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Rest day - yes or no?

candiceh3
candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
edited February 5 in Fitness and Exercise
Just wondering - is it necessary to have a rest day? Can you work out 7 days a week without a break?

I set myself a target to get back into the habit - go to the gym every day for 14 days. But today I woke up with a headache and I'm wondering if it means I need a rest.

Replies

  • action_figure
    action_figure Posts: 511 Member
    You have to have a rest day. Your headache probably means you're dehydrated though, more than anything else.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Definitely have at least 1 rest day. You can have active rest days in where you might take a walk or do yoga.
  • coffee4me57
    coffee4me57 Posts: 195
    I often find my best workout at the gym follows a day of rest
  • mrsslls
    mrsslls Posts: 41 Member
    I rest on the weekends (but try to do something active still, ie. walk on the beach, take the dog to the puppy park, even a good house clean). For me I find it keeps me wanting IT. I actually get excited and look forward to my Monday workout.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Just wondering - is it necessary to have a rest day? Can you work out 7 days a week without a break?

    It depends on how fit you are and how you define "rest day". Professional athletes, for example, often spend an hour or two on the stationary bike or run 5km on their "rest days".

    From what I've seen, people generally have far more "rest" than their bodies actually need - the human body is a marvellous machine that can do amazing things if it isn't coddled.
  • guessrs
    guessrs Posts: 358 Member
    I have 4 rest days and still manage to run fast, lose weight and stay injury free. I run 3x a week.
  • Kanzaki3
    Kanzaki3 Posts: 656 Member
    Listen to your body and rest when needed.
  • links_slayer
    links_slayer Posts: 1,151 Member
    I guess it also depends what you are doing at the gym each day. It's a good idea to rest muscle groups for 48 hours before working them again. So if you do upper body one day, lower body the next, upper body the next, etc. going every day "should" be fine. But if you are doing the same routine each and every day I would certainly add a few rest days. Rome wasn't built in a day :)
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
    Just wondering - is it necessary to have a rest day? Can you work out 7 days a week without a break?

    But today I woke up with a headache and I'm wondering if it means I need a rest.

    You probably do need to rest. Are you eating and hydrating enough? You really must listen to your body and respond accordingly.

    I do not take or need rest days. When I do because of work, I feel sick and am only 'righted' after a hard and long run, even at 10pm if I'm home late.
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
    I do cardio every day, and weights every second day. For weights I just use the weights machines in the gym and I do every machine. You are right though, I am a bit dehydrated.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I have one 100% rest day per week, sometimes two ....you need to give your body a break..even if it does suck lol
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I do cardio every day, and weights every second day. For weights I just use the weights machines in the gym and I do every machine. You are right though, I am a bit dehydrated.

    a better routine might be compound lifts three days a week where you hit legs/arms/shoulders/back/ and then do cardio two to three times a week with one to two days of rest...
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
    I do cardio every day, and weights every second day. For weights I just use the weights machines in the gym and I do every machine. You are right though, I am a bit dehydrated.

    a better routine might be compound lifts three days a week where you hit legs/arms/shoulders/back/ and then do cardio two to three times a week with one to two days of rest...

    Thanks :)

    I might just go for a very casual walk to get some oxygen and sunlight.

    Do you HIIT?
  • ouwho
    ouwho Posts: 29
    When I do strength training, I have learned that I need to have rest days from (only) strength training; to let the muscles have time to repair. I still do cardio every day, as there just aren't many good excuses to take a rest day from cardio, except for things like being way too ill, not able to juggle your schedule, etc. I am older (57), so it takes longer for my muscles to recover. Just how long it takes, I'm not sure, so I have allowed 1 strength building workout followed by 3 rest days and 7 days of cardio non-stop. Hope that helps.
  • Dawn_Snowden
    Dawn_Snowden Posts: 111 Member
    Absolutely YES!
  • AestheticStar
    AestheticStar Posts: 447 Member
    Yes. Your body & muscles need a day off to re-build, & rest. All trainers say so. I've read a lot about it. I used to never give myself a rest day, but now that I am, I don't get as burned out working out the other six days a week. Especially since I do a lot of cardio & HIIT workouts, I need a rest day. Those are brutal.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    typically more than one.... what type of training do you do?
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
    Thanks all. I do cardio daily (a long slow jog of 5 km, or minutes on the cross trainer, or 30 minutes of intervals on the treadmill) plus weights every second day.

    I'll throw in a total rest day once a week.

    Seems like a sensible thing to do anyway to avoid burn out.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I was burning 6 days of HARD training with one rest day- plus dance and dance class.

    But for me that was too much.

    So now I have at LEAST once rest day- and one day of dance only- no weights. and sometimes I'll have two dance only days- but usually one of those is a very intense long day at the studio- so it's not 'rest' it's just not weight training LOL

    now- if you are talking- you go for nice long walks every day? no- you don't need to rest from that. keep on walking. But hard strenuous training? you need rest- fur sure.

    you're body needs rest- one way or the other. if you don't' give it rest- it breaks. that's all there is to it.
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