How important is a day off from exercise?

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mfoster1019
mfoster1019 Posts: 152 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've seen mixed thoughts on it. Some people say that it is beneficial and your body can can/will burn more calories that day with the rest (not sure how true that is). But then I've also heard the opposite.

I know I can manage my food to stay at 1200cals, even without the exercise. However, I know I'll have that guilty feeling of taking a day off...like I'm slacking and totally sabotaging my weight loss efforts.

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

Replies

  • rocketpants
    rocketpants Posts: 419 Member
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    I think it is important. Especially if you are really pushing yourself in your workouts. Over-training will lead to a stalling in your progress.

    If you want to do something stretching or a light walk is fine, and even beneficial to recovery of sore tired muscles.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Depends on how hard you are working your muscles. Your body needs time to recover/repair/build muscle. The harder you work the more important recovery time is. You can walk your dog every day for the rest of your life, but running a marathon every day might be a little much.
  • mfoster1019
    mfoster1019 Posts: 152 Member
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    i don't kill myself at my workouts. i do between 20-30 minutes each day. i vary between kickboxing videos, circuit training (jillian michaels DVD), and high impact aerobics during the week. i could do a walk with my daughter on sunday and have that be good enough for the day and just monitor my calories.

    i'm just new to all of this, so i am trying to figure it all out :)
  • busyPK
    busyPK Posts: 3,788 Member
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    I do 1-2 rest days each week and it's very important for me. I actually tend to lose my lbs when I take a rest day and weigh myself the next morning. :smile:
  • addisondisease
    addisondisease Posts: 664 Member
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    The pros say "no such thing as over training, just under eating"

    This is true to a point. Check your stress levels, sleeping, diet, patience, etc. If you are still normal keep training. If you find yourself lacking in other areas of your like due to being too tired, cheating on diet etc then rest.
  • LeanMeanFitnessMachine
    LeanMeanFitnessMachine Posts: 659
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    Depends on how hard you are working your muscles. Your body needs time to recover/repair/build muscle. The harder you work the more important recovery time is. You can walk your dog every day for the rest of your life, but running a marathon every day might be a little much.

    Couldn't agree more!
  • brandyk77
    brandyk77 Posts: 605 Member
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    it all depends on what you are used to and your general volume of exercise.

    I work out every day but not at the same intensity. Some days I just run and 'easy 3' miles. Those miles are slower than others and get the blood flowing to the muscles to speed up recovery.
  • 140tohealthy
    140tohealthy Posts: 21
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    From what I've heard, it's beneficial to your body if you have a day off of working your muscles. Your muscles need to grow and they can't do that if they are constantly being worked.
  • JennyAnn35
    JennyAnn35 Posts: 45
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    Depends on how hard you are working. When you work out you break down muscle, it needs time to repair. But that does not mean you have to be a slug on your days off! I take Saturday and Sunday off of the gym each week (most weeks), but I don't just sit home. I take my kids hiking, or for a bike ride, or ice skating, anything active and fun we can do as a family.
  • Kassieisproud
    Kassieisproud Posts: 149
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    The pros say "no such thing as over training, just under eating"

    This is true to a point. Check your stress levels, sleeping, diet, patience, etc. If you are still normal keep training. If you find yourself lacking in other areas of your like due to being too tired, cheating on diet etc then rest.

    I agree!
  • beautyreaps
    beautyreaps Posts: 151
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    Personally, I believe it's important to take at least one day off a week. Why? It gives your body a chance to let go of any lactic acid build up and allow your glycogen stores to restore and prevents burn out.

    I think this article will open your eyes up about rest days (: it definitely helped me, because I, like you, felt guilty taking rest days. Now, I take them and I feel great.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/the-importance-of-rest.html
  • RAFValentina
    RAFValentina Posts: 1,231 Member
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    The pros say "no such thing as over training, just under eating"

    This is true to a point. Check your stress levels, sleeping, diet, patience, etc. If you are still normal keep training. If you find yourself lacking in other areas of your like due to being too tired, cheating on diet etc then rest.

    I agree!

    I read this theory on Brianmac ...theres a great little scale to help decide if you;re ready to exercise again. But some HRMs can help you too in terms of heart over training. Light exercise, like walking and most workout DVDs you could do every day. It depends on what you're body is OK with... I built up from not being able to run every day to running 12km every day and fast and having to do other things like double workouts in order to get training benefits. Some exercise can become "rest", its in proportion to your normal workouts. Cross training can help you aid working every day, use different muscle groups on alternate days so they do get rest days! :)

    Edit: sentence structure
  • Beewallows
    Beewallows Posts: 110 Member
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    I find that the minute I do nothing for one day, eventually it turns into 2, then 3 and so on. So even if I don't do a high cardio/muscle workout, I will walk briskly for about an hour. Its not high impact, but way better than nothing in my opinion.

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