Rest Days..Important or not?

I prefer the term recovery days; lower intensity, lower impact but still active. As long as you're mixing things up you can be active 7 days a week if you wish and still manage your risk of overuse injuries.

Yes, they're important, your tissues do need time to recover from long runs or heavy lifting sessions.

You can rest when your dead.

I train every day, but never the same muscle groups every day, always get about 24-48hrs between muscle groups.

I'm very active, work out 4-6 days a week (strength and cardio). In addition I walk to and from my office 5 days a week for a total of 3 miles a day. I value and NEED my recovery days!!!!!

I'd do yoga or clean the house on my "rest days." About 2-3 days/week.

Rest days just seem to happen for me. Today is going to be one. I had to be to work for 8 and I don't do mornings. I'm going straight from work to babysit my sons kids (8,5 & 3) until they get home from a party so today will be a non exercise day. I do try to mix up what I do and not do the same activity 2 days in a row. Yesterday I ran so if I were going to do something today it would have been to hit the road on my bike before this big rain storm hits probably and tomorrow will likely be a weight day.

They're 100% important because muscles aren't actually built in the exercise stage -- they're built in the rest/recovery stage. The work tears down muscle fiber. During rest, the body heals the small tears making them stronger. That's how muscles grow. If you don't let them rest, they will never fully heal and you don't get stronger.

They're 100% important because muscles aren't actually built in the exercise stage -- they're built in the rest/recovery stage. The work tears down muscle fiber. During rest, the body heals the small tears making them stronger. That's how muscles grow. If you don't let them rest, they will never fully heal and you don't get stronger.

This is why I rest

I can only tell you what works for me.

I like to exercise every day, but I make it a point to listen to my body. There are times my legs tell me I need to back off on them, so I'll do something else until they're good to go. Sometimes that's a day, but recently it was four days. I'm looking to get fit and trim and I'm not looking to hurt myself. There are times where it's obvious that I need to eat a little more.....so I'll eat 150 - 200 calories more that day, but those days are rare......but if my body tells me that is how it needs to be, then that is what I do. Now I make sure that I do that in a healthy, nutritious way. I'll eat some extra veggies or a chicken breast or something along those lines, not a bag of cookies. This isn't about a treat for me, it's about giving my body what it needs. Also on rare occasion, I need a rest day and I take it. I go about my normal activities, but I'm not going to do anything that I normally do for the sake of exercising. I think it's good to move on rest days. I think it's important to move everyday. Your heart can pump the blood completely around your body without help, but when you move and your muscles contract, that helps force the blood back to your heart. Just sitting on the couch is not helping your heart, so do a little something. So if you need a rest day, still move, just try giving your body a break, too. Good luck with your journey.

Every Sunday. Otherwise I'd burn out on exercise and quit altogether. Having one day a week I'm "working toward" keeps me motivated and helps me push through since a lot of the time, I still don't really WANT to work out.

Very important especially if you strength train. When you weight train, microtears appear in the muscles. Hence the burn. The muscles rebuild themselves stronger during the rest period. That's why you will find that you might be extra hungry on rest days. The body needs rest and nourishment to recuperate.

My rest period is never more than two days in a week. I workout schedule is something lime this:

Day 1: biceps and back
Day 2: triceps, shoulders, chest
Day 3: legs
Day 4-6: repeat

Cardio is 3-4 times a week.

at first I didn't take rest days and I ended up overtrained my body which is sooooo bad and can make you go on a rest WEEK! and here I'm on a rest day!

I think I see the most change in my body when I rest. I try to rest at least once a week, but if my body is begging for more, then I give it more. Listening to your body is the most important. You'll learn when you really do need a break or if your body is just trying to be lazy. =D

You can only train as hard as you can rest.

True story.

Listen to this and take note ^^^^^^

Rest days are important to help prevent injury.

You can rest when you're dead!

Just kidding, sort of. Listen to your body, rest as needed.