Exercise And Rest Days

LJCannon

I am a novice at this exercising lifestyle. I have been going to Curves 6 times a week and walking for 45-60 minutes 6-7 days a week. This has done wonders for my weight loss and my knee and back pain is almost gone.:happy: I don't even feel like the same woman I was just a few months ago.

Lately however, the trainer at Curves--and a few other people--have said that I need to take at least every other day off to give my muscles time to recover. I do not kill myself at Curves, I do push myself but not anything like I have seen others do. When I walk, I am not 'Power Walking', just going at a comfortable pace, I do get a little out of breath but I am still able to carry on a conversation. About 2-2.8 mph.

:ohwell: With the Holidays coming up I'm not sure that this is the best time to let myself cut down on the workouts. Especially since I am not doing really strenuous workouts where I am just completely wiped out afterwards. Other than Curves and the walking I am not a very active person.

I would like to know what others of you think. Would you keep up the exercise as I have been doing, or does my body really NEED the break in between?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

danarochelle

I think you're doing great, however, I would take one or two days rest per week, doesn't matter if they're together or apart, as long as you're resting in between workouts. If you were working out harder, you'd have to take every other day off, to let your muscles recover, as your trainer suggested. I workout Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday and one day on the weekend typically.

Hope this help! Keep up the great work!

MacMadame

It's important to take time off to recover because that's when all fitness gains are made.

But every other day seems a bit excessive, especially given that it's hard to get an extreme workout at Curves. For the kind of stuff you do there, 1 day a week is probably fine.

I take off Monday and Friday, but I do a lot of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) and my muscles scream at me, if I don't.

Talieowl

If you are doing weight training to develop muscle, then taking every other day off of working out the muscle group you just worked on is important since that is when muscle rebuilds from the workout. HOWEVER, that is not the same as taking every other day off for general aerobic exercise, which is what you are doing with walking and Curves. Taking one to two days off each week--preferably not together--is a good idea.

With weight training for muscle development, you wouldn't take the "off day" completely off, either. Let's say on Monday you work your legs. You wouldn't work your legs on Tuesday, but you would still work out by working on your arms.

My husband runs marathons. None of the training schedules he uses has him taking every other day off--and believe me, he trains hard. On the day after he runs 20 miles, he gets a day off. Each week he gets one day off, and infrequently, depending on the intensity of the week's schedule, he may get two days off. Never every other day.

It's too bad that Curves does not have people who are better educated about exercise physiology on its staff. Keep doing what you are doing and listen to your body.

Azdak

You need to be aware of the signs of overtraining, but, unless you start to experience them, I would not arbitrarily change your routine on the advice of some "trainer".

Many people parrot cliches and bromides about fitness and exercise as though they were handed down on stone tablets.

They aren't. They are guidelines and cautions that should be taken into consideration, but not absolute laws.

From your description, it sounds as though much of your exercise is being done at a moderate level. In that case, the amount of "recovery" that you need may not be all that great. Listen to your body. If you start to feel chronically fatigued, notice an increased resting heart rate, have trouble sleeping, feel your exercise performance deteriorating, etc. then that is a sign to take some time off. If not, then I would not change your routine at this point.

However, after the holidays, you might want to consider trying some different things. If you never change your routine, the body will become more efficient at doing the activity and you will eventually see diminishing returns. Pushing yourself a little harder on some days can help you to see greater improvement and perhaps even better results. It's something to consider. Heck, you might even get some useful information from the trainer.

mmnichol

You need to be aware of the signs of overtraining, but, unless you start to experience them, I would not arbitrarily change your routine on the advice of some "trainer".

Many people parrot cliches and bromides about fitness and exercise as though they were handed down on stone tablets.

They aren't. They are guidelines and cautions that should be taken into consideration, but not absolute laws.

From your description, it sounds as though much of your exercise is being done at a moderate level. In that case, the amount of "recovery" that you need may not be all that great. Listen to your body. If you start to feel chronically fatigued, notice an increased resting heart rate, have trouble sleeping, feel your exercise performance deteriorating, etc. then that is a sign to take some time off. If not, then I would not change your routine at this point.

However, after the holidays, you might want to consider trying some different things. If you never change your routine, the body will become more efficient at doing the activity and you will eventually see diminishing returns. Pushing yourself a little harder on some days can help you to see greater improvement and perhaps even better results. It's something to consider. Heck, you might even get some useful information from the trainer.

Good post! Informative with common sense!

vhuber

You need to be aware of the signs of overtraining, but, unless you start to experience them, I would not arbitrarily change your routine on the advice of some "trainer".

Many people parrot cliches and bromides about fitness and exercise as though they were handed down on stone tablets.

They aren't. They are guidelines and cautions that should be taken into consideration, but not absolute laws.

From your description, it sounds as though much of your exercise is being done at a moderate level. In that case, the amount of "recovery" that you need may not be all that great. Listen to your body. If you start to feel chronically fatigued, notice an increased resting heart rate, have trouble sleeping, feel your exercise performance deteriorating, etc. then that is a sign to take some time off. If not, then I would not change your routine at this point.

However, after the holidays, you might want to consider trying some different things. If you never change your routine, the body will become more efficient at doing the activity and you will eventually see diminishing returns. Pushing yourself a little harder on some days can help you to see greater improvement and perhaps even better results. It's something to consider. Heck, you might even get some useful information from the trainer.

Good post! Informative with common sense!

That's are Azdac! He is always informative and I agree with what he said!

MacMadame

Many people parrot cliches and bromides about fitness and exercise as though they were handed down on stone tablets.

Not only do they act like it's some immutable law, but they frequently don't understand what they are parroting so then they get it wrong. It's like an enormous game of telephone. :laugh:

LJCannon

:flowerforyou: Thanks Everyone!!! I knew I could count on you for good advice. At least if I do decide to take a 'rest day' occasionally I won't feel guilty about it.