Rest Days.. Do you need them?

I don't quite relate to "feeling guilty" for active recovery days. That said, if you are lifting heavy you will need to rest - actually, your muscles will probably let you know this through pain, strain and possible injury. If you are lifting light with high repetitions you might get away with exercising the same muscle groups daily. But since what you are doing isn't providing the results you want, do something different

In addition to noticing improvement and fitness gains when incorporating one rest day per week, I've been surprised by how much an occasional 2-3 days of rest results in my being stronger and having more stamina afterwards, when resuming workout-based physical activity.

To an extent, I suppose it could be considered somewhat obvious that rest (in addition to sleep) would end up being a kind of 'refresher' of sorts, when it comes to muscle... and I'm definitely familiar with what happens (heart rate -wise, perceived exertion -wise, and stamina-wise) if/when I don't have enough rest (or sleep).

As much as various aspects of what-rest-can-do-for-any-given-individual would undoubtedly be a function of many specifics associated with their body, as well as the nature of how, and to what extent, they engage in physical activity (among so much else)... my reality happens to involve an as-per-online-calculator 'fitness age' of someone half my age, along with physical activity that includes a good dose of cardio+strength combination activity on a stepmill as well as a stepper/climber, and those sporadic 2-3 days-in-a-row of rest that happen now and then seem to allow my body to engage in some kind of additional anabolic 'housekeeping' of sorts, given the nature of what I notice when resuming my workouts.

And the 'difference' always surprises me, as I anticipate the opposite -- I expect to have potentially deconditioned a bit, etc., but end up having 'gained'/'improved', and in ways that can seem counterintuitive -- but when I think about it, I can also see the logic in why such multiple days of rest could plausibly result in improvement. It feels as though my 'understanding' of this is stuck in a kind of logical quicksand, given that one could fashion an argument for 'what would happen if' that involves either of two seemingly conflicting outcomes (my mind feels as though it's about to implode, just pondering the myriad possibilities ).

Regardless, I will absolutely allow my body rest days (and even if the 'majority' of any such day ends up feeling more like a day of mental rest). Additionally, I track enough aspects, and notice how my body 'feels', and performs, to know that I actually improve, physically, strength-wise, and stamina-wise, in conjunction with sporadic spans of 2-3 sequential rest days -- and even if I don't ever end up knowing various specifics as to why, the empirical 'evidence' has provided consistent enough 'proof' for me to 'go with it', and to 'not sweat it' (no pun intended ).

Yep, exactly. Talked to my physio about this recently when I had a week of doing lots every day and was crashing and burning towards the end, she said it's important to space it out - so exercise two days, take two days off, or one day, two days, whatever. Basically, exercising every day can be counter-productive, and you put your body under undue pressure by doing so!

Rest days are more important for someone who wants to build mass. They are essential for that. Also, people over 40 who are trying to bulk up need to rest even more.

The worry would be if you did the same exercises everyday which would put you at risk for overuse injuries... which would really dampen someones workout schedule.

You are young and active and you keep variety in your workouts / exercises / activity. I would not sweat it. Stay active.

Yes. In for rest.

I remember I used to feel guilty on a rest day. When I was a newbie I even made a thread about it. That is just hilarious. I relish them now. Tomorrow is one!

SarenaWM wrote: »

So I have a really hard time taking rest days. In fact, I haven't taken a total rest day in years. On a usual day I ride my bike for 60-90 minutes (leisure), do thirty minutes of strength training, and run for 30-45 minutes. I take an active rest day every few weeks where I just walk, do yoga or easy pilates, ride my bike.. still getting 2+ hours of physical activity, but not anything strenuous enough to get me sweating.

But even these active rest days leave me feeling guilty. I have read some articles that say that rest days aren't needed, and others that say they are mandatory to let your muscles grow and see any real definition in your body. To be honest, even though I eat well, am active, and am at a healthy weight.. I haven't seen any visible progress in my muscle definition.. and I wonder if over stressing my body is making it hold on to fat?

So I was just hoping to get some more opinions on this. What do you personally do?

When I hit the point where I was working out 2.5 hours a day, not seeing progress, and feeling guilty about taking even one day off or light--I got my rear to a therapist to face my compulsive exercise/exercise bulimia problem head-on before it got even further out of control.

But that's me.

Rest days are as important as workout days. On workout days you tear and damage muscles. On rest days you repair and strengthen.

Lot's of interesting posts here, some based on fact, and some based on opinion.

First, working out 5-7days a week, is not a mental disorder. Athletes and body builders are two examples of people who can train 5-7days a week, and is perfectly acceptable. Other people may have physically intensive jobs that take place of training. It becomes a disorder when you feel guilty skipping a workout to the point of eating below your BMR caloric requirements consistently and feel a mental attachment to doing so. 2 hours of physical activity a day does not come close to constituting "over training".

This ended up being a longer post than expected, after I cut a lot of stuff out it's still long. So here's a quick overview:

• Do I need to rest? - Maybe, it depends and I explain why.
• Training Schedule is Important - You can train 7 days a week if you are smart with your routine by building muscle group rest/recovery into your training.
• Muscle Breakdown and Recovery - Many factors affect muscle breakdown and growth.
• Am I overtraining?

Do I need to rest?
Regarding the necessity of rest days, the answer is the typical ambiguous "it depends." As many have mentioned above, your muscles need rest to rebuild. Does that mean you need to have an entire day where you do not train at all? Not necessarily - it depends on your training regimen.

Training Schedule is an Important Factor
I train 5-7days a week, however, I split my training days so that I don't work the same primary muscle group back-to-back. Keyword being primary muscle group. On chest day, the primary muscle group is the pectoral muscles, however the triceps and deltoids supplement the chest workout, but they are not the primary focus so they do not get much of a workout. This allows me to work my back the next day, even though I am still using my deltoids to supplement my exercises. The pectoral muscles are resting and repairing during my "back day" even though I am not resting. Also worth noting, I am not exhausting my deltoids, triceps, or biceps during "chest day" or "back day" since they are not the primary focus of my workout. So I have no problem using those muscles back-to-back (two days in a row).

Hopefully those two examples give an idea of how you can actively train 5-7 days a week, without a full day of rest and not inhibit muscle repair. A lot of it is in your routine. However, I typically have one day of active rest where I still hit the gym, and work a muscle group that I haven't worked as hard, or feel I can exhaust. Last week, I did abs, calves and cardio.

Muscle Breakdown and Recovery
Muscle breakdown is key to muscle growth. Everybody's muscles breakdown at different rates depending on their physiology, nutrition, supplmentation, and training program. The more we study muscle growth, the more we realize we don't know much about muscle growth. However, there is still a lot of good information out there on muscle recovery and muscle growth.

Nutrition plays a huge factor in muscle recovery (which also determines if you need a rest day). Ensuring you are getting a proper amount of BCAA's, protein, and restoring glycogen after your workout (think fast digesting dextrose) will make your recovery quicker. The quicker you can recover, the quicker you can train again, and the quicker you gain grow muscle. (Well, not that simple exactly, but you get the idea.)

Also, not all muscles are created equal. Some muscles have much denser muscle fiber and take a lot more effort and exertion to break down the muscles. Likewise, some muscles recover quicker depending on the density and muscle training. For example: I know I can get away training my calves every other day because of their density, and using periodic training so that my workouts vary.

Are you over training?
It's unlikely that you are overtraining with thirty minutes of strength training and 30-45mins of cardio. I didn't include the 60-90minutes of cycling because you say it's a leisurely ride, so you're unlikely breaking down muscle, depleting glycogen excessively, etc.

What does your strength training program look like? Are you trying to hit full body in 30 minutes? Are you working a specific muscle group each day?

I don't like to call it "rest day." I have changed my mindset to "repair day." Give your muscle a chance to repair themselves!