Rest Day

cdennis9154

Today is the first day I've taken a rest day in about 4 weeks. I feel guilty about it. In the past one rest day would turn into not working out and eating bad for days.

But I am still eating clean today. Still will probably do some push-ups in my cubicle. But taking a physical and mental break from the gym today.

I plan to return to business tomorrow.

Hold me accountable !!!

tulips_and_tea

Rest days are very important and you shouldn't feel guilty about them. I know you've said in that past that missing one day would start a pattern of not working out and eating poorly, so you KNOW that.

Just don't even think about it. You're going to the gym tomorrow and that's that. Try to plan regular rest days though, or else you're going to burn out.

cdennis9154

BZAH10 wrote: »

Rest days are very important and you shouldn't feel guilty about them. I know you've said in that past that missing one day would start a pattern of not working out and eating poorly, so you KNOW that.

Just don't even think about it. You're going to the gym tomorrow and that's that. Try to plan regular rest days though, or else you're going to burn out.

You're right. I'm realizing rest is so important both mentally and physically. I can feel the shift. I don't feel as bad. I feel like it's well deserved and will give me the break I need to get back to it. Thank you !

cupcakesandproteinshakes

It’s ok to rest. No accountability needed.

zebasschick

rest days are important. your body needs time to recover from workouts. i've injured myself a couple times by skipping them.

AnnPT77

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

cdennis9154

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

Thanks so much for the insight. How many rest days a week would you say 1-2?

AnnPT77

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

Thanks so much for the insight. How many rest days a week would you say 1-2?

I don't think there's a cookie-cutter answer.

Your starting fitness level matters. I mentioned that elites don't do their highest intensity efforts every workout or every day, but they have an overall workout schedule that would possibly kill us regular people, because they're so very fit now. At the other extreme, someone who's very out of shape might need to start with 1-2 very widely spaced, quite low intensity workouts per week.

Overall, I'd suggest finding a schedule that is a manageable challenge to the person's current capabilities. I want workouts to be challenging, but not fatiguing (other than maybe a few minutes of "whew" right after the workout). I want to feel energized for the rest of the day(s), not exhausted and dragging through the day.

As a person gets fitter, they can gradually increase duration, frequency, or intensity to keep that manageable challenge always in the picture. (Or, at some point it may work best to change the exercise type to keep things challenging.) It's the challenge that creates useful fitness adaptation.

As a generality, if strength training, it can be good to allow at least a full day of recovery before working the same muscle groups again, so something like a full-body program 3 days a week, or a split that works different muscle groups in alternation on different days so one muscle group is recovering while you're working another. Following a well-designed program suitable to one's level is a good idea. That will build in recovery. Other MFP-ers discuss such programs in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Despite the title, there are bodyweight programs in there, too, not just weight lifting.

On the cardio side of things, maybe seek out a suitable training plan/program, too, if the cardio you enjoy is one for which those are available (they exist for running, cycling, rowing, and I'm sure others). If a beginner, it can make sense to start either cardio or strength training first, and add the other a bit later, so as not to risk as much difficulty with managing total training load across disciplines. If one is not committed to a specific cardio-type sport, mixing it up (cross training) can have advantages.

Generally, a cardio training plan will have some workouts that are longer-duration but lower intensity, some that are medium duration/intensity (maybe moderate intervals), and some short but very intense workouts. Usually the lower intensity, longer duration workouts would be a larger fraction of the workouts, and the very high intensity workouts only once or twice a week. Someone who's just beginning would likely do best with just lower-intensity at first for a few weeks or even small number of months to build a base of cardiovascular endurance, then gradually add some intensity.

Varying the types of activity within cardio can be beneficial, too, in recovery terms: For example, swimming stresses the body in quite different ways from running or cycling.

Note that intense cardio can also interfere with strength training recovery, and that different types of cardio stress different muscle groups to some extent, too.

Personally, I find I do best if I take one full rest day per week, but I'm pretty old (67) and I find my resilience to physical stress (in the form of overdoing) is not what it was when I was 20. I may do some stretching/yoga or casual walking, but nothing intense on that rest day.

Some people don't need full rest days at all, because they've worked up to a reasonably high fitness level, and vary their activities so the overall training load works out for them. Some people need many full rest days per week, either because beginners or perhaps recovering from illness or surgery or something.

From your first post on this thread, it sounded like you were getting a little burned out both physically and mentally. That's a subjective indicator of needing a bit more recovery/rest in your schedule somehow. Avoiding that "warning bell" would probably be a good thing. You can try a specific schedule (like 1 or 2 rest days a week, or varied activity) for a week or two, and see how it feels. You may need to experiment a little, and the level of non-exercise stress in your life may even lead you to vary your workout schedule sometimes: That's OK.

Over time, you'll get more tuned in about what your subjective feelings are telling you about good progress and feeling good vs. overdoing, and will be able to make your own smart adjustments, I'd predict. Some fitness trackers (usually expensive ones ) will give you specific indicators of overdoing, but even things like resting heart rate can be useful (overdoing tends to make it creep up).

I wish I had a well-defined answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you're overdoing a bit now, but I don't know how much to tell you to flex your schedule. Try a variation, see how it goes.

Best wishes!

cdennis9154

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

Thanks so much for the insight. How many rest days a week would you say 1-2?

I don't think there's a cookie-cutter answer.

Your starting fitness level matters. I mentioned that elites don't do their highest intensity efforts every workout or every day, but they have an overall workout schedule that would possibly kill us regular people, because they're so very fit now. At the other extreme, someone who's very out of shape might need to start with 1-2 very widely spaced, quite low intensity workouts per week.

Overall, I'd suggest finding a schedule that is a manageable challenge to the person's current capabilities. I want workouts to be challenging, but not fatiguing (other than maybe a few minutes of "whew" right after the workout). I want to feel energized for the rest of the day(s), not exhausted and dragging through the day.

As a person gets fitter, they can gradually increase duration, frequency, or intensity to keep that manageable challenge always in the picture. (Or, at some point it may work best to change the exercise type to keep things challenging.) It's the challenge that creates useful fitness adaptation.

As a generality, if strength training, it can be good to allow at least a full day of recovery before working the same muscle groups again, so something like a full-body program 3 days a week, or a split that works different muscle groups in alternation on different days so one muscle group is recovering while you're working another. Following a well-designed program suitable to one's level is a good idea. That will build in recovery. Other MFP-ers discuss such programs in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Despite the title, there are bodyweight programs in there, too, not just weight lifting.

On the cardio side of things, maybe seek out a suitable training plan/program, too, if the cardio you enjoy is one for which those are available (they exist for running, cycling, rowing, and I'm sure others). If a beginner, it can make sense to start either cardio or strength training first, and add the other a bit later, so as not to risk as much difficulty with managing total training load across disciplines. If one is not committed to a specific cardio-type sport, mixing it up (cross training) can have advantages.

Generally, a cardio training plan will have some workouts that are longer-duration but lower intensity, some that are medium duration/intensity (maybe moderate intervals), and some short but very intense workouts. Usually the lower intensity, longer duration workouts would be a larger fraction of the workouts, and the very high intensity workouts only once or twice a week. Someone who's just beginning would likely do best with just lower-intensity at first for a few weeks or even small number of months to build a base of cardiovascular endurance, then gradually add some intensity.

Varying the types of activity within cardio can be beneficial, too, in recovery terms: For example, swimming stresses the body in quite different ways from running or cycling.

Note that intense cardio can also interfere with strength training recovery, and that different types of cardio stress different muscle groups to some extent, too.

Personally, I find I do best if I take one full rest day per week, but I'm pretty old (67) and I find my resilience to physical stress (in the form of overdoing) is not what it was when I was 20. I may do some stretching/yoga or casual walking, but nothing intense on that rest day.

Some people don't need full rest days at all, because they've worked up to a reasonably high fitness level, and vary their activities so the overall training load works out for them. Some people need many full rest days per week, either because beginners or perhaps recovering from illness or surgery or something.

From your first post on this thread, it sounded like you were getting a little burned out both physically and mentally. That's a subjective indicator of needing a bit more recovery/rest in your schedule somehow. Avoiding that "warning bell" would probably be a good thing. You can try a specific schedule (like 1 or 2 rest days a week, or varied activity) for a week or two, and see how it feels. You may need to experiment a little, and the level of non-exercise stress in your life may even lead you to vary your workout schedule sometimes: That's OK.

Over time, you'll get more tuned in about what your subjective feelings are telling you about good progress and feeling good vs. overdoing, and will be able to make your own smart adjustments, I'd predict. Some fitness trackers (usually expensive ones ) will give you specific indicators of overdoing, but even things like resting heart rate can be useful (overdoing tends to make it creep up).

I wish I had a well-defined answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you're overdoing a bit now, but I don't know how much to tell you to flex your schedule. Try a variation, see how it goes.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the detailed and well thought out response. I appreciate that. I'm going to incorporate two rest days. Sundays will be complete rest and recover. And another day will be just walking. No weights.

AnnPT77

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

Thanks so much for the insight. How many rest days a week would you say 1-2?

I don't think there's a cookie-cutter answer.

Your starting fitness level matters. I mentioned that elites don't do their highest intensity efforts every workout or every day, but they have an overall workout schedule that would possibly kill us regular people, because they're so very fit now. At the other extreme, someone who's very out of shape might need to start with 1-2 very widely spaced, quite low intensity workouts per week.

Overall, I'd suggest finding a schedule that is a manageable challenge to the person's current capabilities. I want workouts to be challenging, but not fatiguing (other than maybe a few minutes of "whew" right after the workout). I want to feel energized for the rest of the day(s), not exhausted and dragging through the day.

As a person gets fitter, they can gradually increase duration, frequency, or intensity to keep that manageable challenge always in the picture. (Or, at some point it may work best to change the exercise type to keep things challenging.) It's the challenge that creates useful fitness adaptation.

As a generality, if strength training, it can be good to allow at least a full day of recovery before working the same muscle groups again, so something like a full-body program 3 days a week, or a split that works different muscle groups in alternation on different days so one muscle group is recovering while you're working another. Following a well-designed program suitable to one's level is a good idea. That will build in recovery. Other MFP-ers discuss such programs in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Despite the title, there are bodyweight programs in there, too, not just weight lifting.

On the cardio side of things, maybe seek out a suitable training plan/program, too, if the cardio you enjoy is one for which those are available (they exist for running, cycling, rowing, and I'm sure others). If a beginner, it can make sense to start either cardio or strength training first, and add the other a bit later, so as not to risk as much difficulty with managing total training load across disciplines. If one is not committed to a specific cardio-type sport, mixing it up (cross training) can have advantages.

Generally, a cardio training plan will have some workouts that are longer-duration but lower intensity, some that are medium duration/intensity (maybe moderate intervals), and some short but very intense workouts. Usually the lower intensity, longer duration workouts would be a larger fraction of the workouts, and the very high intensity workouts only once or twice a week. Someone who's just beginning would likely do best with just lower-intensity at first for a few weeks or even small number of months to build a base of cardiovascular endurance, then gradually add some intensity.

Varying the types of activity within cardio can be beneficial, too, in recovery terms: For example, swimming stresses the body in quite different ways from running or cycling.

Note that intense cardio can also interfere with strength training recovery, and that different types of cardio stress different muscle groups to some extent, too.

Personally, I find I do best if I take one full rest day per week, but I'm pretty old (67) and I find my resilience to physical stress (in the form of overdoing) is not what it was when I was 20. I may do some stretching/yoga or casual walking, but nothing intense on that rest day.

Some people don't need full rest days at all, because they've worked up to a reasonably high fitness level, and vary their activities so the overall training load works out for them. Some people need many full rest days per week, either because beginners or perhaps recovering from illness or surgery or something.

From your first post on this thread, it sounded like you were getting a little burned out both physically and mentally. That's a subjective indicator of needing a bit more recovery/rest in your schedule somehow. Avoiding that "warning bell" would probably be a good thing. You can try a specific schedule (like 1 or 2 rest days a week, or varied activity) for a week or two, and see how it feels. You may need to experiment a little, and the level of non-exercise stress in your life may even lead you to vary your workout schedule sometimes: That's OK.

Over time, you'll get more tuned in about what your subjective feelings are telling you about good progress and feeling good vs. overdoing, and will be able to make your own smart adjustments, I'd predict. Some fitness trackers (usually expensive ones ) will give you specific indicators of overdoing, but even things like resting heart rate can be useful (overdoing tends to make it creep up).

I wish I had a well-defined answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you're overdoing a bit now, but I don't know how much to tell you to flex your schedule. Try a variation, see how it goes.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the detailed and well thought out response. I appreciate that. I'm going to incorporate two rest days. Sundays will be complete rest and recover. And another day will be just walking. No weights.

Sounds like a good plan!

Plan, execute the plan, evaluate results, adjust if necessary . . . and repeat that cycle. You'll do fine. 🙂

If you feel up to it, after a couple/few weeks, maybe come back to this thread and let us know how it's going? I'm cheering for you!

cdennis9154

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

Thanks so much for the insight. How many rest days a week would you say 1-2?

I don't think there's a cookie-cutter answer.

Your starting fitness level matters. I mentioned that elites don't do their highest intensity efforts every workout or every day, but they have an overall workout schedule that would possibly kill us regular people, because they're so very fit now. At the other extreme, someone who's very out of shape might need to start with 1-2 very widely spaced, quite low intensity workouts per week.

Overall, I'd suggest finding a schedule that is a manageable challenge to the person's current capabilities. I want workouts to be challenging, but not fatiguing (other than maybe a few minutes of "whew" right after the workout). I want to feel energized for the rest of the day(s), not exhausted and dragging through the day.

As a person gets fitter, they can gradually increase duration, frequency, or intensity to keep that manageable challenge always in the picture. (Or, at some point it may work best to change the exercise type to keep things challenging.) It's the challenge that creates useful fitness adaptation.

As a generality, if strength training, it can be good to allow at least a full day of recovery before working the same muscle groups again, so something like a full-body program 3 days a week, or a split that works different muscle groups in alternation on different days so one muscle group is recovering while you're working another. Following a well-designed program suitable to one's level is a good idea. That will build in recovery. Other MFP-ers discuss such programs in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Despite the title, there are bodyweight programs in there, too, not just weight lifting.

On the cardio side of things, maybe seek out a suitable training plan/program, too, if the cardio you enjoy is one for which those are available (they exist for running, cycling, rowing, and I'm sure others). If a beginner, it can make sense to start either cardio or strength training first, and add the other a bit later, so as not to risk as much difficulty with managing total training load across disciplines. If one is not committed to a specific cardio-type sport, mixing it up (cross training) can have advantages.

Generally, a cardio training plan will have some workouts that are longer-duration but lower intensity, some that are medium duration/intensity (maybe moderate intervals), and some short but very intense workouts. Usually the lower intensity, longer duration workouts would be a larger fraction of the workouts, and the very high intensity workouts only once or twice a week. Someone who's just beginning would likely do best with just lower-intensity at first for a few weeks or even small number of months to build a base of cardiovascular endurance, then gradually add some intensity.

Varying the types of activity within cardio can be beneficial, too, in recovery terms: For example, swimming stresses the body in quite different ways from running or cycling.

Note that intense cardio can also interfere with strength training recovery, and that different types of cardio stress different muscle groups to some extent, too.

Personally, I find I do best if I take one full rest day per week, but I'm pretty old (67) and I find my resilience to physical stress (in the form of overdoing) is not what it was when I was 20. I may do some stretching/yoga or casual walking, but nothing intense on that rest day.

Some people don't need full rest days at all, because they've worked up to a reasonably high fitness level, and vary their activities so the overall training load works out for them. Some people need many full rest days per week, either because beginners or perhaps recovering from illness or surgery or something.

From your first post on this thread, it sounded like you were getting a little burned out both physically and mentally. That's a subjective indicator of needing a bit more recovery/rest in your schedule somehow. Avoiding that "warning bell" would probably be a good thing. You can try a specific schedule (like 1 or 2 rest days a week, or varied activity) for a week or two, and see how it feels. You may need to experiment a little, and the level of non-exercise stress in your life may even lead you to vary your workout schedule sometimes: That's OK.

Over time, you'll get more tuned in about what your subjective feelings are telling you about good progress and feeling good vs. overdoing, and will be able to make your own smart adjustments, I'd predict. Some fitness trackers (usually expensive ones ) will give you specific indicators of overdoing, but even things like resting heart rate can be useful (overdoing tends to make it creep up).

I wish I had a well-defined answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you're overdoing a bit now, but I don't know how much to tell you to flex your schedule. Try a variation, see how it goes.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the detailed and well thought out response. I appreciate that. I'm going to incorporate two rest days. Sundays will be complete rest and recover. And another day will be just walking. No weights.

Sounds like a good plan!

Plan, execute the plan, evaluate results, adjust if necessary . . . and repeat that cycle. You'll do fine. 🙂

If you feel up to it, after a couple/few weeks, maybe come back to this thread and let us know how it's going? I'm cheering for you!

Plan implemented. I have a rest day coming up on Sat. Actually excited about it

elisa123gal

Don't mean to pile on.. but taking rest days is part of a good strategy to gain muscle and give the body a chance to do its thing. Guilt is draining and will work against you. No one can workout and eat perfect all the time.

cdennis9154

elisa123gal wrote: »

Don't mean to pile on.. but taking rest days is part of a good strategy to gain muscle and give the body a chance to do its thing. Guilt is draining and will work against you. No one can workout and eat perfect all the time.

I appreciate it. I've installed a new regimen and today is actually my new rest day. I instantly feel the benefits physically and mentally.

cdennis9154

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

Thanks so much for the insight. How many rest days a week would you say 1-2?

I don't think there's a cookie-cutter answer.

Your starting fitness level matters. I mentioned that elites don't do their highest intensity efforts every workout or every day, but they have an overall workout schedule that would possibly kill us regular people, because they're so very fit now. At the other extreme, someone who's very out of shape might need to start with 1-2 very widely spaced, quite low intensity workouts per week.

Overall, I'd suggest finding a schedule that is a manageable challenge to the person's current capabilities. I want workouts to be challenging, but not fatiguing (other than maybe a few minutes of "whew" right after the workout). I want to feel energized for the rest of the day(s), not exhausted and dragging through the day.

As a person gets fitter, they can gradually increase duration, frequency, or intensity to keep that manageable challenge always in the picture. (Or, at some point it may work best to change the exercise type to keep things challenging.) It's the challenge that creates useful fitness adaptation.

As a generality, if strength training, it can be good to allow at least a full day of recovery before working the same muscle groups again, so something like a full-body program 3 days a week, or a split that works different muscle groups in alternation on different days so one muscle group is recovering while you're working another. Following a well-designed program suitable to one's level is a good idea. That will build in recovery. Other MFP-ers discuss such programs in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Despite the title, there are bodyweight programs in there, too, not just weight lifting.

On the cardio side of things, maybe seek out a suitable training plan/program, too, if the cardio you enjoy is one for which those are available (they exist for running, cycling, rowing, and I'm sure others). If a beginner, it can make sense to start either cardio or strength training first, and add the other a bit later, so as not to risk as much difficulty with managing total training load across disciplines. If one is not committed to a specific cardio-type sport, mixing it up (cross training) can have advantages.

Generally, a cardio training plan will have some workouts that are longer-duration but lower intensity, some that are medium duration/intensity (maybe moderate intervals), and some short but very intense workouts. Usually the lower intensity, longer duration workouts would be a larger fraction of the workouts, and the very high intensity workouts only once or twice a week. Someone who's just beginning would likely do best with just lower-intensity at first for a few weeks or even small number of months to build a base of cardiovascular endurance, then gradually add some intensity.

Varying the types of activity within cardio can be beneficial, too, in recovery terms: For example, swimming stresses the body in quite different ways from running or cycling.

Note that intense cardio can also interfere with strength training recovery, and that different types of cardio stress different muscle groups to some extent, too.

Personally, I find I do best if I take one full rest day per week, but I'm pretty old (67) and I find my resilience to physical stress (in the form of overdoing) is not what it was when I was 20. I may do some stretching/yoga or casual walking, but nothing intense on that rest day.

Some people don't need full rest days at all, because they've worked up to a reasonably high fitness level, and vary their activities so the overall training load works out for them. Some people need many full rest days per week, either because beginners or perhaps recovering from illness or surgery or something.

From your first post on this thread, it sounded like you were getting a little burned out both physically and mentally. That's a subjective indicator of needing a bit more recovery/rest in your schedule somehow. Avoiding that "warning bell" would probably be a good thing. You can try a specific schedule (like 1 or 2 rest days a week, or varied activity) for a week or two, and see how it feels. You may need to experiment a little, and the level of non-exercise stress in your life may even lead you to vary your workout schedule sometimes: That's OK.

Over time, you'll get more tuned in about what your subjective feelings are telling you about good progress and feeling good vs. overdoing, and will be able to make your own smart adjustments, I'd predict. Some fitness trackers (usually expensive ones ) will give you specific indicators of overdoing, but even things like resting heart rate can be useful (overdoing tends to make it creep up).

I wish I had a well-defined answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you're overdoing a bit now, but I don't know how much to tell you to flex your schedule. Try a variation, see how it goes.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the detailed and well thought out response. I appreciate that. I'm going to incorporate two rest days. Sundays will be complete rest and recover. And another day will be just walking. No weights.

Sounds like a good plan!

Plan, execute the plan, evaluate results, adjust if necessary . . . and repeat that cycle. You'll do fine. 🙂

If you feel up to it, after a couple/few weeks, maybe come back to this thread and let us know how it's going? I'm cheering for you!

Hey! Just wanted to follow up with you and offer thanks to you (and the rest of the ppl who offered guidance).

I took your advice about the rest day. Did research as well. Saturdays are my official rest days and man. On Sundays when I return to the gym, I am so mentally and physically refreshed. I noticed I was able to lift much more whether that was from recovery or getting stronger. Either way. Thanks man.

AnnPT77

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

cdennis9154 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rest (recovery) is literally where the magic happens: Workouts break down muscle fibers and other body systems, and recovery is when they build back better and stronger.

I'm familiar with the training plans serious athletes in my sport follow. I've followed such plans in the past myself. They have recovery built in. Elites don't go at their maximum intensity every day when they train. Why would us duffers do that? It's not the most productive, effective approach for weight loss or fitness.

Reconceive your past problems as a failure of consistently staying on plan. Then make a better plan, one with adequate recovery built in.

That can be literal rest days built in, or a well-planned alternating schedule of which body systems are usefully stressed, and by how much intensity, so that each system recovers adequately before its next useful stress-fest.

Thanks so much for the insight. How many rest days a week would you say 1-2?

I don't think there's a cookie-cutter answer.

Your starting fitness level matters. I mentioned that elites don't do their highest intensity efforts every workout or every day, but they have an overall workout schedule that would possibly kill us regular people, because they're so very fit now. At the other extreme, someone who's very out of shape might need to start with 1-2 very widely spaced, quite low intensity workouts per week.

Overall, I'd suggest finding a schedule that is a manageable challenge to the person's current capabilities. I want workouts to be challenging, but not fatiguing (other than maybe a few minutes of "whew" right after the workout). I want to feel energized for the rest of the day(s), not exhausted and dragging through the day.

As a person gets fitter, they can gradually increase duration, frequency, or intensity to keep that manageable challenge always in the picture. (Or, at some point it may work best to change the exercise type to keep things challenging.) It's the challenge that creates useful fitness adaptation.

As a generality, if strength training, it can be good to allow at least a full day of recovery before working the same muscle groups again, so something like a full-body program 3 days a week, or a split that works different muscle groups in alternation on different days so one muscle group is recovering while you're working another. Following a well-designed program suitable to one's level is a good idea. That will build in recovery. Other MFP-ers discuss such programs in this thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Despite the title, there are bodyweight programs in there, too, not just weight lifting.

On the cardio side of things, maybe seek out a suitable training plan/program, too, if the cardio you enjoy is one for which those are available (they exist for running, cycling, rowing, and I'm sure others). If a beginner, it can make sense to start either cardio or strength training first, and add the other a bit later, so as not to risk as much difficulty with managing total training load across disciplines. If one is not committed to a specific cardio-type sport, mixing it up (cross training) can have advantages.

Generally, a cardio training plan will have some workouts that are longer-duration but lower intensity, some that are medium duration/intensity (maybe moderate intervals), and some short but very intense workouts. Usually the lower intensity, longer duration workouts would be a larger fraction of the workouts, and the very high intensity workouts only once or twice a week. Someone who's just beginning would likely do best with just lower-intensity at first for a few weeks or even small number of months to build a base of cardiovascular endurance, then gradually add some intensity.

Varying the types of activity within cardio can be beneficial, too, in recovery terms: For example, swimming stresses the body in quite different ways from running or cycling.

Note that intense cardio can also interfere with strength training recovery, and that different types of cardio stress different muscle groups to some extent, too.

Personally, I find I do best if I take one full rest day per week, but I'm pretty old (67) and I find my resilience to physical stress (in the form of overdoing) is not what it was when I was 20. I may do some stretching/yoga or casual walking, but nothing intense on that rest day.

Some people don't need full rest days at all, because they've worked up to a reasonably high fitness level, and vary their activities so the overall training load works out for them. Some people need many full rest days per week, either because beginners or perhaps recovering from illness or surgery or something.

From your first post on this thread, it sounded like you were getting a little burned out both physically and mentally. That's a subjective indicator of needing a bit more recovery/rest in your schedule somehow. Avoiding that "warning bell" would probably be a good thing. You can try a specific schedule (like 1 or 2 rest days a week, or varied activity) for a week or two, and see how it feels. You may need to experiment a little, and the level of non-exercise stress in your life may even lead you to vary your workout schedule sometimes: That's OK.

Over time, you'll get more tuned in about what your subjective feelings are telling you about good progress and feeling good vs. overdoing, and will be able to make your own smart adjustments, I'd predict. Some fitness trackers (usually expensive ones ) will give you specific indicators of overdoing, but even things like resting heart rate can be useful (overdoing tends to make it creep up).

I wish I had a well-defined answer for you, but I don't. It sounds like you're overdoing a bit now, but I don't know how much to tell you to flex your schedule. Try a variation, see how it goes.

Best wishes!

Thanks for the detailed and well thought out response. I appreciate that. I'm going to incorporate two rest days. Sundays will be complete rest and recover. And another day will be just walking. No weights.

Sounds like a good plan!

Plan, execute the plan, evaluate results, adjust if necessary . . . and repeat that cycle. You'll do fine. 🙂

If you feel up to it, after a couple/few weeks, maybe come back to this thread and let us know how it's going? I'm cheering for you!

Hey! Just wanted to follow up with you and offer thanks to you (and the rest of the ppl who offered guidance).

I took your advice about the rest day. Did research as well. Saturdays are my official rest days and man. On Sundays when I return to the gym, I am so mentally and physically refreshed. I noticed I was able to lift much more whether that was from recovery or getting stronger. Either way. Thanks man.

Excellent.

I'm always happy when we can convince someone to think in terms of well-validated training concepts and individualized common sense self-regulation . . . instead of the too-common blogospheric "work at demonically high intensity 7 days a week to exhaustion, like the energizer bunny on amphetamines".