Taking a day off from exercise?

jeneey

Really how important is it to take a day off from exercise? I push myself hard changing it up all the time. My legs, gluts are always sore. Could this affect weight loss?

proverbs31chick

Not at all, your body needs time to recover, I usually go two days and then break. Don't over do it, I sometimes go like 6 days a week, if you do that then maybe day 5 or 6 you can take it easy.

drog2323

in my opinion - very important. I think at least one day a week you need to rest. You could maybe do something really light, a nice walk or something fun, but your body definitely needs to rest and recover.

magz_weltha

It is very important to have "rest" days! Here is an idea of my weekly routine:
Monday- Running Day 70min
Tuesday- Elliptical/Strength Training 60min
Wednesday- Easy Day 30min
Thursday- Running Day 70min
Friday- Elli[tical/Strength Training 60min
Saturday- Running/Strength Training 60min
Sunday- Either rest day or easy day 30min.

AnathemaTeatime

I'll go against the common wisdom and say, as long as you mix it up and do some non-cardio, I don't think it's necessary. Here's my routine, and my doctor has said it's okay (I'm training for a marathon and do need to be careful not to overtrain because one injury could wipe out my chances):

Mon: Upper body strength or yoga class

Tues: 45 min run or dance class

Weds: 30 min cross (bike ride, elliptical, even a walk if I'm feeling lazy)

Thurs: 45 min run

Fri: Core strength or yoga class

Sat: 30 min cross (whatever I didn't do on Weds)

Sun: Long training run . . . working my way very gradually up to marathon distance

mlb929

I call Yoga my day off. What I read in a running magazine is if you are sore for a day after a work out - it's fine, but if you are sore for more than a day, have aches in the night, or feel too tired to get up - you probably have muscle fatigue. It may not effect weight loss as much as it effects performance and leaves you with more chance of injury.

lulutm

I think the key is not doing repetitive excercises without resting that muscle group. For instance, you wouldn't weight train the same body parts for four days straight, right? And running everyday would defintely cause an injury. So, mix it up and if your legs are always sore, you might want to add an additional day in between leg workouts.

jeneey

Thanks for the posts, I am always mixing it up from spinning, road cycling, elliptical, stairs, kettlebells, etc. I do think my muscles are fatigued so I'll try taking today off and see how it goes. I don't mind hurting because it's a "good hurt" but it has been nonrelenting for a few days, but again, I push myself very hard.