Should we exercise every day. What are rest days for.

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pig2201
pig2201 Posts: 31 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just wondered if rest days are really needed. I am now 190 pounds and need all the exercise I can get in.

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  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Just wondered if rest days are really needed. I am now 190 pounds and need all the exercise I can get in.

    Depends on what you are doing. If you are just walking or doing really low impact/intensity stuff then no. Rest days are not necessary. If you are going hard, esp. lifting then yes 1 or 2 days a week are recommended. People think it's the actual exercise that makes us stronger but it 's the rest day. Your body needs to rest and repair in return getting stronger.
  • Morninglory81
    Morninglory81 Posts: 1,190 Member
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    Rest days are very important. They give your body time to repair the damage you do with exercise. If you don't properly rest for the type of workout you are doing you risk serous injury.
  • tkillion810
    tkillion810 Posts: 591 Member
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    Rest days are important to allow your muscles time to recover and rebuild from the work we put it through. Keep in mind a rest day can (and should) still include some movement, such as walking the dog or going for a few easy miles on the bike. Two to three rest days a week is good for someone beginning to exercise.
  • ellepribro
    ellepribro Posts: 226 Member
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    Stay active every day but take rests from intense exercises.
  • shred_me_up
    shred_me_up Posts: 267 Member
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    to heal your body! overworking will just cause injury and you won't progress as much. if you REALLY want to throw in excercise every day, make sure there are low impact days where you just go on a walk or do some yoga or something.
  • timbrom
    timbrom Posts: 303 Member
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    Quoting Mark Rippetoe, creator of Starting Strength and former Olympic weight lifting coach, "You don't get strong by lifting heavy weights. You get strong by recovering from lifting heavy weights." The rest day allows you to recover.
  • LCSoulkat
    LCSoulkat Posts: 89 Member
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    It depends. I've been weight training for 7days/week for the past 6 months since I began. My training is not full body workout, every day its a different muscle group that I work, therefore it has worked well for me as the days I don't train that muscle group is considered as rest day. If you're doing full body workouts, meaning you are training all your muscles for that day, then yes, you need rest days in between each days you train.
  • LongIsland27itl
    LongIsland27itl Posts: 365 Member
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    They're for sanity. If you don't need them don't take them. If you don't get enough sleep you should have a rest day though
  • pig2201
    pig2201 Posts: 31 Member
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    I am not yet doing weights just insanity and walking and jogging everyday.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    I am not yet doing weights just insanity and walking and jogging everyday.

    I would strongly suggest at least 1 rest day. You don't have to be a complete bum on rest day, a walk, leisurely bike ride, stretching etc. Just take a break from the Insanity and jogging.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Stay active every day but take rests from intense exercises.

    This is what I was going to say.
  • pig2201
    pig2201 Posts: 31 Member
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    Thank you all.
  • aliceclutz90
    aliceclutz90 Posts: 151 Member
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    I normally rest on a Sunday. I ache most of the week from my training so I figure a rest day is necessary by that point.
  • PelirrojaCrawley
    PelirrojaCrawley Posts: 3
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    I have 2 rest days, but I still go to the gym for some pilates/streching class.
  • ShellK71
    ShellK71 Posts: 33
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    i walk everyday. usually 6-9 hours at work. And then some at home. I do rest days when I do weights and thats every other day.
  • ktliu
    ktliu Posts: 334 Member
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    I work out 6 days a week and within that , I lift one to two days. the rest is intense cardio, HIIT, and Zumba just for fun and cardio. Sunday is rest day. that's when I do all my major chores in the house.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
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    If you are doing resistance training to build muscle you will NEED a rest day off between workouts to allow your muscles to repair. It's during the rest days that the muscle is actually "built."

    Rest days don't have to mean just lounging on the couch all day, though. doing cardio or light yoga or something is fine.
  • Dani19711
    Dani19711 Posts: 33
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    I exercise every day. My so called rest days are the two days a week that I focus on cardio only. As for weightlifting I follow the rule to give each bodypart at least 72 hours to recover.

    There is really no need to incorporate a day of no activity at all in your schedule unless you are on the verge of overtraining (which in itself is not easily reached).
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    By rest days, that usually implies NOT lifting weights with the muscle group you did yesterday.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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