REST DAYS. What does your rest day look like?

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Replies

  • rossbaker2_sc
    rossbaker2_sc Posts: 43 Member
    edited May 2019
    A rest day for me I just do my morning exercise class.

    When I'm really going for it I'll add 2 20 minute walks during my workday and then do 30-60 minutes of cardio after I eat dinner at night while watching baseball.

    I generally decide its a rest day if I can't walk straight after the morning class.
  • sparklesmummy
    sparklesmummy Posts: 8 Member
    Strength is created in the resting phase. When we workout our bodies we literally micro tear our muscles. The healing of the muscle happens while at rest. If we don’t give our body rest, we never give the muscle a chance to heal and become stronger.

    A rest day could consist of light yoga and stretching, taking a walk, if you need to move. Running daily errands, meal prepping, normal movement that gives the body a chance to make itself stronger are all good options. The rest day is important!

    For me this is so true... I did gym on Tuesday and Wednesday and was nearly thinking of joining gym class on Thursday as well, however my body told me to rest so I just made sure that I kept leisurely active and did my 10K steps (dog walking) in a day.

    When I came to HIIT class on Friday, I did my best ever session.

    I am sure it helped me having a rest x
  • lcdube01
    lcdube01 Posts: 23 Member
    I.struggle so much with rest days. I'm usually watching videos of what workout I wanna do next ha! But last week I had to go away and had a forced week of rest and came back feeling stronger and more energetic and so well rested. I'm going to actually try to be positive about it and not think of it as skipping gym rather than healing and building muscle
  • BasedGawd412
    BasedGawd412 Posts: 346 Member
    My rest day consists of lots of naps, watching pointless YouTube videos, consuming 5,000 to 7,000 calories making up for all the junk food I've deprived myself of for the week, attempting to read a book but losing interest quickly watching adult videos instead, followed by more naps and spending time with my kids.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    You have great commitment. My question is, where did you get the idea that you must exercise every day? That is a 'false idea" that somehow you thought you should believe. EVERYONE, including the highest level elite athlete, needs rest days. Your body actually makes more progress on rest days than active days. Active days break down muscle and recovery days allow your muscles to rebuild.

    My rest day has changed over the past five years and even now can vary based on how I'm feeling. It usually includes at least a couple miles of walking. Some people include a short bike ride or light run. Other days you might just need to completely "veg out."

    Ultimately, your food will be more important to weight loss than exercise. I lost 150, following a deficit consistently the whole time. When I started, a 30 min weight workout 2x week and 15 min walking 3-4x week was all I could do. But I still lost weight with a calorie deficit. As I've improved my fitness, my activity level has increased. Now I'm in maintenance for 2.5 years. Currently I swim 2-3x, bike 2-3x, and lift weights on any remaining days, and walk 2-4 miles almost every day. In the winter I did weights 3x because I wasn't biking. I always need 1-2 days during the week for recovery.

    Read the sticky posts here on MFP that explain how to weigh your food on a digital food scale, how to log accurately, and how to determine the amount of exercise calories to eat back (usually about half).
  • korina75
    korina75 Posts: 297 Member
    Some form of restorative or power yoga (20 minutes) if I feel like I need to move, or a long walk or low key hike, something fun basically. I also like to swim but not power swim, just paddle around and be in the water. I am learning too! However, last friday I didn't feel like doing anything so I didn't! It felt pretty great! So if I feel like doing anything it would be something really low impact and fun but if you feel like vegging out and watching tv I think that's ok too. Something that helps is doing a really quick meditation to check in on your body and see how you're feeling on your rest day.
  • jnomadica
    jnomadica Posts: 280 Member
    A rest day to me still includes a 1-2 mile walk with the dogs. Nothing strenuous. If I’m really worn out I might just do nothing, but that’s rare. The dogs need to be walked!
  • carlaringuette
    carlaringuette Posts: 158 Member
    My rest day this week was 3 hours of weeding the garden. Didn't go to the gym though. Lol

    Love my garden. It's been rough to get going this spring due to the torrential rains every weekend. Thankfully this weekend was absolutely gorgeous!
  • bobsburgersfan
    bobsburgersfan Posts: 6,274 Member
    I don't really have any advice about rest days, because I'm not an "all-or-nothing" person. I work out at the gym 3 to 5 days a week, and I'm good with that, although I prefer at least 4 days. My "rest days" are just days that I don't work out. I'm pretty sedentary, so I don't do much other than regular housework and maybe some yard work on those days.

    I admire you for being so dedicated at the gym! But I do hope you can find a bit more balance; it's not the end of the world if you miss one day, and you certainly don't have to make it up by doing 2 workouts on another day. But I know it's not easy to change thinking that's been in place for years. My mom has been a perpetual dieter throughout my whole life, and even in my 40s, I'm still working to unlearn things I picked up watching and listening to her as a kid.

    Good luck to you as you continue on and start working more on the food side of things. You've been dedicated to working out since October, so you clearly have it in you to be dedicated to tracking and all that stuff, too. :smile:
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,443 Member
    My rest day usually looks like this...

    rzabhssh7puw.jpg
  • serendipity22
    serendipity22 Posts: 248 Member
    My rest day usually looks like this...

    rzabhssh7puw.jpg

    Your rest day is adorable.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    I won't train on a rest day other than a GPP day. Every other activity is else in moderation with low exertion.
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,257 Member

    I am just starting to focus on the food because I haven't gotten past the first 5 pounds. I've lost 7 and then it bumps back up. It can fluctuate 4 pounds in one day. So I only weigh once a week Clothes are looking better but I know the weight loss happens in the kitchen.

    For weight loss, you have been approaching this backward. Working out every day won't help if you're not putting in the work in the kitchen. It's been said here before, and it bears repeating, "You can't outrun the fork." I know. I've tried.

    For me, rest means rest. Or just doing whatever I had planned that day (gardening, walk, etc).
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