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What do you do on your "rest" day?

PrairieChicken84
PrairieChicken84 Posts: 11 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Greetings all. I'm a 10+ hr per week exerciser (mainly Les Mills group exercise classes and some running) and I max-out to near failure after almost every workout. By the end of the week, I'm toast. On my rest day, I typically lay around the house and do nothing (only get about 2000-3000 steps that day).

So, do you still try to get your 10000 steps in, even on your rest day?
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Replies

  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
    REST! you errend it
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
    laying on the sofa is my favourite thing to do on a rest day. I have been known to get less than 200 steps in if I try really hard (I only get one day off from work every 2 weeks so I like to make the most of it)
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited July 2015
    I try to get 10-12k steps in through walking (not always successful, but I try) and I might do some yoga. Compared to my normal routine this is light and easy. For me it's more of active rest. However, if I'm feeling really run down then I might spend most of the day on the couch. For me it's one of those "listen" to your body type things. Some days I need complete rest and others I'm restless/need to move.
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    It depends on how badly I need the rest. I really push myself during my workouts, but I have a hard time taking a full rest day. I still walk every hour at work, and do something light like zumba or yoga. However, if I find myself falling into b!tch mode where I am seriously grumpy and everything and everyone irritates me, I know I need a full day off.
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
    I never work myself to failure, so a rest day for me is either yoga, taking a long walk, or steady-state, low intensity cycling.
  • michellesz
    michellesz Posts: 429 Member
    Love the description active rest...I workout every day work day with 20-30 minute cardio at lunch & Strength training/TRX etc. for almost an hour in the eve. I usually pick Sunday as a rest day but having only Sat. & Sunday off, I may not be doing the usual, but I am probably still running errands, grocery shopping, house cleaning/laundry or planning/preparing meals/cooking/baking or enjoying being in the yard if the weather is nice. This usually leads to gardening or weeding or hauling limbs, but it's the time I have & I enjoy it. I have to be really whooped to sit still for periods of time & actually do nothing. I do have to learn to rest and force myself to just relax and recover.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    meh...i work at various intensity levels throughout the week...I'm still pretty active on my rest day, I just don't do anything too rigorous. I have two kids...there's no such thing as sitting around doing nothing all day.
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  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    I don't work to close to failure every day - usually just twice a week. My rest day is usually still close to 10K steps due to walking the dog, grocery shopping, being at work. There are some days where I don't get many steps...like Sunday I only got 7K, but that was a really lazy day once I got home from a camping trip.
  • lizzocat
    lizzocat Posts: 356 Member
    I don't really ever have the chance to just sit on the couch, so I typically still get 10,000 steps on rest days (although over july 4th weekend, I had a day where I got 7k which was a score because I really was relaxing :) )
  • louubelle16
    louubelle16 Posts: 579 Member
    I usually do a bit of yoga or a light swim (followed by a steam, of course!). In my mind, if it doesn't get me out of breath, it's a rest!
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    In no particular order:

    laundry
    the lawn
    my wife
    dishes
    housework
    go to a movie
    grocery shopping
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    edited July 2015
    I was trying to bike on my rest days for awhile. Worked myself to the brink of actual overtraining again. (Yes, skeptics, it's possible and I've done it twice now. RHR +15 over normal. +5 to +10 is considered the beginning of the danger zone.)

    Now there is Netflix.
  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    I rest. If I get 10k steps then I suppose that's great and all, but the idea was to rest, not do extra activity. That's doesn't mean I go out of my way to do "nothing". It just means I only do what is needed to do that day is all, and little else.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Casual walks, if anything. Mostly lay around.. a lot.
  • rushbabe0214
    rushbabe0214 Posts: 105 Member
    My rest days are Saturday and Sunday, but I call them my active rest days - 60 to 90 minute trail walk on both days. It's a rare day that I truly rest and do next to nothing.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    Outside of exercise my life is pretty sedentary so I do an "active rest".

    A low intensity walk for a couple of miles or a light 20 minute Youtube workout plus 15 minutes of deep stretching or 30 minutes of Pilates on my reformer etc.

    None of my workouts are high-intensity or strenuous, but I listen to my body and take full-on rest days whenever needed, which is not very often.
  • ffbrown25
    ffbrown25 Posts: 110 Member
    My most intense work outs are long runs, so on my off days I do about an hour of easy yoga, focusing on hip, quad and hamstring flexibility. And I do a lot of lying around!
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
    I move as little as possible on rest days. With two young girls and a job that keeps me up on my feet for full shifts I usually wind up moving a lot.

    I train hard up to 12 hours a week. But the only time I go to failure is on the platform or max testing
  • yusaku02
    yusaku02 Posts: 3,472 Member
    Rest days for me are anything between doing nothing and a 4 mile run.
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 650 Member
    Rest days are running a leisurely 3-4 miles rather than 6-8 flat out.
  • Justthisgirl1994
    Justthisgirl1994 Posts: 226 Member
    My exercise on rest days is almost always walking to the kitchen, to the washroom and to the TV room. I even avoid meetinf up with friends haha anythung that gets me out of the house is too much. It's the laziest day ever haha. I work out hard 6 days a week though.
  • pumpkinpocalypse
    pumpkinpocalypse Posts: 104 Member
    i usually am pretty active on most of my rest days (1-2 days a week). I go grocery shopping all over the neighbourhood (i buy from several different, distanced places) on my bike, walk a lot, cook (meaning i run around the kitchen a lot for a hour or two), go for a relax swim with friends at the pool or just hang out with people, will do most of the chores or other things i haven't had the time to do before, etc. I try to make my rest days as productive as i can to make up for whatever i skipped on because i was too tired/too busy to do on a workout day! ;)
    I just can't stand sitting down for too long, it makes me horribly depressed to be bored haha.
  • ediewharton
    ediewharton Posts: 23 Member
    I am the mother of four. I don't really get to rest lol. Usually for exercise, I will rest with a long walk or yoga.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    My 'rest' day usually involves sweaty yard work and or a workout in the weight room .To me a 'rest day' is one during which I don't swim 4 miles :)
  • boogiewookie
    boogiewookie Posts: 206 Member
    my rest days are just doing "mom stuff" which keeps me moving. my house gets messy stupid fast so cleaning and taking care of a kid and a baby wears me out lol. that's every day though, most days I workout when I can.
  • Katzedernacht
    Katzedernacht Posts: 266 Member
    I usually have ONE real rest day,since I go to gym 6 days a week,so I do NOTHING at all,just watch movies or maybe go down town to take a walk but not sporty like.

    If I only attended 5 days for any reason, I do a short session of isometrics, one repetition,as long as I can hold it.
  • br3adman
    br3adman Posts: 284 Member
    Yeah water,lawn care,garden mantaince,walking some. But lots of breaks between them
  • truelight_photo_craig
    truelight_photo_craig Posts: 347 Member
    Sunday is my rest day, so after getting up early and going to church, I spend the rest of the day being lazy.
  • brad837
    brad837 Posts: 53 Member
    I try to do something every single day. So for me, even on days when I'm not at the gym, or working with my Kettlebells, I might go for a run, bike ride or a long dog walk. Active rest....

    While do believe we need rest and that's when our bodies recuperate, I don't think that means doing nothing.

    I rest and do nothing, after I've done something, if that makes sense.
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