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Rest Days

amandarawr06
Posts: 251 Member
So I am off work for the summer so I have a TON of free time. It has been great for my workouts as I have plenty of spare time and I find I have been going to the gym way more than normal just for something to do. But I am struggling with rest days. I know I need to take them but I find I feel lazy on those days (which does nothing for me mentally).
I am just curious how often you take rest days and if you do anything lower impact on them? I am having a rest day today but still did a some yoga this morning and was thinking I would go for a walk this afternoon. Just curious how others handle it?
Thanks!
I am just curious how often you take rest days and if you do anything lower impact on them? I am having a rest day today but still did a some yoga this morning and was thinking I would go for a walk this afternoon. Just curious how others handle it?
Thanks!

0
Replies
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I walk on rest days2
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I go back to work Aug 26th. I get bored, so I go to the gym usually 6 days a week during the summer. The day I don't go is usually spent with the kids all day at the pool/waterpark (not a true rest day).
I only lift 4 days (maybe a 5th day if I have to break up a workout); 1 day is some cardio; 1 day is stretching and foam rolling.
Your rest day can consist of self- care activities at the gym (streching foam rolling yoga etc).
When I go back to work, I'll go back to 4 days a week of lifting with some sporadic cardio days.1 -
deputy_randolph wrote: »I go back to work Aug 26th. I get bored, so I go to the gym usually 6 days a week during the summer. The day I don't go is usually spent with the kids all day at the pool/waterpark (not a true rest day).
I only lift 4 days (maybe a 5th day if I have to break up a workout); 1 day is some cardio; 1 day is stretching and foam rolling.
Your rest day can consist of self- care activities at the gym (streching foam rolling yoga etc).
When I go back to work, I'll go back to 4 days a week of lifting with some sporadic cardio days.
Amazing!
I have been lifting 2-3 days a week and running 2-3 days a week with usually a yoga day thrown in there too. I just get bored being off work.
Thanks for the insight!0 -
Yes, I like to be active every day. On non-strength training days I might walk, garden, swim, practice yoga, etc.2
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I go to the gym six days a week. 2 arms/back, 2 mainly floor body weight ztuff, one leg day and one is either kick boxing or Barre class. Plus I do yoga and run with my dog.
I so not consistently have a day where I do nothing. It's been 8 mths and in that time I have taken probably 3 full on rest days where I did basically nothing. I listen to my body.1 -
I've been going on very difficult hikes on Saturdays, leaving me sore on Sunday. (My feet are killing me right now.) So I've been swimming and/or doing a recover ride on Sundays.1
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I’ll usually walk 1-2 miles even on rest days (usually one rest day per week). My dogs don’t take rest days!1
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I work out 6 days a week and on my rest day, I clean my house and play my guitar. Just find something you enjoy doing (ok, I don't really enjoy cleaning )1
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I'm bad. I take my 3 rest days too literally. I need to walk to work/town on them instead of taking the bus.0
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I'm very sedentary outside of exercise. Between that, doing workouts on the lighter side and doing upper/lower splits with my strength training, I'm able to happily workout daily and not over do it.
However, I take breaks when my body tells me to which is not often.
Sometimes the day after a long 10+ mile hike or if I did several workouts the day before I need to rest.completely.
Other then that my active rest day consists of Pilates, deep stretching, yoga or a short and moderate 1 - 2 mile walk. I don't include walking my puppy or cleaning/gardening as part of intentional exercise, but they are all great activities that I do daily.4 -
I run 5 days a week usually. I walk 2-3 miles 7 days a week (big dog). On my non-running days I will sometimes do stationary bike, low impact aerobics, yoga or pilates. If the weather is good I'll sometimes go for a short hike on my off day. I let my energy level and need to run errands or do chores determine whether or not I do any real exercise on my non-running days. I'm retired, so have plenty of time, but I also like to let my body heal when it needs it.1
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I hate rest days, but they are necessary.
But that doesn't mean you need to sit on your behind all day, active rest is what I do.
Today was a rest day, so I went for a 6 mile hike at a very easy pace just taking in my surroundings. I'll probably have a stretch and foam roll session before I go to bed and I ran a mile to keep my running streak going.2 -
I can’t believe how active you guys are, you are all amazing! I must be totally weird then because I actually rest on rest days
occasionally I’ll go for a walk but otherwise it’s just regular daily activities/errands on days I don’t go for a run but I’m kind of naturally lazy I guess
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Remember rest and recovery are not the same thing.
Rest is recovery but not all recovery is rest. First work out what you personally need - for me general fatigue after a prolonged or extreme spell of exercise may need rest but generally I just need to be conscious of my recovery from certain hard exercise sessions.
e.g.
A gentle recovery ride is quite common amongst cyclists after a hard ride, a walk after a previous day's hard run is again common, a swim after a hard gym session - may give you more benefit than doing nothing.3
This discussion has been closed.
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