To rest or not to rest

BajaDreamin333
BajaDreamin333 Posts: 267 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm on a roll, losing weight, toning up. I have a small gym at home so it's easy to get out of bed and burn 500 calories before coffee. But I hate taking a day off! I love the sweat, how I feel, how I'm starting to look, and taking a day off feels like I'm missing out on a burn and my "fix". I do a variety of workouts, Pilates, weights cardio. Do I really need a day off?

Replies

  • Chassity1987
    Chassity1987 Posts: 36
    I am the same way. Today was just long and crazy as a single mom of three kids in activities so I missed my gym time and it is killing new. I feel lazy today even though I spent four hours in the gym last night.
  • FaerieCae
    FaerieCae Posts: 437 Member
    On my rest days ill do vinyasa yoga, which can work up a sweat but isnt high intensity, the stretching really helps me too. Search for sadie nardini on youtube, she is an excellent teacher imho. Even if I only do 20 mins I still feel like ive done something!
  • Cheeky_0102
    Cheeky_0102 Posts: 408 Member
    if you are doing yoga, pilates, or cardio based workouts, you can do those every day... you should at least switch muscle groups day to day, but there is no real reason to take a whole day off...
  • Drobi242
    Drobi242 Posts: 1 Member
    It's important to allow your muscles to rest. During this time, they're repairing themselves. Enjoy the day off. Make sure you eat extra healthy and sleep in :)
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    Depends on the intensity of the workouts.
  • mmctaw
    mmctaw Posts: 30 Member
    I second what @tricksee says. If you're not doing intense workouts, then you can workout every day. Your body does need rest days or you'll actually end up doing more harm than good. If you're hellbent on working out, at a minimum have your intense days (e.g. heavy lifting, HIIT, boxing) and low intensity days (e.g. yoga, walking). For every high intensity day you should have at least 1-2 low intensity days to give your body time to recover.

    I do question the statement where you said you burn "...500 calories before coffee." I'm not sure of your current weight, but based on your profile goals and current progress I think you're currently 160-170 lbs. It's pretty difficult to burn 500 calories from strength training or yoga for a person in that weight range. If you're running at a moderate pace for 45 min you might burn that but most people don't run that long.

    Good luck and I hope you reach your fitness goals!

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