Day of rest?

hopefloatsup

So I always heard that you need to give your body a "day of rest" so to speak. Monday through Friday, hubby & I went to the gym and did 60 minutes between treadmill, bike, weights, and medicine ball. Felt great the rest of the day.....today, we didn't go because our oldest had a Tae Kwon Do Tournament so it was up and out early for him while I stayed with the younger kiddos. I have felt just plain exhausted today. No energy like I could just sleep all day. I actually MISSED working out today and getting all sweaty. I guess that's a little NSV for me huh?

Should I have NOT taken a day of rest??? I'm thinking of at least going for a walk this evening or something....

mfanyafujo

It's really important to take a day of rest after working a major muscle group, if you are exercising to the point of soreness. That's why many people do arms one day, legs the next, etc - it's to rest a particular muscle group. So you don't need to rest your entire body for a day, but if your muscles ache, they need 24-48 hours to heal. And if you're just plain exhausted - rest. Walking is good, but it's super important to not overdo workouts, since that leads to injury, discouragement, and generally hating exercise.

It's entirely possible to work out every day of the week (though I'd recommend at least one lazy day), as long as your workouts are varied and you don't do a hard workout on really sore muscles. If this is too tiring, you could try two days working out, one day rest, and repeat, until you get more used to it.

Eaglesfanintn

It's really important to take a day of rest after working a major muscle group, if you are exercising to the point of soreness. That's why many people do arms one day, legs the next, etc - it's to rest a particular muscle group. So you don't need to rest your entire body for a day, but if your muscles ache, they need 24-48 hours to heal. And if you're just plain exhausted - rest. Walking is good, but it's super important to not overdo workouts, since that leads to injury, discouragement, and generally hating exercise.

It's entirely possible to work out every day of the week (though I'd recommend at least one lazy day), as long as your workouts are varied and you don't do a hard workout on really sore muscles. If this is too tiring, you could try two days working out, one day rest, and repeat, until you get more used to it.

Well said.

LesliePierceRN

When you rest, you repair and build muscle.. your body needs that to function properly. You defeat the purpose of working out if you don't give your body time to recover. Rest is just as important as the workout and the diet, they all work together for optimal results. I work out like an animal five to six days a week, most days twice a day, but when I rest, I rest just as hard. I nap, watch movies, I may not even change out of my pajamas. I take full advantage of the fact that I busted it all week, and I enjoy and savor every minute of the rest day. Enjoy your rest, you've earned it.

BrianSharpe

My rest day includes walking and, sometimes, a very easy short run - to sit around and do absolutely nothing would have me climbing the walls.

hopefloatsup

Thanks everyone! I woke up feeling much better this morning so I am just wondering if I was just plain tired yesterday in general. I didn't do well on staying in my calories - I went quite a bit over. I'm not beating myself up about it though. It was one day. I was hungry. And compared to 2 months ago, I grabbed fruits/veggies instead of a bag of Lay's potato chips to get me through the day LOL. That has to be some progress right?

We're still new at the "working out" part of this lifestyle and love it....

hk2008

bump

tubbs_nomore

hello all....OK when you have this "day of rest" do you only eat your 1200 calories for that day? because you arent working out to earn more food? This is my first day off & not sure what to eat...ty in advance

Mguilmot

In a non-hectic week I have 3 days of rest: wednesday, saturday and sunday. I used to workout 7d a week, and since I quit that my body got better at burning the fat. Working out shouldn't take over your life, you are allowed to have a few days of being lazy :-)

hopefloatsup

hello all....OK when you have this "day of rest" do you only eat your 1200 calories for that day? because you arent working out to earn more food? This is my first day off & not sure what to eat...ty in advance

I'm assuming you try to stay within your calorie intake...I failed at that though LOL

side note: I still think 1200 is really low for most people though actually. I tried it, as MFP suggested it for me, but after finding out my BMR, I realized that was about 600 calories short from what the BMR calculator told me to eat. I raised my calories and all has been good. :-)

LesliePierceRN

hello all....OK when you have this "day of rest" do you only eat your 1200 calories for that day? because you arent working out to earn more food? This is my first day off & not sure what to eat...ty in advance

I don't spaz about the cals on a rest day.. I have worked my muscles all week,and they need extra protein on recovery (rest) days to properly rebuild. If that causes me to go over my cals, then so be it. Muscles are hungry, if they need fed, I feed them. I've upped my cals 3 times in the last six weeks or so to about 2020 a day baseline because my muscles demand to be fed, and have managed to lose an inch of bf in the process. Don't be afraid to give your body what it needs.

tubbs_nomore

Thanks for the reply...how do I "up" my calories? manually?

hopefloatsup

hello all....OK when you have this "day of rest" do you only eat your 1200 calories for that day? because you arent working out to earn more food? This is my first day off & not sure what to eat...ty in advance

I don't spaz about the cals on a rest day.. I have worked my muscles all week,and they need extra protein on recovery (rest) days to properly rebuild. If that causes me to go over my cals, then so be it. Muscles are hungry, if they need fed, I feed them. I've upped my cals 3 times in the last six weeks or so to about 2020 a day baseline because my muscles demand to be fed, and have managed to lose an inch of bf in the process. Don't be afraid to give your body what it needs.

^^^I LOVE THIS^^^

Elizabeth_C34

It's really important to take a day of rest after working a major muscle group, if you are exercising to the point of soreness. That's why many people do arms one day, legs the next, etc - it's to rest a particular muscle group. So you don't need to rest your entire body for a day, but if your muscles ache, they need 24-48 hours to heal. And if you're just plain exhausted - rest. Walking is good, but it's super important to not overdo workouts, since that leads to injury, discouragement, and generally hating exercise.

It's entirely possible to work out every day of the week (though I'd recommend at least one lazy day), as long as your workouts are varied and you don't do a hard workout on really sore muscles. If this is too tiring, you could try two days working out, one day rest, and repeat, until you get more used to it.

Very good post! I agree!

nikrit84

I also am not taking a day of rest. started dieting/exercising 28 days ago and have only taken one day off. I am always anxious to go work out, and when I am done I feel relieved and energized! The only problem I am having is the pain, my legs are very sore and stiff but I still work through it. I know I will regret it one day, but right now...it is what it is....and I enjoy working out everyday lol

LesliePierceRN

Thanks for the reply...how do I "up" my calories? manually?

Go to HOME -> GOALS -> then click the green bar (can't remember exactly what it says).. then pick from the fields it gives you to choose from. To increase my cals, I had to claim I wanted to gain 1/2 lb a week.. but that's the number of cals that I need to just maintain my muscle building so I can lose fat... Now, remember, I'm not your average woman.. I'm muscular and in an intense strength training program.