Are rest days really that important?
hotmamma0607
Posts: 9 Member
I've gotten a bit addicted to working out. I workout as hard as possible everyday. My body is for sure changing but I'm not seeing the scale move a whole lot. I've heard it's because I'm not taking rest days. Is this true? Will rest days really help me with my weight loss? I'm trying to have a rest day today but I need some convincing! Thanks!!!!
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Replies
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Your body needs a rest day to recover from all the stress you are putting it under when you work out. You'll burn out if you keep at it, if you want to do something everyday try and active rest day, just go for a nice stroll in the park or a leisurely swim.0
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The scale not moving is probably water weight caused by the increase in exercise, and should be going down soon enough if you are eating in a caloric deficit.
Do realize that the more intense your workouts become you may begin to experience fatigue which lasts longer than it does now. Rest days ARE important, but in reality only you know what your body can and cannot handle. I would recommend at least 2 days of rest per week, some may need only 1- some may need more. Some don't rest at all. I like active rest, which usually involves light cardio like a short jog or a long dog-walk. Rest as your body sees fit.
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yes they are very important. but a rest day doesnt' mean laying in bed all day , unless you want to.0
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If you don't take a rest day your not letting your muscle recover. Hence when you exercise and have that sore feeling is bc you have small micro tears in the muscle (normal) that needs time to recover.0
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hotmamma0607 wrote: »I've gotten a bit addicted to working out. I workout as hard as possible everyday. My body is for sure changing but I'm not seeing the scale move a whole lot. I've heard it's because I'm not taking rest days. Is this true? Will rest days really help me with my weight loss? I'm trying to have a rest day today but I need some convincing! Thanks!!!!
Read up on the "training effect". Active recovery, rest days, and even rest weeks every 2nd or 3rd week (where volume and intensity are both less) are all used in periodized training.
The motto "train hard, rest harder" has quality implications depending on one's goals.0 -
Yeah I know that addiction too... I have to force myself to take a rest day. In fact, yesterday was a rest day but I still had to do a light walk.0
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The fact that the scales aren't moving as a result of all the hard workout is because you're eating too much to lose weight. While the lack of rest prevents your recovery, it does not prevent weight loss. It's easy to over estimate how many calories working out consumes.0
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The fact that the scales aren't moving as a result of all the hard workout is because you're eating too much to lose weight. While the lack of rest prevents your recovery, it does not prevent weight loss. It's easy to over estimate how many calories working out consumes.
No matter what the topic is about, someone has to post this. This is so incredibly snarky and not at all helpful. I guarantee I'm VERY good about logging everything I eat. I don't know a whole lot about this stuff as I'm new to it. But I truly believe that anytime someone posts something like this, they really don't know what they're talking about. This seems to be people's "go to" solution for everything. Do you know it's possible to eat too little and not lose weight? Give me a break! If you don't have anything helpful to say, please keep your "opinions" to yourself!
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hotmamma0607 wrote: »The fact that the scales aren't moving as a result of all the hard workout is because you're eating too much to lose weight. While the lack of rest prevents your recovery, it does not prevent weight loss. It's easy to over estimate how many calories working out consumes.
No matter what the topic is about, someone has to post this. This is so incredibly snarky and not at all helpful. I guarantee I'm VERY good about logging everything I eat. I don't know a whole lot about this stuff as I'm new to it. But I truly believe that anytime someone posts something like this, they really don't know what they're talking about. This seems to be people's "go to" solution for everything. Do you know it's possible to eat too little and not lose weight? Give me a break! If you don't have anything helpful to say, please keep your "opinions" to yourself!
Thats not really accurate, the less you eat the more weight you will lose. The "starvation effect" is really a myth and will not affect people until they are into the single digit body fat percentages. If you are actively trying to lose weight with a calorie deficit and your not losing for an extended period of time, greater than a month, it is either a medical problem or you are eating to much. It is nothing to be offended about. Rest days are important, thats how your body heals your muscles. If you workout hard, you need rest days. If you are just active and do a lot of walking you probably don't need rest days.0 -
hotmamma0607 wrote: »The fact that the scales aren't moving as a result of all the hard workout is because you're eating too much to lose weight. While the lack of rest prevents your recovery, it does not prevent weight loss. It's easy to over estimate how many calories working out consumes.
No matter what the topic is about, someone has to post this. This is so incredibly snarky and not at all helpful. I guarantee I'm VERY good about logging everything I eat. I don't know a whole lot about this stuff as I'm new to it. But I truly believe that anytime someone posts something like this, they really don't know what they're talking about. This seems to be people's "go to" solution for everything. Do you know it's possible to eat too little and not lose weight? Give me a break! If you don't have anything helpful to say, please keep your "opinions" to yourself!
OP, I have to say that this actually pretty funny and go get em'
Hopefully this is a positive and helpful post, you continue to burn fat even during rest. As long as you are meeting your deficit, ladi ladi ladi..
Rest days are extremely important. Need at least one, recommend two. Your rest days allow you to recover but you also build your muscles at rest, not actually just doing the exercise.
There are about 4 ways water rentention comes to play 1) carbs, for every 1 gr you retain about 3 gr of water (I think I have number right) 2.) Excess sodium in your diet 3) muscles retain water 4) for females it is TOM (hormones). This is outside of a person taking medication or having any medical or health issues.
So you could be retaining excess water and thus the scale staying the same, going up or even going down (usually this is after a huge sweating secession). Have you tried taking pictures and measurements along with your scale weight... Also you can get one of the accu measure calipers for about 15 bucks.
Just random thoughts on what could be going on.0 -
hotmamma0607 wrote: »The fact that the scales aren't moving as a result of all the hard workout is because you're eating too much to lose weight. While the lack of rest prevents your recovery, it does not prevent weight loss. It's easy to over estimate how many calories working out consumes.
No matter what the topic is about, someone has to post this. This is so incredibly snarky and not at all helpful. I guarantee I'm VERY good about logging everything I eat. I don't know a whole lot about this stuff as I'm new to it. But I truly believe that anytime someone posts something like this, they really don't know what they're talking about. This seems to be people's "go to" solution for everything. Do you know it's possible to eat too little and not lose weight? Give me a break! If you don't have anything helpful to say, please keep your "opinions" to yourself!
If you consume less energy than you expend, you lose weight.
If you consume more energy than you expend, you gain weight.
If you consume the same amount of energy as you expend, you maintain your current weight.
If you're not losing weight, over a reasonable period of assessment, then you're not eating at the deficit that you think you are. If you're talking over a short period, it might be water weight.
People use it, because the physics doesn't lie. Basic conservation of energy.
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I hate rest days because I love to workout. But they are very important. An actual workout is the least important of the 3 phases (workout, nutrition, rest/recovery). Obviously all 3 are important, but you can't out-work bad nutrition and your body doesn't get stronger during your actual workout. My "rest" days are going for walks and stretching (extra stretching, I stretch daily). I have trouble sitting still, so I have my rest day as either Saturday or Sunday, depending on what is going on. I'm still active on those days, I'm just not lifting or doing HIIT.0
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Yes.
The number you need deoends on your workout style, ability to recover and how well your soft tissue holds up to weight training bouts.0 -
Rest days do not have to be no-workout days, just less-intense-workout days. I do yoga and walking on my "rest" days, just no weights or high intensity cardio - and some weeks I skip the rest day completely just depending on how I feel. If you are getting plenty of good nutrition and quality sleep, then you might be able to perform well even without rest days. If you were overtraining there would be other symptoms like fatigue or lengthy muscle soreness or aches and pains or lack of improvement on your workouts. Failing to lose weight would not be the only thing you would notice. If you are seeing body changes then your health is improving and your body is responding to your workouts - do not worry about the scale, it will get with the program eventually.0
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hotmamma0607 wrote: »The fact that the scales aren't moving as a result of all the hard workout is because you're eating too much to lose weight. While the lack of rest prevents your recovery, it does not prevent weight loss. It's easy to over estimate how many calories working out consumes.
No matter what the topic is about, someone has to post this. This is so incredibly snarky and not at all helpful. I guarantee I'm VERY good about logging everything I eat. I don't know a whole lot about this stuff as I'm new to it. But I truly believe that anytime someone posts something like this, they really don't know what they're talking about. This seems to be people's "go to" solution for everything. Do you know it's possible to eat too little and not lose weight? Give me a break! If you don't have anything helpful to say, please keep your "opinions" to yourself!
I saw zero snark.
What people say, weight loss happens in the kitchen is 100% true. I eat at a deficit for weight loss and I exercise for my health. Since your initial post expressed frustration in the scale not moving, it's totally valid to bring up all the reasons it wouldn't be moving.
As to rest days, I practice active rest, with a much lighter day (walking, yoga, light cardio, stretching, pilates) every 5 days or so.
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Rest days are subject to the individual and how you train to achieve your goals. If it's built into your program you are using, you should.
I've currently lifted over fifty days in a row with some kind of compound leg exercise at different intensities of my 1rm. Some days it's more for muscle memory and form, some days it's for strength, and some days it for mobility.
Is it for everyone? No, but it's what my body can handle safely and respond efficiently progressively towards my goal.
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