Rest days
Misssynth
Posts: 179 Member
How many rest days do you have, and are they pure rest or do you do something else?
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My rest days are usually nothing other than my usual 6000 steps per day. I usually have between 1 and 3 per week depending on what I'm doing.0
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How many rest days do you have, and are they pure rest or do you do something else?
Usually one, sometimes two rest days per week.
Doing something else?
Active recovery or weight lifting or sometimes just nothing depending on the training load. And every third or fourth week, I do a rest and recovery week of 6-6 days which means I still workout, but with less volume, and less intensity.
Why should one take a rest day - or periodic rest and recovery weeks?
The training effect....
If you are not training for anything (to be bigger, to be smaller, to be faster, stronger, longer, etc...) - I wouldn't worry so much about it outside of allowing your immune system to stay functioning at top notch capacity so you don't get sick.0 -
i have rest days where i only wake up for long enough to go look for more food (hello deadlifts). and others where i go to the gym anyway and do something 'light'. or i'll form a close and deep relationship with my foam roller and lacrosse ball that lasts all day long.
i play it by ear basically. if i feel fine i definitely don't strap myself down and order myself not to move very much.0 -
Zero, but I schedule four days of deload after twelve days of normal working weight.
My body needs to lift every day for optimal health.0 -
I don't take any but I'm not doing gruelling workouts. The lightest thing I will do is a 30 minute run/walk interval on the treadmill. The rest of my week is 40 mins on the treadmill and then usually some free weights or body weight work on arms/abs/legs or whatever.0
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Two in a normal week, one of which is a run around at work like crazy and the other is a chase my girls around all day long.0
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I take 2-3 a week. With inactive rest days due to how strenuous my work can be. I also cycle my volume throughout the week to allow proper recovery after heavy compound movements. Id suggest getting on a structured program in order to eliminate the guess work from it all.0
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I let my body tell me when to take one. When I started with myfitnesspal I went 155 days before taking my first rest day. Two weeks ago I had an infection and took 5 days off.0
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Thank you for your replies guys! I took two rest days last week but I definitly feel like I didn't need them. I don't want to push myself too hard but at the same time I just feel a bit..rubbish if I don't do SOMETHING. I think I'm going to switch my complete rest days out for either a walk or yoga just to stay active but still allow recovery. Currently I'm doing 3 5k runs and 2 weight sessions a week.0
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Rest days = 0
Unless I'm ill or injured.
I've only taken a small handful of rest days in the last couple years.
I do, however, vary my exercise. Some days might be a 2 km walk ... other days might be a 200 km bicycle ride.
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2 days a week I don't have any weight training programmed. I always try to walk more steps on those days and if my schedule permits, I may go to the gym and train a lagging bodypart or do cardio and abs.1
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SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
I'm there!
Well, almost ... just a few months away.
I'll also add that my husband is in his early 60s and works full-time at a physical job 5 days a week ... plus goes walking with me in the evenings, plus goes cycling with me on the weekends. It's all in what you get used to ... and the intensity at which you do it.0 -
SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
I'm there!
Well, almost ... just a few months away.
I'll also add that my husband is in his early 60s and works full-time at a physical job 5 days a week ... plus goes walking with me in the evenings, plus goes cycling with me on the weekends. It's all in what you get used to ... and the intensity at which you do it.
Exactly. Rest is relative to the individual and thier training levels and what their body requires to be optimal for their goals.
Just because you get older doesn't mean you have to take it easier just more aware if what your body needs.0 -
Thank you for your replies guys! I took two rest days last week but I definitly feel like I didn't need them. I don't want to push myself too hard but at the same time I just feel a bit..rubbish if I don't do SOMETHING. I think I'm going to switch my complete rest days out for either a walk or yoga just to stay active but still allow recovery. Currently I'm doing 3 5k runs and 2 weight sessions a week.
Active recovery on your rest day(s) is typical - be it a walk, light chores and yard work, yoga & stretching & foam roller work, a 30 - 90 minute spin on the bike in HR Zone 1, massage, core work, etc... Any of those - or something like those - will help remove your feeling of not doing something. There are literally thousands of articles available on the internet written about recovery, rest days, active recovery, the training effect, etc... from some of the best coaches and exercise scientists in the world. Well worth the time to read a bunch of them.
Assuming your three 5K runs per week, and your two weight training sessions are not always the same intensity or same amount of weights each time - some of your training will require more recovery than others. Learning how to recover and rest is actually more difficult for most people than learning how to train.
The motto should be: train hard, recover harder.0 -
Rest days are usually Cardio and/or Ab workout days for me.0
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How many rest days do you have, and are they pure rest or do you do something else?
One or two...a recovery day is just rest from more vigorous activity...it doesn't mean doing nothing. I might still ride on a recovery day, but it's a recovery/recreational pace..I often go out with my boys who are 6 and 4 so I can't go that fast...or I go for a walk or do some yoga...also things like yard work or I take the boys to the zoo or something and we walk around for a few hours...0 -
Thank you for your replies guys! I took two rest days last week but I definitly feel like I didn't need them. I don't want to push myself too hard but at the same time I just feel a bit..rubbish if I don't do SOMETHING. I think I'm going to switch my complete rest days out for either a walk or yoga just to stay active but still allow recovery. Currently I'm doing 3 5k runs and 2 weight sessions a week.
If you really feel like you need one, then it's usually too late....2 -
I try to run 6 days per week and I take Sunday off. I still get in at least 10K steps on Sunday.
My runs are usually between 3 and 5 miles.
I also do cross-fit once a week. Since I'm pretty new to it, there a days after a class where I just can't run at all! Those days end up being rest days, though I still get out and get in a 30 minute walk no matter how sore I am.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Thank you for your replies guys! I took two rest days last week but I definitly feel like I didn't need them. I don't want to push myself too hard but at the same time I just feel a bit..rubbish if I don't do SOMETHING. I think I'm going to switch my complete rest days out for either a walk or yoga just to stay active but still allow recovery. Currently I'm doing 3 5k runs and 2 weight sessions a week.
If you really feel like you need one, then it's usually too late....
extension: if you really feel like you need one, you probably need to take two
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I train 6 days a week, If I am really tired then 5 days, you have to listen to the body.0
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SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
I'm 60, lift 5-6 days a week. Usually have at leaSt 10K steps. Days I don't lift usually 20k plus.
IMO it's more about varying activity so you are not streasing the same muscles in the same way too frequently as opposed to doing nothing or very little0 -
Packerjohn wrote: »SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
I'm 60, lift 5-6 days a week. Usually have at leaSt 10K steps. Days I don't lift usually 20k plus.
IMO it's more about varying activity so you are not streasing the same muscles in the same way too frequently as opposed to doing nothing or very little
Sounds good, Packerjohn.
Again - there are literally thousands of excellent, well thought out articles from exercise scientists and coaches to address the training effect which may or may not interest the athlete who is interested in blocks of training, periodization, rest & recovery cycles as well as days. Plenty of discussion on what happens to our muscles, heart, V02 Max, ability to take up oxygen, etc... as one moves from the 40's to the 50's to the 60's and beyond. In fact, for the OP, there are great resources online for runners talking about the rest/recovery and training. (I'm a former runner.) She's only doing a 5K three times a week, and lifting 2 days. If she upped her mileage (perhaps to train for a 20K or a full marathon) - or increased her intensity in the 5K runs, she would probably need to be more concerned with recovery/rest days than she currently needs to be. It all depends on when she started with her current training. Once she adapts to the training stress, she will be able to increase things.
I just know, at age 55, I cannot do what I did at age 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and even 45 - and recover as quickly from it as I once did. I would venture to guess that you are not the same at age 60 as you were 15 - 30 years ago when it comes to recovery.
I should add the caveat that I try and get about 450 hours a year in on the bike at my age (including training to race, and racing) - and the intensity requires more rest and recovery than it did in prior decades. 0 -
At 49.5, recovery does seem to take a bit longer than it did when I was in my early 30s.
Back then, I would ride a 400 km randonnee on a Saturday, and be back on my bicycle commuting to work on Monday. Sunday would be a recovery walk.
Now I ride a 400 km randonnee, do recovery walks on Sunday and Monday, and it is Tuesday before entertaining the idea of cycling again or resuming my stair climbing or whatever, in addition to my walking.
Nevertheless, still exercising every day.
As long as I'm healthy, it just doesn't feel right to have a day where there is no exercise ... and would actually be rather difficult given that exercise is, and has been for decades, part of my commute to work.
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At 49.5, recovery does seem to take a bit longer than it did when I was in my early 30s.
Back then, I would ride a 400 km randonnee on a Saturday, and be back on my bicycle commuting to work on Monday. Sunday would be a recovery walk.
Now I ride a 400 km randonnee, do recovery walks on Sunday and Monday, and it is Tuesday before entertaining the idea of cycling again or resuming my stair climbing or whatever, in addition to my walking.
Nevertheless, still exercising every day.
As long as I'm healthy, it just doesn't feel right to have a day where there is no exercise ... and would actually be rather difficult given that exercise is, and has been for decades, part of my commute to work.
Take a rest week (5 days) until you and your muscles are itching to really go at it. You'd be surprised at what happens during that period of supercompensation when you unleash the newly built power.
I do it every 3 to 4 weeks and continually amazed at the progress it affords.
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