How important are "rest" days?

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dolphin_queen
dolphin_queen Posts: 10
edited January 30 in Fitness and Exercise
I am relatively new to running... my question is this: How important are "rest" days? I always feel like a slug when I don't work out. I realize the body needs time to recover but what I want to know is why? Any ideas on this would be appreciated!

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  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    IMO...if you feel like you can, go run (or for me, lift). I don't take a rest day unless my body is like...hayyyy, time to chill for a day. My routine is a 5 day split, so by the time the body part for the day comes up, its had plenty of recovery.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,247 Member
    IMO...if you feel like you can, go run (or for me, lift). I don't take a rest day unless my body is like...hayyyy, time to chill for a day. My routine is a 5 day split, so by the time the body part for the day comes up, its had plenty of recovery.

    Which is fine for lifting on a 5 day split but not for running as you're using the same muscle groups over and over and over.

    To the OP your body needs to recover because that's when the adaptions occur and muscle tissue is repaired. A rest / recovery day doesn't necessarily means sitting on your butt eating bon bons though....on non running days you could be biking, swimming, walking, lifting weights (highly recommended), pretty much anything non-impact.
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