Is a "rest day" really supposed to be for rest or just as a break from a particular exercise?

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abbynormalartist
abbynormalartist Posts: 318 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'm starting to get into lifting and am working with the 5x5 Strong Lifts app. I lift about every other day. On my "rest days", should I be really chilling at home and relaxing or does "rest day" just mean not lifting? Should those be days I run or do body weight exercises at home?

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  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    A rest day should rest the main muscle groups your normal routine works.

    I take 1 rest day but I still walk 5 miles that day.
  • girlinahat
    girlinahat Posts: 2,956 Member
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    I think it depends on what you are doing on the active days and what you are proposing on 'rest' days. You certainly shouldn't do more lifting (and that includes bodyweight) as the point of a rest day is to get the muscles to remake themselves.

    there is a case for 'active' rest days. I'm just coming out of Half Marathon training, and moving into strength training whilst also still running. During my HM training 'rest' days included walking or other gentle activity, mostly to keep my legs moving.

    For now go by feel - you may well get to a point where you can barely sit down without holding onto something, let alone do something active!!!
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I dance as well as lift. I get very few actual rest days- so on my rest days- I do absolutely "nothing" physical.

    (I say "nothing" because frequently I'm still working or doing SOMETHING)
  • littlebrittlifts
    littlebrittlifts Posts: 225 Member
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    Listen to your body. If you're super tired? Rest for real. Feeling good? Active rest day! I.e., walking, steady state cardio, etc
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,393 MFP Moderator
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    I tend to play golf on my rest days (I walk). This way, i still have increased blood flow to my muscles which will help with soreness. But I don't do anything crazy strenuous. But additionally, if I feel warn down or sick, I do not exercise or I do a deload.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    I still do stuff on my rest day, but I don't do an active workout, zumba or anything, just walking generally.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    I use active rest days - maybe yoga, or an easy swim (just continuous nothing fast), go for a walk/hike etc
  • ABeers972
    ABeers972 Posts: 5 Member
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    Rest days are to let the muscles you have been using recover - theirs no reason you cant train other muscles, body builder train pretty much every day of the week but focus on a very very small muscle set each day so as to not overwork any individual muscle

    A classic training scheduled is push - pull - legs & Repeat as it gives you 2 days rest between working each muscle group ( The recovery period in which MPS - Muscle Protein Synthesis is active) and still lets you hit each muscle group twice in a week which is apparently the optimal amount

    Due to my scheduled that dose not work for me, so i do

    Monday - Upper Body
    Tuesday - Lower Body
    Wednesday - Rest ( I have other commitments Wednesdays so this works out well for me)
    Thursday - Upper Body
    Friday - Lower Body
    Sat & Sunday - These are 'rest' days in terms of the gym but generally i'm diving or hiking

    After every session i will go for a swim and try to do at least 1km and am slowly working up to swimming 1 mile, once I've lost some weight and built up some CV fitness in the pool i intend to swap two of my swimming days for days where i run after lifting instead of swimming

    So far this is working for me - I'm not aiming to build a lot of muscle mass, my goal is mainly weight lost and having the strength needed for my hobby's -I enjoy multi day hikes and i'm a technical scuba diver and can have ~ 100kg of dive kit on when fully kitted up so being able to manage the weight is useful!

  • ThatLadyFromMN
    ThatLadyFromMN Posts: 301 Member
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    I'd say take a break from lifting and go for a nice long walk, run, bike, or go swimming. I used to lift 5 days a week and then on my "rest day" I would go walking or running. Now I really mix it up and probably lift 2-3 times a week, run maybe twice a week, and then walk several times a week... might throw a Zumba night in there every now and then. Variety is the spice of life. Take the rest day though if you feel like you need it, if I really take a rest day I will color with my daughter, read a book, or catch a tv show... just watch that bored-in-front-of-the-tv-eating.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    Another vote for "active" rest days. (I usually do LISS cardio in the AM / foam roll / get a massage)
    I lift in the evenings after work, and it's nice to have an evening with no commitments every now and then to just veg.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,492 Member
    edited June 2017
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    rest day?

    ..... only to give the weights a needed day off.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    There is/was a HR zone called Active Recovery for years, before it was tagged with the fad name Fat-Burning HR zone.

    That was it's purpose when the cardio was done. Get the blood flowing and aid healing when using the same muscles.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    yes, it is really a rest day, as rest and recovery are a big part of any training regimen. I agree with others on active rest, and also having a day where you do nothing. I try to have two active rest days and then one, 100% rest day...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Rest/recovery days are rest from more vigorous exercise activity to give your body a chance to heal and recover.

    I lift on Monday (body weight)/Wednesday (weight room)/Friday (weight room). I cycle on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/and a longer ride usually on Saturday. My cycling intensities vary...Tuesday is usually my sprint interval day...Wednesday is a pretty easy recovery ride as I'm also lifting that day...Thursday is usually a good tempo ride and I usually do a long endurance ride on the weekend...usually Saturday. Depending on how I'm feeling on Mondays, I might take a tempo ride...or I might just do my body weight routine along with a walk or something.

    Typically, Sunday is my recovery day and it consists of maybe going to the climbing gym or a hike with the family, or a family recreational ride, or taking my kids to the trampoline park, or some yoga, golfing, etc...it's active rest/recovery. If and when I need to, I will take another recovery day...and sometimes that happens just because life and whatnot. Occasionally I will have a pretty much do nothing day as well if/when I'm feeling particularly fatigued, etc.

  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    When I take a rest day I usually end up doing some form of stretching or hiking but there are plenty of times that I've taken "true rest days" as well. It's all preference. Just be sure to give your major muscle groups a rest.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Whether or not you even need a rest day is dependent on how much you do on your non-rest days, but to give you an idea of how much professional athletes (who do need rest days) rest consider that on a rest day a professional cyclist will still go ride 15 to 20 miles.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    If you are doing that particular program to gain as much strength as possible for a novice, then you should not do lifting or anything strenuous that will effect your recovery. Meaning don't go do cardio classes or swim several miles.

    If your doing SL to just lift in general and don't care about getting strong, you're on the wrong program.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    I prefer the phrase "active recovery". My rest days always involve some form of activity to keep my TDEE up and to reinforce good habits.

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