How many resting days per week?

leda1515
leda1515 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How many resting days a week should I take? Is one enough or should it be more?
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Replies

  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
    I personally take 1-2 most weeks. It really depends though on what activity you are doing on your non-rest days
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    edited May 2018
    I'd say it depends upon your goals, the type of exercise(s) you're doing, the intensity level you're doing them at, and how developed your workload tolerance is.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    The days I don't run I walk five miles or cycle.

    Rest days don't have to mean you do nothing.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    I don't do rest days but that is because walking is something I enjoy so make sure I get at least 1 hour of brisk walking in a day. I have 7 rest days from the gym though as the thought of even going gives me anxiety. I really should do resistance training..........
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,812 Member
    I don't take any rest days unless I am ill. But I do vary the exercise / activity I do. One day might be a 2 km walk ... another day might be a 5 km run .... another day might be a 100 km bicycle ride.
  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
    I take two rest days a week, but they include walking at least a few miles. Most workout days I do doubles, so I can only do three days straight before I need a light day.
  • EatLikeAHuman
    EatLikeAHuman Posts: 30 Member
    I do an intense (for me) bodyweight and kettlebell workout every second day, sometimes two days in a row if I'm not hurting too bad from the day before. On the days off, I'm walking my 10k steps cause I love that Fitbit streak. So, I guess no days "off"?

    Now if I were lifting really heavy in the gym, I would be a bit more methodical about rest days. I would even shorten my walks after leg day and maybe do some stretchy yoga instead. But I'm broke, so no gym weights for me for a while, hahaha.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Depends on a lot of factors. Your individual recovery, how intense your workouts are, training history, how much you eat, what your goals are, etc etc.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    do what you feel works for you. if you think you need to adjust, adjust.

    i dont go to the gym on wednesday and sunday. sunday because it doesnt pen till 1:30 and thas way WAY too late or me to go workout, and wednesday cause it gives me a mid week break and i can leave my house at 8 instead of 6 45. lol.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Do what you need to recover from whatever training you're doing. Once you've been at it long enough, your body will tell you.

    I take active rest days and just walk, rest doesn't have to mean being a couch potato.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I do one lighter day per week. Today I'm going for a walk on a trail nearby, I'll keep the pace easy and avoid the steeper paths. I consider this my rest day.
  • sauronseye
    sauronseye Posts: 40 Member
    It really depends. Generally, my 'rest day' is Sunday because I am doing Insanity at the moment. But if do yoga on my rest day, and I walk/cycle every day, regardless of the exercise I did. If I am very busy and/or extremely tired, it might happen that I skip exercise altogether but it's not something that I plan, it just happens, and rarely.

    A rest day doesn't mean you have to be completely inactive. You can take a walk, do more housework, garden...just like 'cheat day' doesn't mean you have to eat the whole cake alone. :D
  • summpear
    summpear Posts: 77 Member
    Similar here. I'm careful to take an active rest day on Thursdays where I do a light yoga class and walk, and Mondays I do a light yoga class and run with a slower friend. If i need Monday to be a rest day, we just go her pace. If i need it to be heavier, i throw on ankle weights to run with her. My other days I do a fairly heavy mix of lifting and cardio. occasionally i skip a whole day and don't excercise beyond my usual walking, but that's maybe once a month.
  • CynfulHedonist
    CynfulHedonist Posts: 4 Member
    Right now, none. I just restarted and need to make it a habit again. I am in tune with my body though and will make things lighter if needed.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    It's all very personal and based on your ability level. I've got 2 mandated rest days and I am supposed to limit myself to 25min of walking, stationary bike, or swimming 5x/week to avoid injury. Because I kept overdoing it after being sedentary and injuring myself! If you're worried about doing things correctly I do suggest speaking with a professional, if not a physiotherapist (who's been helping me, because injuries) maybe a trainer or someone might know more.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    I don't do rest days. I aim for 10k steps every day, or I can only eat 1400 calories, and that's not happening.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    Depends on what you're doing.

    My exercise consists of lifting 3x per week on non consecutive days and cycling most days and walking my dog. I'm not doing any big training rides right now, so I do some kind of exercise most days unless I just feel like taking a day or something comes up.

    In the past when I've been training for endurance cycling events, I typically reduce my lifting to 1x per week and take a couple of rest days where I would just go for a walk and/or do some yoga. A rest/recovery day doesn't have to be full stop do nothing...it's just rest from more vigorous training.
  • sarahthes
    sarahthes Posts: 3,252 Member
    I have Friday scheduled as a rest day. So that means that instead of a brisk walk I will do a more leisurely walk, or not stress if life happens and I can't do purposeful activity that day.

    Sometimes I swap days around though. Depends on life.

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