Rest Days?!

Healthy_Hannah483

Do you take a rest day? If so how many per week do you take them? Any information about them would be greatly appreciated. I've heard every other day and then I've also heard once a week. So far, I haven't really taken rest days which is probably why I always have to lay off for weeks while I recover (currently have a groin injury )

Thanks!

koosdel

I take four rest days.

CannibalisticVegetarian

I try taking the weekends off, but I always feel a little guilty. Even on rest days, I gun for at least 25 minutes of very light cardio though.. That still counts as a rest day though, right? I dunno. Do rest days mean NO activity whatsoever?

lkm111

I think it depends on how you are exercising. As an example, I'm doing TurboFire, which is an intense cardio program. Because of how intense some of the workouts are, rest days are practically mandatory for your body to repair. Before doing anything as intense, I did a lot of walking and was able to do it every day without needing a break.

KimertRuns13_1

I take one full rest day. Sometimes I will take 2.
On weeks I only take 1 I make sure I have one "light" exercise day where I don't go all out on effort.

kykydiva

once a week on sundays

Flyntiggr

What Kimert said

annasid78

One rest day! Some days I would like two.. but it isn't worth it to me!

Rayman79

Personally, I take two rest days a week (Wednesdays and Sundays). I might still do some light exercise like going for a walk or today a friendly game of indoor soccer, but that's about it. I'll do an hour in the gym on the other five days (either weights or cardio/resistance training).

BigHeadedBull

As others have said, it depends on what your exercise goals are. I train for triathlons and during the ramp up to and through the season I take one rest day a week. During the winter, I usually have two total rest days a week.

I'm sure you have heard "listen to your body". Good advice, but how is your "hearing"? Here's a tip that has worked for me. Take your pulse in the morning when you first wake but have not gotten out of bed. After a few days you should have an average or base pulse. Then, if you notice that your pulse is up more than a couple of beats above your average, you probably did too much the day before. It works for me and gives me a measurement rather than just going with the "blahs".

TooFatToFit

I never schedule a rest day, but sometimes they happen, especially on weekends when my kids are with me, etc. I'll still do my best to get some activity in, but usually I can't get anywhere near the burn I really want to get. I'm afraid to schedule them in because one might lead to two, and heck...one more won't hurt, right? And then I'm back where I started.