Do You Take A Rest Day?

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Replies

  • Fitfully_me
    Fitfully_me Posts: 647 Member
    Yes. My body demands the rest, and I know that rest/recovery is an important part of the equation. For me anyway.


    ETA: body...
  • NoeHead
    NoeHead Posts: 516 Member
    I usually take a rest day on either saturday or sunday but lately i've been taking both days. I've just been tired and exhausted come friday as soon as i get that workout in I just want to shower and pass out. I don't feel too awful about it but it would be nice to go back to a six day workout soon...
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    For the ppl who do take rest days, do you ever feel guilty about it? How do I be ok with giving myself a day off?

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  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
    Generally I take rest days off from weight training to run and rest days off from running to weight train. I had a minor procedure on friday that MANDATED rest days. I didn't exercise at all on friday and while I went absolutely bat-poop insane cleaning my house over the weekend that hardly counts as exercise so 3 rest days in a row. I have been taking a rest day a QUARTER since 2012 but I now see the benefit of having a day or two to recharge my batteries. My half marathon training has an actual rest day a week and an easy day as well. I do believe I will start respecting the schedule.
  • bobbystrongarm
    bobbystrongarm Posts: 72
    Matters on how I train for the week.

    When strength training, yes absolutely take rest days. The muscles need to time to repair. Down right unsafe to not do this.

    Weeks were I do a lot of very vigorous cardio like HIIT, hill sprints, or hike 30 miles I take rest days. If I don't there comes a point even with my diet completely in check I just run out of steam. My performance drops off very sharply without rest during weeks like this.

    Weeks where I'm on the elliptical mostly doing steady state with mild effort I wont take a rest day.

    However, I feel extremely unaccomplished for the week if I don't NEED to take a rest day. If i can keep my routine up day in and day out that usually means I need to suck it up, quit being a wuss, and push harder. I get bored and fall into a rut if I'm not constantly pushing my limits.
  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
    .
  • ClementineGeorg
    ClementineGeorg Posts: 505 Member
    Well... I couldn't fit in workout everyday.
    Some weekdays I would go to a theather or concert after work and I would get late at home... skipping workout.
    Some weekend days I would spent with a friend just talking for hours, going out to a movie... from morning to evening... skipping workout.
    And so on.

    There are days that I would much rather spend doing things for my soul, mind and heart (metaphorically speaking)... so I give my body a rest.
    Unlike most people here I don't have what it takes to workout more than 2-3 hours a week... I'm more lazy. I just workout when I can... I just want to be a little toned, I will never be a sportsy person.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    For the ppl who do take rest days, do you ever feel guilty about it? How do I be ok with giving myself a day off?

    I hate taking them but not out of guilt, but because I actually LOVE working out and it sucks to take a day off (I'm serious).

    But I know that I'm doing my body a huge favor in terms of recovery, so that's how I personally am okay with it.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    For the ppl who do take rest days, do you ever feel guilty about it? How do I be ok with giving myself a day off?

    this weekend i did not feel guilty at all - i needed it, my body and my mind needed it. since i workout at lunchtime if on my day off i feel like i need to workout (ate to much at lunch say) then i go for a run after work but most of the time i do not feel guilty. also my day off is usually during the week so i run errands on this day.
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    If you feel guilty about not exercising, you need to understand better what the purpose of rest days is. Your muscles, tendons, and bones all incur damage during exercise. This is not a bad thing--that's actually part of the reason you do it; it spurs your body to repair itself and get stronger. But if you do not give it enough rest, you are not going to recover between sessions, and your performance will suffer. Anyone who has ever gone through a phase of running daily will recognize this.

    Your nervous system also needs time to process your activity. Have you ever played a musical instrument? Do you remember how a piece is impossible to get right on one day, and then the next day you just play it smoothly? All that learning happened literally overnight; that is how your brain works. Some forms of physical activity are so taxing on the nervous system that you cannot do them but once a week, or even less. Heavy deadlifts come to mind.

    So no, I do not feel guilty when I take a rest day. I feel guilty when I don't.
  • MissBenes
    MissBenes Posts: 18
    I'm curious if others take a rest day from exercise, and why or why not? ...and if you don't, how long have you been exercising every day?

    I haven't taken a rest day in over a yr... I want to sometimes and have been told I should but I just haven't been able to so I'm wondering what others do.

    Thanks for replies :)

    I take a rest day when I am hung over. To be honest :D
    And I've noticed that it weirdly does me good, especially when I take my training up another notch. Like, I pant and scream for two days, skip one day, and then easily get in the zone after that.
    Also, the off days were the ones when I noticed first changes on my body. So, by all means - take one rest day a week (you don't have to be hung over).
  • Tiamaria1010
    Tiamaria1010 Posts: 40 Member
    I rest on Sunday's and my body thanks me for it!!
  • suzywuzy90
    suzywuzy90 Posts: 20 Member
    I rest on Sunday.
  • malk2651
    malk2651 Posts: 55 Member
    Think of it this way, the rest day is part of the program. Part of reaching your fitness goals. You may actually be slowing down progress to your fitness goal by not taking a rest day. Now as others have said it greatly depends on what your doing and the likelihood of injury.
    I've continued to exercise even when I've been injured, or sick. If I feel exhausted or something I tell myself to push thru and once I start, I'll almost be over and I force myself to do it..... I get thru each workout, how does not taking a day off slow me down?

    We're getting into "what ifs" here, so this is just my opinion.

    Would that rest time have helped prevent those injuries? Would you have gotten sick if you had rested and not pushed your body past a certain point? Would you have healed quicker or recovered from sickness faster? With the extra repair time would you have built more muscle or conditioned tendons or joints?

    Or how about this analogy, Does a car run better with proper maintenance? Or get better gas milage? Usually.

    But then again you have to know your own body. Go with what feels right to you. After all its your body.
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
    I take one bonafide rest day a week. I run four days a week and cross train two days a week.

    If I am feeling an injury coming on, I rest a day or two but still do active recovery (i.e. ride a bike, swim, or yoga instead of running)
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    For the ppl who do take rest days, do you ever feel guilty about it? How do I be ok with giving myself a day off?

    I know a couple others have said it, but I look at rest days as an important part of the whole routine. I'm like you, I felt bad about it until someone smarter (and more fit) than me convinced me that my body needed a regular break every once in a while. I actually started seeing faster improvements in both stamina and appearance when I scheduled a rest day or two during the week, plus I wasn't constantly sore somewhere or another :).
  • mou_254
    mou_254 Posts: 153 Member
    no...not worried about not continuing the routine...because this IS the routine...u need to give yourself a break,i think...having an off day and then continuing on the next day gives me the feeling that i'm in it for the long haul! :)
  • broncosbabe
    broncosbabe Posts: 50 Member
    I take my rest day on a Sunday and some Saturdays if I've gone out/had a big night on Friday night (very rare). I take my rest days to extremes though - I don' t even log my food those days!
  • andiebaco
    andiebaco Posts: 211 Member
    For the ppl who do take rest days, do you ever feel guilty about it? How do I be ok with giving myself a day off?

    Once in a while I feel a tad guilty, but then I remind myself the other 6 days of the week I'm busting my butt with the training. That rest day is earned!

    This! I used to work out 7 days a week, mix of cardio and lifting. And one days I was just exhausted, so I realized that I was over doing myself, so Idecided that in order for me to keep with my habit I had to give me the opportunity to have a rest day. Usually, I fix the rest day with a fast day (5:2) so I get it compensated. My rest days are Thursdays as I like working out on weekends (because I get to be there for a longer time than on weekdays).
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    are you training for a particular event? over 90 minutes of carido per day is rather excessive?
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    are you training for a particular event? over 90 minutes of carido per day is rather excessive?

    For who? I do 90 mins a minimum a day. HIIT for about 40 mins then the rest just normal cardio...that's just on my bike or something else.


    Running is a minimum 60-90 mins
  • MissBenes
    MissBenes Posts: 18
    are you training for a particular event? over 90 minutes of carido per day is rather excessive?

    For who? I do 90 mins a minimum a day. HIIT for about 40 mins then the rest just normal cardio...that's just on my bike or something else.


    Running is a minimum 60-90 mins

    Yeah, well, you can chill out now.
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
    are you training for a particular event? over 90 minutes of carido per day is rather excessive?

    For who? I do 90 mins a minimum a day. HIIT for about 40 mins then the rest just normal cardio...that's just on my bike or something else.


    Running is a minimum 60-90 mins

    You obviously don't know what HIIT is, because not even an "athlete" can do HIIT for 40 minutes.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    are you training for a particular event? over 90 minutes of carido per day is rather excessive?

    For who? I do 90 mins a minimum a day. HIIT for about 40 mins then the rest just normal cardio...that's just on my bike or something else.


    Running is a minimum 60-90 mins

    You obviously don't know what HIIT is, because not even an "athlete" can do HIIT for 40 minutes.

    i am glad i wasnt the only one thinking that!
  • mperrott2205
    mperrott2205 Posts: 737 Member
    are you training for a particular event? over 90 minutes of carido per day is rather excessive?

    For who? I do 90 mins a minimum a day. HIIT for about 40 mins then the rest just normal cardio...that's just on my bike or something else.


    Running is a minimum 60-90 mins

    You obviously don't know what HIIT is, because not even an "athlete" can do HIIT for 40 minutes.

    Lol, this with all of my this.
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    If you don't train hard you don't need a rest day.
  • aquarabbit
    aquarabbit Posts: 1,622 Member
    Yes. I need a day where i get too treat myself and my rest day is that day. It's my reward for working hard all week. I do all my waxing and epilating, bath, face and body mask, and catch up with DVR. It's so nice.
  • arghbowl
    arghbowl Posts: 1,179 Member
    I abide by the policy of "You can rest when you're dead." :-P

    But in all reality, I lift heavy 4x a week and will do some lighter work the other 3 days of the week. Rarely, if ever, do I take a true "rest day," but that's mostly because it throws me off my schedule if I do. I think it's because I workout at 0430 every day... when I worked out at night I never had issues with rest days.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    The closest I come to a rest day is when I walk nine holes of golf, twice a week. I lift three days and do aerobics the other two.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    I do "something" every day, but what i do each day varies - so at the weekend it MIGHT be walking round a mall for 3 hours (and I do count that as its tiring, but I log it as walking slowly). weekdays its 20 mins aerobic or toning DVD workout, walk 15 mins to and from work (plus 20 mins lunchtime walk most days) - already up to70 mins just with that. Then in the evening its a min 20 mins but more likely 30-45 mins either more aerobics/toning or Wii Zumba. Sat/Sun generally a longish walk with hubby - 60 mins or so.

    I did a lot less on holiday - still walking a couple of times a day and I really missed my regular exercise! who'd have thought it???!

    ETA when I get back to goal weight I'll be doing a little less - my work regime is changing so i won't be able to fit in lunchtime walks - but I'm still going to do my morning stuff and at least 3 other longer sessions per week.

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