When should a person rest?

angeldove85
angeldove85 Posts: 25
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm still fairly new to exercising seriously and my body is pretty weak (compared to how fit I use to be). I want to work out 5 days a week for now- have Wednesday and Sunday off (due to work and personal time needed). I don't need to start that schedule until next week when I go back to work (bye bye summer!).

What physical signs do I need to look out for to know my body needs a rest day?

I worked out the last two days- Tuesday I did the 30 Day Shred Level 1 (approx. 20 minutes) and Wednesday I did a 35 minute workout on my elliptical (different speed and using 3 lb arm weights for about 1/3 of it).

My quads hurt, but I can still do everything I need to do- walk up and down stairs, jump, etc. But they hurt... so I'm wondering if I should take today off to rest or do my normal plan of 30 Day Shred. Perhaps just work the arms and abs today? (I would need to find a workout to do just that since the 30 Day Shred does the whole body)

Thoughts???

Replies

  • Elf_Princess1210
    Elf_Princess1210 Posts: 895 Member
    If your sore do something gentle
  • mhankosk
    mhankosk Posts: 513 Member
    Soreness is inevitable. What I've found is its best to push through and eventually you will notice you are getting less sore. Then you up your weight or intensity and the cycle starts all over. If you are feeling PAIN, you should rest. Like, if you feel like your knee is going to give out, probably not the best idea to go for a run, you know what I mean? The soreness takes a little to get used to but soon you'll find you'll enjoy it cause it means you got a killer workout in!

    Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • gjulie
    gjulie Posts: 391
    I think you should listen to your body,if you are sore I think you should rest Im taking a break from running at the moment back of my right leg is sore towards my ankle Im afraid if I injure it I could put myself out so Ive opted for strength training and swimming to take the pressure off. I dont believe working out through pain is beneficial at all if you hurt your bdy is saying give me a break! best of luck!:smile:
  • Kalynx
    Kalynx Posts: 707 Member
    if you dont rest your body will make you rest. exercise isnt suposed to be very painful or cause permanent damage! be kind to your body.

    :flowerforyou:

    I'm home from work today with vicoden and a doctors notes because I over exerted myself in pool in physical therapy and working full time.
  • Shadowsan
    Shadowsan Posts: 365 Member
    Pain is a sign of your body telling you that something isn't right.

    However...

    There's a grey area where people can't discern between pain or discomfort. Discomfort is natural as your body is adapting.

    If you feel sore however, the best thing to do even if you don't feel like it is probably to do something gentle, to get the blood pumping around your body. Most discomfort people get is down to lactic acid buildup within the muscle, which gentle aerobic exercise will help alleviate by pumping blood around your body more, flushing the lactic acid out of your muscles and replacing it with fresh blood and nutrients. Swimming is a great one for this and should also help you exercise muscles that you don't usually work in a gym whilst loosening out tight muscles elsewhere.

    Everyone needs a downtime day, but downtime doesn't necessarily have to mean do nothing. It can mean just do something that isn't as intense. Active recovery is better than having a total down day - but don't beat yourself up if you do have the odd totally downtime day. Everyone does now and again :)
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Work out about 3-4x a week if cutting calories.

    Reason is you arent getting the building blocks to repair correctly because you are eating below maintenance.
    If you dont rest often you will lead to overtraining.
    This could take weeks but the end result is CNS fatigue and eventually you could get sick or injured.

    Heres a post from MedicalNews posted today about cutting cals and the efficiency of abbreviated routines.
    From my timeline:

    For weight loss an abbreviated routine is perfect! Sound familiar?
    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/249356.php
  • angeldove85
    angeldove85 Posts: 25
    Pain is a sign of your body telling you that something isn't right.

    However...

    There's a grey area where people can't discern between pain or discomfort. Discomfort is natural as your body is adapting.

    If you feel sore however, the best thing to do even if you don't feel like it is probably to do something gentle, to get the blood pumping around your body.

    See I was this sore yesterday and I did my 35 minute workout and felt really good afterwards- my legs didn't feel like the normal spaghetti feeling. Which is why I'm thinking I should just push through this and do the 30 Day Shred workout- if my muscles are too tired/too much pain then i modify the workout so its not as intense for me.

    My thighs are not in intense pain- a few weeks ago I clearly over did it and was resting for 4 days and walking was really hard to do. I knew I screwed up then. Now, I just feel like I had a good work out and I can still do everything I need to do without pain.

    As for the other poster's comment-- I'm trying to aim for 5 days a week because I'm attempting to a set a good habit into place. I feel a million times better when I do a work out and my life is going to start to get hectic and stressful again next week- so I'm thinking that this might be a good way to get more energy and fight back against the anxiety and depression that I usually have. If I'm honestly hungry, I do bump up my calorie intake, so I'm not feeling any fatigue, I'm sleeping wonderfully at night, and I just feel good over all. My muscles might not like me as much, but I'm feeling good- why quit?
  • Shelgirl001
    Shelgirl001 Posts: 477 Member
    Pain is a sign of your body telling you that something isn't right.

    However...

    There's a grey area where people can't discern between pain or discomfort. Discomfort is natural as your body is adapting.

    If you feel sore however, the best thing to do even if you don't feel like it is probably to do something gentle, to get the blood pumping around your body.

    See I was this sore yesterday and I did my 35 minute workout and felt really good afterwards- my legs didn't feel like the normal spaghetti feeling. Which is why I'm thinking I should just push through this and do the 30 Day Shred workout- if my muscles are too tired/too much pain then i modify the workout so its not as intense for me.

    My thighs are not in intense pain- a few weeks ago I clearly over did it and was resting for 4 days and walking was really hard to do. I knew I screwed up then. Now, I just feel like I had a good work out and I can still do everything I need to do without pain.

    As for the other poster's comment-- I'm trying to aim for 5 days a week because I'm attempting to a set a good habit into place. I feel a million times better when I do a work out and my life is going to start to get hectic and stressful again next week- so I'm thinking that this might be a good way to get more energy and fight back against the anxiety and depression that I usually have. If I'm honestly hungry, I do bump up my calorie intake, so I'm not feeling any fatigue, I'm sleeping wonderfully at night, and I just feel good over all. My muscles might not like me as much, but I'm feeling good- why quit?
    One way to get past the pain is to be sure to warm the muscles up beforehand. They won't be as sore afterward, either.
  • funkyc54
    funkyc54 Posts: 1
    Loosing weight is hard work. Your body works hard to loose weight and needs plenty of rest. Not just days off from exercise. Make sure to get plenty of rest each night. When first starting out go every other day and work up to a full work out. Make sure to exercise some other way on your of days. Like walking or a light bicycle ride. This way your muscles get some rest and you are still burning extra calories.
  • angeldove85
    angeldove85 Posts: 25
    Did my 30 Day Shred exercise- had to modify some of the lunges/squats because my quads were shaking a bit. Right now there's no pain in my quads, so hopefully that's a good sign. Did a warm up and a cool down- it's a part of the 30 Day Shred work out. Did another couple of arm exercises to around it out to around 30 minutes of working out.

    Hopefully I won't be dead tomorrow lol
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