workouts on rest days question

katy_trail
katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm just starting my heavy lifting routine, what kind of workouts would you avoid on your rest days?
For example, I really want to get back on the punching bag today, should I hold off till I have 2 days in a row of rest,
or is it ok to do the workout if I'm doing heavy lifting tomorrow again?

Replies

  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    it's ok to do whatever you want. But a rest day should be for rest. If you want to do something then understand that the point of a rest day is to rest a specific muscle group. So as long as you are doing that then your rest day is meeting it's purpose.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    i had a full body workout yesterday, and another scheduled for tomorrow. it's the all pro beginner routine on BB.
    I'm not sure if I'm keeping this routine, because doing split squats and upper body work is causing issues,
    but assuming I am, then I guess I'm pretty limited in what I could do.

    ab work, walking, my indoor bike is broken, jumping of some kind would be out since the routine includes calf raises at the end.
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    I've done the all pro routine. It's SLDL, squts, rows, bench and miliatry press 3x per week, right? (It's been awhile.) Curls & calf raises (I usually skipped those)?

    I think hitting the heavy bag would be fine, just see how you feel. I don't think jumping would be out at all, you're utilizing the muscles differently. Throw in some core work and some cardio you like, and I think it will be fine.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    is there some body part other than abs I could be working?
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    awesome :)
  • workaholic_nurse
    workaholic_nurse Posts: 727 Member
    My rest day is just that, a rest day. No workout and slow down and enjoy myself. I work out 6 days a week though, lifting 3.5(the .5 is a short total body workout done at some point throughout the week) and cardio 4.
  • Ratedg2001
    Ratedg2001 Posts: 1 Member
    Your rest days do not have to be inactive days. Depening on your goals, your rest days can be walking, sports, or 30 mins of HIIT cardio. Something like jumprope would be a great HIIT cardio session on your rest day. As long as your not stressing the same muscle groups with load (weights) you should be fine.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    my main goal is fat loss while keeping the muscle I have. If my reps/wt also go up, then that's awesome too.
    it's been going well.
  • selina884
    selina884 Posts: 826 Member
    Despite what one of the above posters said.

    I still advise 1 complete rest day.
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
    Your body will tell you if you need a real rest day or just a day off from lifting. When I first started barbell lifting, I maintained cardio on the no lift days. My body told be to stop that. Running a caloric deficit while lifting heavy and doing cardio puts a LOT of stress on the nervous system. I had to take a real rest day and go to 2 days between lifting days. And eat more. I can tell when I have pushed things too far. I would rather give up the cardio for now than stop lifting, so I do cardio when I feel it won't slow down my lift days. Today was a rest day from lifting but I had energy to burn so I did some HIIT on the treadmill and some situps. We'll see how that effects my lifts tomorrow.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    thanks everyone, i'm listening to my body. I've been resting a lot this week and felt I had the energy to do a workout today,
    I was just concerned about the effects mentioned, while doing lifting. with eating, i'm trying to listen to that too, and
    I'm using the calorie and protein as a guideline, but If i'm not hungry or I'm extra hungry I try to figure out why,
    i'm not stranger to emotional hunger, but I haven't had any issues yet. things are going pretty well, i'm just trying to be consistent.
    that's where I always mess up. stop working out, eating gets out of control, and I just go back to the way I was.
    but I think what I'm doing is sustainable, and fairly simple.
  • mlcrruth
    mlcrruth Posts: 10
    This is something I have always struggled with. I just dont know how much is to much. And because of that I have injured myself.

    I have started a similar all pro routine such as above and am going to start lifting heavy next week. But I want muscle gain and dont want to lose cardio endurance like I have now. I have always had a problem after lifting, I would go play basketball for 2 hours or more. Stuff like that. How much should I cut it down to?

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