What do you do on your rest days?

miratps

So I do a lot of cardio but want/need a rest day (not had for a long long time as I eat and then feel guilty) but am forcing myself to today. Question is, as I don't have one and its a weekend so I'm not even 'walking around doing normal stuff' not sure what I should do. Can I sit all day in front of a TV?

What do you all do on rest days? Do you take complete rest days where you are lucky to move 5 inches or do you still deliberately try and be active? Also do you not fear your cardio/exercise performance etc. will suffer the following day or whenever you workout next?

Edit: In addition, do you eat less on rest days? Does it make your appetite seem manageable?

kenyonhaff

Well I rest on rest days...that doesn't necessarily mean be a slug. It often means I'm not able to take a walk or do yoga because I have to take my kid to Scouts and this appointment and get milk at the store and so on.

I don't fear that my performance will be less the next day. Typically it's better because I've given my muscles a chance to recover.

I do eat less on rest days. It kinda sucks.

singletrackmtbr

I train!

ARGriffy

i go out and be social normally, it just means i've made other plans that don't involve working out.

goldthistime

Clean! Laundry/vacuuming etc.
As to eating less, I eventually upped my overall activity level setting and then ate back fewer of my exercise calories because I was starving on rest days.

patslitzker

Active rest

Machka9

miratps wrote: »

What do you all do on rest days?

Walk at least 2 km.

jemhh

I may walk or I may do nothing other than work, family stuff, etc.

amandaeve

I do whatever I normally would, minus planned physical activity that makes me sweat or feels difficult. I might end up sweating doing something random like taking the stairs somewhere, or plan on doing yoga or something mellow. mfp did a blog on rest days once, and pointed out that if your routine activity is not vigorous, such as walking, it's best to not take rest days. However, if you are seriously working out, such as training for a competition, then rest days are vital to success.

Aetheldreda

I do housework or food shopping, maybe just do a gentle walk, sometimes I do absolutely nothing and barely get 2000 steps in! For me, purposeful exercise is something I do not really enjoy, so I am happy to do nothing on a rest day, but that's just me.

OSUbuckeye906

I typically plan one or two rest days a week and I usually plan them for days in which my schedule is the busiest and would make getting a workout in hard anyway. Usually, these are days when I have an appointment scheduled before/after work, have something social planned, or need to take the time to run a few errands or clean. Basically, I take these days as a "life maintenance" day. As someone else mentioned, these rest days allow your muscles to repair themselves to become stronger, so some extra rest usually helps you make gains in your fitness. In regards to food, I don't necessarily specifically cut calories on days that I don't work out but try to be mindful of how much and what I'm eating, as I normally do. I may not allow myself to have dessert or a treat, but that's about it. Usually, the extra calories that I'm eating from working out are more of the good foods that fuel my workouts and if I skimp on these on my rest days, I may see my workout the next day affected. So, I may see myself go over my calories a bit on my rest days but as long as I'm not completely maxing out on my calories the other days of the week, I don't worry too much.

cwolfman13

I have a 4 & 6 year old at home...there's no such thing as sitting on my *kitten* watching t.v. all day.

A rest day (i.e. recovery day) allows you to recover from more vigorous training...it's just rest from more vigorous/strenuous training. It doesn't mean do nothing or that you can't do anything.

I don't usually reserve weekend days for rest days because weekends are when I actually have time to go for longer rides, etc. Weekends are prime time training time. As of now, I'm taking my rest days on Thursdays...I usually go for a 3 mile walk at lunch...if I'm not too pressed for time, I do some yoga when I get home, but that's tough sometimes because Thursdays are also my days to cook dinner.

ETA: fitness performance is enhanced with rest...rest is part of the equation...rest is where recovery happens which is where fitness development happens. The work is only one side of the equation...by not resting, you're ignoring and equally important part of the equation.

NorthCascades

miratps wrote: »

What do you all do on rest days? Do you take complete rest days where you are lucky to move 5 inches or do you still deliberately try and be active? Also do you not fear your cardio/exercise performance etc. will suffer the following day or whenever you workout next?

God no, to all of that.

Performance is better following a day off because you lose fatigue more quickly that you lose fitness. That's why people taper before a race.

I'll walk a bit and do a recovery ride (heart rate and power to stay below 100) on my rest days.

JoRocka

I want to say I sit on my fat a&& and do nothing.
But the reality is even on my none lifting days- I usually have dance class- there is one single day a week where I don't dance. for sure.

I'm lucky if I get a full day off to do nothing- I work 5 jobs. So. if by change I get a day to do nothing- guess what- I do nothing.

I sew- do house chores- but I absolutely do not go out of my way to do any sort of "active" rest- nope nope nope nope.

I dance Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed and I gig Friday/Saturday- so nope. I do nothing on my days off.

ninerbuff

On non lifting days, I just do cardio. But I do cardio everyday and it's not that intense at all.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

macgurlnet

I only sit around and hardly move when I'm sick - I'm recovering from a cold right now and being up and moving is exhausting.

When I'm in good health, I make sure I get up and move around at least every hour on the weekends and usually go for a long walk or two or go downstairs and ride my bike. I usually do some yoga also.

~Lyssa

lorrpb

I walk. Rest day means active rest.

__TMac__

I chose Sunday as my rest day because it's my busiest day. I have a moderately active hobby that requires almost a full day of practice every week. So I do that. And because cooking is hard that day, I also bank a few calories and call it take-out night.

rybo

Depends. Sometimes it's just a core/mobility/stretching kind of day. Other times its a rest because of life, which sometimes includes fun active type things, or sometimes it's marathon binge watch a show and not get off my couch. I have stopped taking planned rest days.

Reaverie

I walk.. just not twice a day!

spiriteagle99

I'm a runner, and I know that I will get stronger as a runner by taking rest days. At the moment, I run 5 days a week. We have a large dog, so walking happens every day, regardless. We have a 2 and a 3 mile loop in our neighborhood that we alternate. I'll sometimes go for an additional short hike on my rest days or I'll do 10-20 miles on the stationary bike. Yoga or Pilates if I feel like I need stretching or just don't have a lot of energy.

CafeRacer808

I typically walk/hike, take a yoga class, or just spend the day cooking and getting caught up on Netflix.

jennybearlv

I run two three day programs, lifting and running, which I alternate, so I end up with one full day off from everything every week. I do whatever I feel like doing. Watch a Netflix marathon, clean the house, go hiking, whatever. I don't really think about it. The point of rest days is to not do the activity you are resting from. I typically eat the same as the rest of the week, since I have a bad habit of undereating on very active days. A day without a high number of exercise calories is usually a catch up day for me.

Machka9

macgurlnet wrote: »

I only sit around and hardly move when I'm sick - I'm recovering from a cold right now and being up and moving is exhausting.

When I'm in good health, I make sure I get up and move around at least every hour on the weekends and usually go for a long walk or two or go downstairs and ride my bike. I usually do some yoga also.

~Lyssa

Yep ... and even when I'm sick, I have trouble staying still unless I'm sleeping. I have never been the sort of person who can sit on a sofa and just watch TV. Within about 5 min of doing that, I start to feel restless. I have the TV on during the evenings, but I'm usually wandering about doing housework or working on other projects.

It kind of helps that I know I need to be up and moving at least once and hour because of blood clot issues.

Machka9

Friday was a rest day for me.

I had cycled a century (100 miles) on the Thursday (Australia Day), and my legs were feeling a bit heavy so I opted not to climb my usual 25 flights of stairs. However, I did walk 5 km.

Willbenchforcupcakes

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I have a 4 & 6 year old at home...there's no such thing as sitting on my *kitten* watching t.v. all day.

A rest day (i.e. recovery day) allows you to recover from more vigorous training...it's just rest from more vigorous/strenuous training. It doesn't mean do nothing or that you can't do anything.

I don't usually reserve weekend days for rest days because weekends are when I actually have time to go for longer rides, etc. Weekends are prime time training time. As of now, I'm taking my rest days on Thursdays...I usually go for a 3 mile walk at lunch...if I'm not too pressed for time, I do some yoga when I get home, but that's tough sometimes because Thursdays are also my days to cook dinner.

ETA: fitness performance is enhanced with rest...rest is part of the equation...rest is where recovery happens which is where fitness development happens. The work is only one side of the equation...by not resting, you're ignoring and equally important part of the equation.

Most of this. Except mine are 5 and 6. And weekends are my rest days. Rest day simply means that I'm not in the gym training. I'm still running around, chasing my girls, dancing. The couple days a year I get to actually do nothing are very much enjoyed.

sarko15

I actually find my performance suffers if I don't take rest days, instead of if I do. I rest, heal up, and go back at it full force, whereas if I never allowed myself to heal I'd end up just half assing my workout or not being excited to go. I actually burn more calories per week with rest days than without. I spend those days doing things I love to do--hanging out with my family, reading, cooking, other things that deserve my whole self without hating myself for not spending that time in the gym. Life's too short for self punishment.

And don't feel guilty for eating and then not working out--we all have to eat, here's no point in guilting yourself for something you have to do to live. Do you count your calories via the MFP recommendations? Eat that level on your rest days, and then eat back exercise calories.

trudie_b

I'm not good at taking rest days, I tend to take them only if I feel unwell or really exhausted. I used to compromise by doing Pilates, but I haven't done that for a while (don't enjoy it any more, and I don't see the point in doing exercise you don't enjoy). I get anxious if I have to take a day off.

I was reading Jessie Hilgenberg's training schedule yesterday, she does it in an eight day cycle: 5 lifting days, 2 yoga/golf, and 1 complete rest. That sounds pretty good. My schedule is currently 4 lifting days, 3 cardio (high intensity), so I really really should learn to take rest days......

MelanieCN77

At the least I'd take a long walk. I might still run but low key.

Cylphin60

Always something, usually walking or even really light " deload " kinds of lifts. Once or twice a month I do have a "it's ok if I do absolutely nothing kind of day".

Then again, my kids are all grown, so I can do that

stanmann571

It depends. If I'm lifting towards a goal as a primary focus then light run/walk/elliptical might be on the agenda.

If I'm working towards a speed/distance run goal, then it may be a couch rest day.