50 and over Crowd- Rest Days?

Silentpadna wrote: »

The bang for the buck is in the recovery and adaptation....not the work frequency............... provided you give each muscle group adequate recovery time.

^^^ I couldn't agree more with these points.

I am 60yrs old. My situation is slightly different, because I"m focused on endurance training. While I generally train 7 days/week, I do no more than 1 (or sometimes 2) high intensity days/week and never do them back to back. One week, maybe a high intensity bike, the next week, a speed workout on the track, etc. The rest of my workouts are low intensity.

Whether lifting or endurance training, the key is giving muscle groups time to recover and absorb the training gains, otherwise progress will slow and injuries are much more likely.

I'm 52 (soon to be 53). I'm having a tough time with rest days as well.

I'm doing training for 1/2 marathon, so am running 4 days a week with varying distances. Tues/Thurs I'm doing Strong lifts in the morning and swimming ~1K after work. Come Friday and I want to do something, but know I shouldn't.

Trouble is I like the calories from my runs and swims so Friday I've got nothing except what I saved all week.

I only generally have a rest day when something gets in the way of getting to the gym or exercising outdoors. I would only plan a rest day the day before a big event like a century ride.
Mostly my schedule is to alternate day by day strength (mostly big compound lifts, upper body biased) and cardio (vast majority cycling) but recently I've been doubling up fairly frequently. Sometimes to make up for a missed training day but today I doubled up cycling and then strength training purely because I wanted to train with my daughter who is trying hard to make training a habit so I'm supporting and encouraging her.

Although I'm 58 I've been training very consistently for the last six years so I'm accustomed to a volume that wouldn't be suitable for someone else. I've also always seemed to make progress better on a higher volume of exercise compared to most people and that hasn't changed in my 50's.

But I do vary my intensity and keep an eye on fatigue levels.

But basically u do what feels right to you

67 here.

Currently rowing 1 hr everyday, lifting 2-3 days/wk and doing body weight exercise 2-3 days/wk on alternate days.

So, basically, I am not taking any rest days right now BUT I am not exercising more than 1 hr/session or 2 hrs/day and the level of effort/intensity is moderate w/a lot of rest between sets and exercises.

So, it isn't all that stenuous to me.

51 and into long distance cycling plus dabbling in running and a few other things. I don't take rest days. Or rather, I vary what I do quite dramatically, and my "rest days" are days when I might just walk a couple km to stretch things out a bit.

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I'll be 50 in a few months. I do take 1 complete rest a week (Sunday's). I work out in some capacity the other 6 days both cardio and strength training.

I suffered a bout of burn out over winter, I am just now getting back to my normal workouts. I started performing terribly, choked them up as 'just bad days' and finally I got tapped out after ignoring it. I was still resting on Sundays, but I was losing ample recovery time I needed in between workouts during the week (and I am maintaining weight no cutting at the moment) and it caught up to me. I have to remind my self and my doctor did too to pace my self better.

I work out to feel better and be stronger not the other way around. Between me and my family they suggest I take a week off or lower the intensity and volume every 3-4 months so I can reset mentally and physically so I don't go through this again.

This boils down to individual preference and listening to your body.

RoxieDawn wrote: »

I suffered a bout of burn out over winter, I am just now getting back to my normal workouts. I started performing terribly, choked them up as 'just bad days' and finally I got tapped out after ignoring it. I was still resting on Sundays, but I was losing ample recovery time I needed in between workouts during the week (and I am maintaining weight no cutting at the moment) and it caught up to me. I have to remind my self and my doctor did too to pace my self better.

I work out to feel better and be stronger not the other way around. Between me and my family they suggest I take a week off or lower the intensity and volume every 3-4 months so I can reset mentally and physically so I don't go through this again.

Finding proper balance is so important (and sometimes so difficult) in training. In order to see progression in the endurance sports, (for example, to build fitness in order to complete a long course triathlon) the concept of periodization is key. Several weeks of building volume are followed by a recovery week of reduced work volume and intensity, before volume is picked up again. This allows for supercompensation over time as muscles and systems adapt to the increasing load during the recovery week. I like to think of building fitness as if I'm walking up a flight of stairs. During weeks 1-3, you take a step up each week, then at week four, you remain on the third step before resuming the climb during weeks 5-7,. recovering again during week 8, etcetera. The advantage we have in endurance training is that there are software tools to help athletes (and coaches) see how the body is adapting or if more recovery is needed to get to race day as a healthy participant. I don't know if similar resources exist for lifters?

Finally, each year I take a 4-8 week training break in late fall to allow ample time for recovery from the strain of training. This allows nagging muscle/joint soreness to subside and also provides a much needed mental break.

Djproulx wrote: »

RoxieDawn wrote: »

I suffered a bout of burn out over winter, I am just now getting back to my normal workouts. I started performing terribly, choked them up as 'just bad days' and finally I got tapped out after ignoring it. I was still resting on Sundays, but I was losing ample recovery time I needed in between workouts during the week (and I am maintaining weight no cutting at the moment) and it caught up to me. I have to remind my self and my doctor did too to pace my self better.

I work out to feel better and be stronger not the other way around. Between me and my family they suggest I take a week off or lower the intensity and volume every 3-4 months so I can reset mentally and physically so I don't go through this again.

Finding proper balance is so important (and sometimes so difficult) in training. In order to see progression in the endurance sports, (for example, to build fitness in order to complete a long course triathlon) the concept of periodization is key. Several weeks of building volume are followed by a recovery week of reduced work volume and intensity, before volume is picked up again. This allows for supercompensation over time as muscles and systems adapt to the increasing load during the recovery week. I like to think of building fitness as if I'm walking up a flight of stairs. During weeks 1-3, you take a step up each week, then at week four, you remain on the third step before resuming the climb during weeks 5-7,. recovering again during week 8, etcetera. The advantage we have in endurance training is that there are software tools to help athletes (and coaches) see how the body is adapting or if more recovery is needed to get to race day as a healthy participant. I don't know if similar resources exist for lifters?

Finally, each year I take a 4-8 week training break in late fall to allow ample time for recovery from the strain of training. This allows nagging muscle/joint soreness to subside and also provides a much needed mental break.

This is great information, thanks for this.

The recovery week is definitely something to be doing as you are so right about endurance/sports related activities. I was training for half marathon and still lifting, my training was extensive and like you said not balanced. True lessons learned and even though I took a back seat in the half training (hardly no training the last three weeks prior) I was able to run the half this past Saturday in its entirety.

Lastly, I am not going feel bad for needing to take training breaks. The mental aspect to what I went through was just as bad as needing physical time off as well. I feel 1000x times better for the break I took, I didn't lose fitness or strength.

57 here. I do 3-4 days a week at the gym or home (I have a decent setup at home also, weights, elliptical, bike) and rest the other days. Though, I do still try to walk every day it's not too cold or snowy.

Not only do I seem to need the rest more, but, I've also come to the realization that, for me at least, at this age, it's more about maintaining what I've got, making sure it remains in working order, and that I can fit in my clothes without buying larger sizes; than it is about lifting more and running further.

When I work out I do it hard. Heavy weight as I can, and cardio as intense as I can. But I'm not really interested anymore in pushing my max weight, or running a marathon. With age comes wisdom, temperance, and arthritis!

Recovery is important, I don't think it should be overlooked. Overtraining can happen at any age, but for us over 50's, the chance of injury due to in increases.

I'm 59. I alternate: weights day, rest day, bodyweight exercises day, rest day, weights day, rest day....

Rest days are usually walks at lunch (2.75 mi.) and 5 miles bicycle commute in both the mornings and evenings (if on the weekend, rest = either 5k run or 15 miles on the bike). Stretching (daily) is usually during the day, and workouts in the evening. Usually the workouts (1.5 hrs.) leave me so wasted that I can't think of working out the next day.

The great thing about being older is that my evenings are mine, instead of volunteering for kid's activities!

I'm 53 and really hadn't "trained" for anything other than the occasional trail run a few years back (and before that spent most of my 30's obese). Recovering from Runner's knee I found indoor rowing and love it. My first "indoor Regatta" I placed second and haven't looked back since. Been training harder and harder every year to be sub 7:00 on a 2K (which is roughly the equivalent of an 18 minute or so 5K run). I stink at running, I'm decent at rowing and find myself working harder and harder just to shave 5/10 seconds off my times.

I work out 6 days a week and take one off every week. One suggestion that I read on US Rowing I find very handy is knowing your Resting HR. If you feel you're working too hard, your resting HR starts to creep up. Knowing this figure comes in handy because of that. If you don't want to take regular breaks (other than the one day off a week which I think everyone should at our age), this is a handy little trick. If it starts to creep, and your exercise of choice is mostly cardio, then lots of slow steady state is in order (or at least that is what the US rowing coaches recommend) until your RHR gets back to where it was normally, then resume normal training. I would imagine if you lift, you could deload for a while until it gets back to normal. Maybe this is a better rule for cardio than lifting?? I would think there are similar signs with lifting like plateauing, but your body seems to know when you need a break, we just sometimes refuse to listen to it.

At 62, I'm active for fun and health, and not so much training (in a structured way) for competition. I push myself, because that's more fun, but I find I do better overall if I don't (mostly) repeat the very same physical stressors on consecutive days. As I age, recovery is more important to progress, but recovery is a nuanced thing.

I always take one rest day in the week, sometimes active rest (walk 2-4 miles, easy bike for an hour or so, and/or a little stretching/yoga - that sort of thing). In winter, my rowing off season, workouts are a little more random, a few more light days, but I know I feel worse (stiff, stress-y) if I'm inactive too long. Inactivity becomes self-correcting, because it makes life subjectively worse.

After being active for a while (I've been so for around 15 years), I think you find your own happy rhythm. Balance (IMO) is vital - family, faith (if applicable), friends, community, intellectual challenges, creativity, etc.