Need Help

My husband takes weekends off. I was taking weekends off until I started a new running program. There's nothing wrong with it, do what works for you.

I don't take weekends off because that is when I have more time to work out. I like to hike so if I go on a long hike on the weekend, I don't do my regular exercises. I am usually so tired after a weekend, either from hiking or working out more, I take Monday off. But by saying I 'take it off" doesn't mean I sit on my butt all day. I usually do some light yoga. It helps for my soreness from the weekend.

It really depends on how hard youre going on the days you do work out. if youre doing high impact high intensity training I'd say yea you do need to take at least one. If its low impact I would say its up to you I wouldnt see why you couldn't.

Also rest day doesnt mean sit around you can get out and do stuff just dont do it to the same level that you normally do.

I go based on what I know my body needs from workout history and listening to my body, as someone else said. Do a little research on workout fatigue or over training and familiarize yourself with the symptoms. I know personally I do better with working out when I just keep rolling with it. Frequent rest days interrupt my momentum. But rest days are important too, of course. How often you need them depends a lot on your current fitness level, how long you have been working out, how hard your workouts are, whether you are doing the same activity every day or have more variety, etc.

For me, the sign that I need a rest day is that my body (muscles) start to feel heavy, like I'm walking around with lead weights on my body. NOT muscle soreness, but just general fatigue.

Depending on your current workout intensity, your "rest day" could also be an active rest day. I do 2 sessions of extremely intense HIIT with a trainer, 1-2 weights sessions and 3-4 runs a week. Last week I took a true rest day on Friday, after struggling more than usual through my HIIT session on Thursday. Since I did that last week, this week my "rest" day will be active rest with a yoga/pilates session and whatever I happen to be doing with my kids that day.

Re: weight training, what Tisha_Rae said.

Hi! To answer your question. What type of workouts are you doing? The body needs rest days to recover. Results come from rest and recovery. I definitely recommend rest days. I know it can be hard to do because it's easy to feel the need to workout and it seems like you are getting a lot of conflicting information, but it's very important to listen to your body. Hope this helps and good luck.
Lisa