Do you exercise everyday?

spulido01

I have been exercising for the past 14 days straight. I was wondering if you normally take one day off and if it makes a difference.

Thanks.

jessicamckay13

I suggest to take at least one day off per week. You run the risk of overtraining and derailing your whole plan if you push too hard.

That said....I don't always listen to my own advice My husband has specific days (M/W spin, T/Th/Su lift) and he refuses to switch it up (stubborn old man) whereas I just go on how I feel. If I'm feeling worn out, I give myself a day off or just jog a couple miles. If I'm bouncing around with energy I will do crossfit in the morning and lift with hubby in the afternoon. Listen to your body.

runnercheryl

I have one day of lighter exercise, and one day I allow myself to take off. It gives my body and mind a chance to recover from five tough days, and it's usually when I see my loss for the week.

spulido01

Was hoping to get more responses.

NomNomCupcakes

I TRY to exercise everyday >.> but if I am too tired from work... not always.

I set my goals as at least 20 minutes a day; 5 days a week. I try to give myself at least ONE day off a week

DeviantDarkwolf2

Depending on what you are doing. Your body will tell you if you are over training, but if one of your days is lighter than the rest and your are not over doing any muscle groups, then I see no problem with it.

AZDizzy

I take one day off a week when I only do a stretching routine, no cardio, no resistance.

kr3851

My current program has me aiming for a 500 calorie burn 5 days a week, a 1000 calorie burn once a week, and a rest day. I try to do more than the 500 each day so that I don't have to worry about getting to the 1000 calories that one day - it's more than 2 hours of exercise for me, which I just can't do.

Rest days are a must...

DannyMussels

If you go pretty crazy, I would. I usually do 5 days a week, and work my 1-2 days off into my schedule (if im outta town, or workin 12-16hrs ill rest the next day). When I'm on a 2 or 3 week stretch of exercise, there's usually a pretty light cardio day somewhere in there.

beckylawrence70

I try to workout 6 days a week, 3 cardios and 3 strength wkouts, 40 min each day, I usually take Sunday's off.......

Pebble321

In general, I think it is a good idea to have a day off - especially if you are new to exercising or it is particularly intense. It doesn't mean that you have to lie in bed all day - but if you run most days, then take a day where you go for a gentle stroll or have a swim.
Remember that when you are exercising you are causing little tears to the muscles when you put them under stress and having a rest day or a light day gives them a chance to heal. It also gives you a better chance of staying motivated and not burning out too soon.

KristinLeAnn252

I don't plan days off but I know there may be a day that I just can not work out and I just don't let myself feel badly because it's my one day off for the week or something.

kayleystar

I workout every day, and take a rest day when my body needs it only. I love to exercise, and feel lazy on days that I don't.

jwelch7290

I kind of go with how I'm feeling or how my schedule goes...amount of activities or homework I have as I'm in college...but I try to go about every day more because I feel really good after my workouts so I go because I know I'm going to feel better when I'm done. I've only been working out for a couple of weeks and I'm already up to running for about 5 minutes (not very fast but hey, gotta start somewhere)

So I agree...if your body needs a rest, do it...if you're doing alright then continue- just don't completely stop--that's what I find myself doing if I stop for a day or two.

chevy88grl

When I first started this journey, I worked out 7 days a week. I felt like taking a day off would cause me to backslide and undo all my hard work. It didn't take long before my body started to rebel. I over trained and I ended up with injuries. After I recovered, I started working out 4-5 days a week/60 mins each time. Every 4-6 weeks, I would take an entire week off from the gym.

Your body NEEDS to rest. It needs to be able to relax and recover from working out.

ohpilot

I go by how my body feels.

I plan out an entire week's worth of exercise and I do my best to abide by it, but I don't beat myself up if I miss or skip a day. I also push through muscle soreness, but the minute I get angry joints I rest.

For me, I do exercises that I enjoy... so doing it every day in my mind is a privilege

xbabyblueyez21x

You have to take time off to let your muscles recover...working out 14 days straight might seem like a great plan but without giving your muscles time to recover you are actually not doing yourself much good working out so much. I work out 5 days a week and give myself 2 days off. I usually don't take more than 1 day off in a row and I don't take the same days off each week, just depends on my schedule for the week.

j4nash

2 days on 1 day off

SmartAlec03211988

I exercise different parts of the body every day, to allow a days rest between them.

Showgirlbody

I do 5 days a week mostly. Maybe a little walk when I take my dog out on the day I'm not going to the gym and trying to work out. I think 4-5 days a week is very good, especially if you are coming from not exercising at all. I think some people jump in too enthusiastically to a new program and then they burn out. Working up to changes may let it stick longer. It's good to let your body rest especially if you are working out hard daily. If you feel better getting a walk in every day or something that is different. I just wouldn't set your goals too aggressively so you don't feel defeated if you can't meet them and then give up.

cjpg

Depending on the individual , working out can be an every day thing or an every OTHER day thing.

In my experience, I once started to exercise daily. Pure cardio every day. It was stupid for three main reasons:

1) Bodies need rest periods to recover to avoid over-exertion
2) its important to work on different muscle groups throughout the week
3) Pure cardio burns fat, but building muscles in turn quickens how much fat a body can burn every day (more muscles, the more energy you need to sustain them)

I was doing the same exercise (jogging) daily, so same muscle groups for the same intervals exerting the same amount of energy a day while building no muscle.

Sure, I got MASSIVE results VERY quickly - 110kg down to 100kg in three weeks (3.3kg a week).

But then I stopped. I was burnt out. I couldn't keep up that lifestyle.

And here is the buzz word that is the crux of my post - lifestyle. When you're considering exercise and diet routines its important to fit it into your lifestyle so you can maintain it. If you choose a lifestyle that you cannot maintain, eventually you will fall back to your 'preset' lifestyle, which put you in this position of needing to lose weight to begin with.

Exercise as often as you can, so long as you don't burn yourself out. Remember: it's far better to run once a week for a year, then run 7 days one week and never again.

thefuzz1290

I lift on average 4 days a week w/cardio. On non-lifting days I do 30 minutes of cardio. However, I listen to my body and on some lifting days I won't do any cardio, or I'll do less, or I'll do more. My workouts depend on how I feel that day.

However, I do have an eratic workout schedule. I work 12 hour shifts and have 3 days off one week then 4 days off the next week. On my days off I lift around midnight and days I work, I do cardio right after work. So when I transition from my off day to on day, its over 24 hours between workouts, but when I transition from work days to off days, its like 18 hours between workouts.

KaiteeKarrot

I always used to think you should take a day off to let your muscles "recuperate", however the fitness program I've joined begs to differ. With the program I only intensly workout 45 minutes each day and we focus on different muscle groups everyday so as not to completely wear our bodies down. It depends on if your looking to gain lots of muscle or slim down, to slim down they suggested working out every single day so as to give your muscles less time to repair and get larger. It made sense to me, so now I don't take any days off. (I also discovered that even taking a day off throws me off track, so that's a large part of why I'm a 7 days of the week sorta girl)

aippolito1

I work out 5-6 days a week. I try to work out pretty hard - enough to where I'm sore the next day. This is why I rest. I work my muscles pretty hard. If you've worked out 2 weeks straight and are wondering if you need a rest day, my opinion is you're not working out hard enough to really need a rest day.

kfox15

What has been working well for me is to have a mix of structured and un-structured days. I religiously take a spinning class 2 days a week so I know that if nothing else, I will make that minimum. Building on those 2 days, I try to fit in 3 days of less structured workouts usually 2 HIIT sessions and one medium length run (3-5 mi). If I really feeling good one week I'll work in a 6th day of a "fun" workout like a brisk walk to the starbuck's that is 1.5 mi from my house :-). As for lifting, I've broken my muscle groups up into chest/tri, back/bi, and legs and have 30 minute routines for each section. This helps me incorporate lifitng quickly and saves me an extra gym session. I find that the variety of workouts prevents me from getting bored or sore and that taking a rest day actually makes me more excited for the next workout. One thing about rest days- I never, ever couple them with my cheat day which I do onces every two weeks. I use to have an all out slacker day when I would skip the gym and eat whatever I wanted but I just ended up feeling miserable. Now I actually do my cheat day on my hardest workout day which leaves me guilt free and still ok on calories. Hope that helps!

nu2012

This last month I have been working out daily.But I try to switch my workouts.Alternate days I put some light cardio and alternate days I try to do circuit training sort of.

muwchck

I'm just getting back into exercising regularly myself, and I try to do something every day, even if I just take a short walk around the parking lot. I have a bad knee, so I have to change up what I do from day to day so as not to stress the knee every day, at least until I get some of this weight off so it doesn't hurt so much. I don't have lots of options since I'm not part of a gym, and we don't have room for any work out equipment at home. But between playing with my son, doing work out videos from my cable's on demand menu, walking, etc, I'm up doing something every day now. And when it warms up and the pool is open again, I'll probably be in the pool just about every day, with the kids of course.

Mybabie

I workout everyday. Some days I don't burn as much. But when I say I am taking a day off I just can't I am addicted to working out. LOL. Just listen to your body.

sunnydays33

Yup, everyday single day.

<humbled> I'm starting to consider myself an athlete again, so whether I'm on the field or not; I have to be very active everyday. I have a dozen or so workouts that I rotate depending on crazy schedules but have 'mostly-always' needed to burn off my extra energy. It gives my mind the much needed respice, if ya know what I mean.