Rest days/Listening to your body

yup, i take rest days. they almost always worry me while i'm doign it, and i almost always find myself stronger when i do go back. they're worth it, especially when i find myself getting into that what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-me fog.

will power is overrated, if you ask me . . . or at least, it's only as good as the ways you use it. there's nothing actually beneficial about driving yourself into the ground.

Rest days are pretty important for peak performance, imho. Gosh, if I worked out hard 7 days a week I'm almost sure I'd be too tired all the time to really get all that I could out of a workout which doesn't work out in your favor in the long run. Take a day, maybe two, and schedule in a rest day every week. That way you still have the discipline but are letting yourself rest.

miratps wrote: »

Problem is, I haven't done this before and am worried now that I won't be able to eat as much today as I haven't 'earnt' any extra calories despite most likely still being able to get at least 10k steps today.

For the record, I am a male, mid 20s weighing 57kg.

Thanks

You're not trying to lose weight, are you?

I normally take a rest day every week, plus a day where I still work out but at less intensity. I neglected to rest over the holidays, only Xmas day off, & it has caught up with me; knees are quite sore, & a head cold is trying to take hold. Had to leave gym early on Tues due to a family emergency so didn't complete workout, took yesterday 100% off, just nursed myself a bit. Feeling better this morning, will see if I feel good enough to go to my normal Thursday routine. I will add that stress levels have been very high last week to 10 days (huge spate of burglaries & property damage in neighbourhood) & I'm sure that works on me too.
I'm maintaining as well, on rest days I still weigh measure & track as normal. I don't go crazy on treats, but I do enjoy my life. Take it easy on yourself...

I'm currently signed up to a daily exercise challenge. But I have set myself a minimum target for the challenge, which is a ten minute walk. That's my rest day. I will have one or two of those a week, but I end up doing doubles during the week just because my hobbies are energetic (dancing)

I have at least two rest days a week normally Tues and Fri but I still walk at least 2.5 miles on those days (as that's my commute for work). I think there's a difference between your body hurting and your mind just trying to convince you not to go out so I try to listen to my body rather than my head! If I can feel a niggle somewhere (usually in my legs) or sore after a race but it's a planned exercise day, I will normally just try and go at a slower pace or do a bit less distance or if it's an actual concern I will totally rest that day and maybe see how I feel the next day. There is no sense in continually pushing your body every single day. Having said that I do think it's good to push your limits on some days i.e. try to get to work a little bit quicker than yesterday if your legs are feeling good!

In response to your hunger question, I actually feel less hungry after exercise so I try to eat about the same every day but maybe have a snack like a banana or some nuts before a run. I found it much easier to stick to calorie intake once I started looking at my calories over a week i.e. one day I might be 300 under and the next day I would be 300 over but it balances out.

I would agree with TavistockToad that maybe you could just walk to work on one of the days without the pre-exercise.

I don't schedule rest but I take it if needed. If my resting HR is increasing, if my performance is suffering, or if I feel like I'm getting sick, I'll take one. If none of these things happen I'll take one anyway every 10 days or so and do some yoga.

I might also take a rest day if life happens and the schedule requires it but this is pretty rare.

Doing 30k steps a day is a lot! That is around 5 hours of exercise (average step/hour is 6000 according to the FitBit site).

Either back of walking/running so far for a while or increase calories.

When I finally learned to start taking rest days I stopped getting injuries so often, and I started noticing gains in strength and endurance. I think my first six months with MFP I exercised seven days a week with no rest days. I'd try and alternate walking, weight training, elliptical/cardio, but I never took a break. I was too used to the extra calories I earned each day. At the end I managed to injure myself pretty seriously and was down twice for several weeks. I then cut it back to six days a week and did just fine all of last year, and this year I have cut it down to five days a week. It seems to be a perfect schedule for me at the moment. I'm starting to see muscles grow that weren't before, and I'm starting to notice more strength gains. My suggestion is drop your schedule to include 1-2 days a week rest, you'll thank yourself or it later. If nothing else it gives your muscles time to repair and recover.

Rest days are important, especially if you are going as intense as you are. I lift 4x a week and I appreciate my rest days because I can come back and do my workout with adequate strength and I am not risking injury.

As for the hunger thing...it's pretty individual. I find I am hungrier on my rest days. My theory is that my body is recovering and wants/needs the food.

TavistockToad wrote: »

...i would have 1 day a week where i just walked/ran to work, without all the additional exercise first.

Seconding this, plus a full-blown rest day once or twice a week won't hurt you. Yes, it's true you won't be able to eat as many calories, but easily tracking that is what makes this site so great, right?

(And also seconding @samanthaluangphixay: I'm absolutely ravenous on my rest days. I chew a lot of gum and drink tea on those days.)

The only reason I don't go to the gym every day is because it's a pain to manage a 6-day workout schedule with 7-day weeks.

miratps wrote: »

Hi all,

So this morning I got up at 3 as usual to do my exercise routine (an hour of exercise bike complimented with some kettlebell stuff), then I normally run to the station the long way (about 3km) and then get off a few stops earlier than I need to for another jog to the office (just under 5k). Then I walk a ton more the rest of the day, easily rack up over 30k steps a day.

But the last couple days have been a slog, I haven't had a rest where I do nothing for months now and today my legs just feel heavier than they did yesterday so I got off the bike after 10 mins of poor peddling. I'm thinking instead of jogging just walk it to the station etc. Problem is, I haven't done this before and am worried now that I won't be able to eat as much today as I haven't 'earnt' any extra calories despite most likely still being able to get at least 10k steps today.

So my question is: Do you guys take rest days and when do you know if your body is "lying" to you? As in you can push on but your body/mind is saying 'just relax today, do nothing' without it becoming a regular thing?

For the record, I am a male, mid 20s weighing 57kg.

Thanks

I take one rest day per week...sometimes two, but usually one...usually on Thursday. Start thinking of them as recovery days vs. "rest" days...recovery is as important to fitness as the work...recovery is where the magic happens. Recovery days should be looked at as a part of your overall fitness program, not something that is happening outside of it. Neglecting recovery is ultimately going to lead to nagging injuries as well as fatigue and burnout.

Also, a rest day doesn't mean a "do nothing" day. A rest/recovery day means you're dialing things back...today is my rest day and I will go on a 3 mile walk at lunch; when I get home tonight I will do some yoga as well as some rolling and stretching.

Beyond that, one of the issues I have with MFP's methodology is that it assumes this exact 1:1 relationship...if you didn't do X today then you can't eat Y...or if you did X today then you need to eat exactly Y...and it is a vast oversimplification of how your body actually works.

I have a horrible past of not listening to my body. When I was 25 I overtrained by running 100 miles a week and eating probably half of what I should have been calorie wise. Ended up having to take a year off from any exercise and my body has limits to this day of what I can do pushing myself. Just recently I was working out 6 day a week for over an hour (cardio and weights) and ignored the signs of overtraining. Fatigue, sleeplessness, injury, and being sick. I continued to push through it and here I am a month and a half later trying to finally get back to a normal routine of exercising four days a week. I am really learning the importance of rest days and also the importance of eating enough to match my output. I have heard so many people say they see more results from exercising less and watching their diet.