Rest Days

I don't have rest days, I train twice a day at least (running, cycling, weights) and with mixture of hard and easy sessions, don't need them.

it really depends on what you're doing as to how necessary rest days are. also, a rest day doesn't necessarily mean doing nothing. the more intensive your exercise is, the more necessary rest becomes as this type of exercise is very good for you, but it's also a major stress on the body and you need to allow your body to recover...recovery is where fitness magic happens...many people who fail to make leaps in their fitness simply aren't giving their bodies enough rest and recovery. try to look at proper rest as an elemental part of your overall fitness regimen and something that is essential to fitness gains. beyond that, without proper rest, the body will ultimately break down and you're at a much higher risk of injury...and instead of taking a day off, you could be taking weeks and months off (ask me how i know).

it is also good to mix up your workouts throughout the week to include more intense and less intensive workouts...this will also aid in recovery.

if you're doing resistance/weight training, you should not be working the same muscles or groups of muscles on consecutive days...so people will often do a full body program 2-3x per week or do a split which is typically 4-5 days per week.

i usually take 1-2 rest days per week. 1 weekend day is pretty much mandatory just to get *kitten* done around the house and out in the yard...not to mention making time to do all manner of fun activities with my kids (which often involves recreational activity like an easy family bike ride, a walk with the dog, a few hours walking around the zoo, playing in the park, etc). i also do restorative yoga most Sundays which is typically my rest day.

i enjoy my rest days because i enjoy balance in my life and i enjoy the recovery a rest day or two brings.

Rest days are good. But it depends. Depends on the intensity of each training session you do, your activity level, your lifestyle etc. There would be times when I'll train 7 days a week. Sometimes I train 6 days a week with 1 rest day or 5 days on 2 days off. Basically, just listen to your body. Switch it up and see what works best for you at that time

I'll do something low impact, like yoga. or catch up on TV and movies I've missed. or catch up on house work

pichu318 wrote: »

Does anyone else find these days hard? I understand that they are necessary, but I like working out.

I like being able to eat more because I am burning calories and I like having something to do, so I am too busy to think about eating.

What do you guys do on your rest days? Do you like them? I'm honestly looking for ways to cope with their existence haha.

I've gotten to the point where my training days are intense and even though I'm not typically sore or at least nothing more than mildly sore but my muscles are tired and nervous system definitely taxed, so I like my off days. I do my best to eat well and get a good sleep so when my next training day is up, I can hit it hard. I actually embrace my deload weeks as well and use them to their fullest.

I think this question is going to be different for everybody depending on their "training age", how they train, and their recoverability.