Do I really need to take a day off?

CoryIda
CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been exercising every day for 30-60 minutes. Sometimes I swim laps, sometimes I do water aerobics, sometimes I do pilates, sometimes I do stuff on the gym equipment (treadmill, bike, etc). I also did Zumba for the first time last week.
I've gotten to the point now where my day doesn't feel complete without at least 30 minutes of exercise, but someone told me you are supposed to allow your body at least one day of rest (in other words, don't work out more than 6 days/week).
Is this true? If so, can you please explain to me WHY?

Replies

  • SandraMay1982
    SandraMay1982 Posts: 328
    As far as I know it's because when you work muscles, you get tiny tears in them, the tears heal back stronger and make muscles, don't give them time to heal, and you're going to do more damage than good.
  • wills2be
    wills2be Posts: 26
    I see a personal trainer and I work out 6 days a week with 1 day off. This is very important for your body to recuperate and have a rest. Maybe check with a personal instructor and see what they think :)
  • sarahsmom1
    sarahsmom1 Posts: 1,501 Member
    you are doing a variety of different things so you are not using the same muscles all the time I think you should be fine especially since its only 30 to 60 minutes My daughter trains about 6 hours a day 5-6 days a week
  • BrentGetsFit
    BrentGetsFit Posts: 878 Member
    As I understand it (and I'm no expert) a recovery day allows the muscles worked during the week time to repair. This repair period allows for growth which in turn makes you stronger. The risk of skipping rest days is that you either plateau because your muscles aren't recovering or you over-train and risk injury.

    That being said, your workouts appear quite varied and may not target any particular muscle group. If that's the case, perhaps a rest day where you simply take a nice walk would be in order. That way you don't feel like you missed anything but your body can repair and recover from whatever you did to them during the week.

    I do a 6 on, 1 off workout schedule and sometimes feel "lazy" on my rest day but I also feel more energized the following day when I exercise.

    I hope this helps, good luck :)
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
    All fitness gains happen at rest. If you don't rest, you aren't getting as fit as you could be given the level of effort you are putting in. You are overtraining and that can lead to injury and fatigue, which is the opposite of what you want to get out of exercising.

    Yes, mixing it up does let you rest less than someone who does the same thing every day. But there's a limit. For one thing, a lot of your exercise choices are exercising all the muscles (zumba, pilates, water aerobics). So you are still stressing the same muscles without giving them time to repair themselves.

    That doesn't mean you have to be a complete couch potato on the 7th day. You can do active recovery -- like taking a leisurely walk around the neighborhood with a friend/SO.

    Getting excited about exercise and how it makes you feel so that you do too much and don't rest enough is a common mistake. Luckily most of us get more balanced about it over time.

    ETA Looks like Brent and I were posting at the same time! :laugh:
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    I was pointed to this thread by a friend who wanted my opinion because I am an expert in this field. LOL

    Technically, you're not suppose to use the same muscle group two days in a row so that the microscopic tears from resistance training can heal. That's why the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine, the gold standard of health and fitness in the US) recommends only 2-3 days a week of resistance training. More is only used if the muscle groups are alternated so that the same muscle group isn't worked two days in a row. Cardio is actually recommended 3-5 days a week, but light activity like walking can be done daily. Stretching can also be done daily. While normally, I would tell my clients who are exercising daily to take a day or two off each week, I typically tell them that they can do pilates or yoga or light cardio on those days if they need to do something for their own state of mind so they don't fall off the wagon. Based on what you described as your normal workouts, you not doing weight training, so no need to skip that on a day in between, and you're doing a day or two of pilates each week, so you seem to be okay. I'd make sure that at least one of your cardio sessions each week is really light though.

    All that being said, if you start feeling excessively tired, stop seeing progress, feel like you are getting sick, loss of appetite (Yeah, I know, everyones favorite sign of overtraining.), or a general malaise feeling, take a true rest day. And be sure you are getting plenty of sleep at night (yes, 8 full hours!) so that you are less susceptible to overtraining.
  • Lunarokra
    Lunarokra Posts: 855 Member
    I was pointed to this thread by a friend who wanted my opinion because I am an expert in this field. LOL

    Technically, you're not suppose to use the same muscle group two days in a row so that the microscopic tears from resistance training can heal. That's why the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine, the gold standard of health and fitness in the US) recommends only 2-3 days a week of resistance training. More is only used if the muscle groups are alternated so that the same muscle group isn't worked two days in a row. Cardio is actually recommended 3-5 days a week, but light activity like walking can be done daily. Stretching can also be done daily. While normally, I would tell my clients who are exercising daily to take a day or two off each week, I typically tell them that they can do pilates or yoga or light cardio on those days if they need to do something for their own state of mind so they don't fall off the wagon. Based on what you described as your normal workouts, you not doing weight training, so no need to skip that on a day in between, and you're doing a day or two of pilates each week, so you seem to be okay. I'd make sure that at least one of your cardio sessions each week is really light though.

    All that being said, if you start feeling excessively tired, stop seeing progress, feel like you are getting sick, loss of appetite (Yeah, I know, everyones favorite sign of overtraining.), or a general malaise feeling, take a true rest day. And be sure you are getting plenty of sleep at night (yes, 8 full hours!) so that you are less susceptible to overtraining.

    Great, thanks for sharing. I was experiencing loss of apetite in the past two other weeks, before this last one. I was wondering what I could've done.

    Now I know. thanks
  • soze
    soze Posts: 604 Member
    I usually take two days off, Sunday and the one day I can't move.

    You may feel some guilt but you shouldn't. I will tell you after I take a day off I am more invigorated.
  • rokikio
    rokikio Posts: 92
    Awesome advice, thanks for sharing all this wonderful information.
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