Rest Days

amandarawr06

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!

emmamcgarity

I walk on rest days

deputy_randolph

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.

amandarawr06

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!

kshama2001

Yes, I like to be active every day. On non-strength training days I might walk, garden, swim, practice yoga, etc.

WandRsmom

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.

NorthCascades

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.

jnomadica

I’ll usually walk 1-2 miles even on rest days (usually one rest day per week). My dogs don’t take rest days!

nighthawk584

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 )

Pickle107

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.

rainbow198

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.

spiriteagle99

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.

firef1y72

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.

RunsWithBees

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

sijomial

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.