Is it ok to jog or power walk every day or should there be rest days in between?

iowalinda

Is it only for weight lifting that rest days are needed? What about high intensity cardio?

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I have rest days in between my run days.

That doesn't mean I do nothing, I cycle or hike or go on a long walk.

concordancia

You should generally have at least one day a week at lower intensity.

We tend to forget that there were reasons for the old traditions. It doesn't have to be on the religiously designated day, but take a sabbath.

stanmann571

Once you get to a certain volume it's ok to do days back to back, but until you get up to 15-20 miles per week, you should keep a day between runs. Additionally, it's definitely good to have one day of relatively low activity a week for emotional and spiritual rest.

Sassafras106

If you’re not already a runner, you should take rest days or cross train in between runs

cwolfman13

iowalinda wrote: »

Is it only for weight lifting that rest days are needed? What about high intensity cardio?

If you're new to anything fitness, you should be easing into things.

And yes, even experienced runners, cyclists, etc take rest days and/or days with less intense activity.

MegaMooseEsq

This is only based on my own experience, but if you’re so excited about something new or newish that you want to do it every day, that’s exactly when you should be staggering things out and making sure you’re taking a full recovery day every week or so. I managed to hurt my foot doing five minutes of planks a day because I read it was okay to do core work every day. Whoops.

ValeriePlz

Agreed, taking a rest day is necessary for muscle recovery, and how many days you need are up to your fitness schedule and experience.

My "off season" is three days of running per week, but my 8k training this winter and spring was 5 days with one day of cross-training and only one day of total rest. A good training schedule will tell you which days to run at high intensity (or intervals or tempo) and which to take it slow as a quasi-rest day.

There are plenty of people who run every day, but they are mostly high experience folks. For example, one runner mentioned in the book "Born to Run" ran to work like 10 miles each way every day, not even training, just because she loved it.

littlebear0121

I'm curious about the answer to this question for Nordic walking. I know of people who do it six days a week, and would like to myself.

spiriteagle99

I walk every day, but the walking I do is not intense. (I have a dog.) I wouldn't think that speed walking would be that stressful to the body, but it might be stressful to the mind if it starts to feel like an obligation rather than something you do because you enjoy it. I run 5 days a week and have run 6 days a week without a problem, but it took time to build up to that. If you are new to running, then every other day is best. If you've been running a while, then let your body tell you how many days you enjoy running and when you need either rest or a very light day. If you stop enjoying it, then do something else for variety.