazy day where I don't do anything. One other day is 'active' rest as I do a Pilates class that day.

jessiethe3rd

I lift
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Cardio or some type of exercise between
Monday I rest. (Foam roller & stretch)

1shedev

Lift tues, thurs, sat
cardio mon, weds,fri
rest sun

Francl27

I only take one when my legs are too sore, so I'd say maybe twice a month.

cwolfman13

Generally 1...but it depends on what's going on in my life and also depends on how I'm feeling. I've been nursing a bit of a nagging injury as of late so I've had a lot more rest than usual...which sucks because I have an event coming in a month that I need to prep for. I think I've gotten this thing straightened out though now and I think I know what to do to keep it at bay...but I've lost a few weeks of good training and I'm not where I should be at the moment.

You also have to consider what kind of training you're doing...more intensive training is going to require more rest and recovery time...if your exercise is pretty light you really don't need anything.

ChelzFit

Lift weights plus cardio 4 days a week, one day cardio and two days active rest (taking my kids out for a walk). I find I get burned out if I don't get my rest days in.

AnnPT77

This is very individual. As others have suggested,

• A light exercise routine causes less need for rest day(s), while an intense daily routine may require more rest.
• An already-fit person will require fewer rest day(s) at a given level of exercise intensity than a less-fit person doing the same routine.
• If you do multiple very-different types of exercise, then the days you do one type may constitute rest days from the other.
• You may require more rest while in calorie deficit than you would at maintenance calories.

And how you feel will be a decent guide. If you start feeling fatigued (especially that bone-tired kind of thing), take a rest day, whether it's on your schedule or not. If the next day gives you a renewed sense of energy, then you've gotten feedback that that was a good decision.

Consider making some notes in your MFP exercise diary about how you feel daily, then review at the end of the week to see how that correlates with your workouts & rest days, and try sensible adjustments.

Personally, I don't have a defined schedule of rest days. I've been quite active for a dozen years, even before losing weight. I have the occasional lighter or no-exercise day at random, such as when weather cancels a planned outdoor activity. I'll take an intentional lighter day if I feel tired (for any reason: workouts, less sleep, illness, injury, whatever). I leave at least one full day between weight workouts of the same muscle groups (mostly an issue in my rowing off-season).

Current (summer) routine is M-W-F-Sa on-water rowing (with occasional extra rows), Tu-Th spin classes, random heavier or lighter yard/garden work through the week, occasional walks or bike rides. But I'm old (60).

Wolfena

I've been known to take months of rest days in a row.... lol
Which is why I keep ending up back on this site! Haha - seriously though, when I am actively calorie counting and exercising, usually just 1 or 2 a week - depends on the rest of my life's schedule.

optfitness

I weight train 6 days a week (I hit the body parts twice a week) and Saturday is my "active" rest day. I typically do 500 jumping jacks. Lol

fr33sia12

I don't have a specific amount of rest days, as my exercise is from walking or work around the house, so I do that pretty much every day.

Psychgrrl

I am usually active every day. At least 10,000 steps outside of exercise (more if I have to work late and can't work out). But I can usually make a yoga class or go running. One day per week I lift heavy for several hours.