Are rest days important?
SuperMotivated56
Posts: 119 Member
I don’t undertake strenuous activity, but walk between 8km and 10km on most days. Do I need to take rest days? If so, how do I manage my anxiety (and kilojoules) for not exercising on that day?
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Replies
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I don't think you need rest days from walking unless you are pushing really high mileage (10 miles/day?). Its low impact. Low HR. Generally good for you.
If you are running and doing interval trsining days etc...then it's a good idea to have a rest day. But it's even better to have an active rest day.....and often that entails walking.
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Your muscles repair themselves during rest. So yes, rest is important. How much rest you need depends on your level of activity and how you feel. For many people, 8k-10k would be a fair amount of walking to do every day.
I am personally a big believer in one full rest day per week for people who are very active. I run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I lift and do yoga on Tuesday and Thursday. On the weekends, I usually have either a hike or a long run on one day, and then take the other day as a complete rest day--no intentional exercise. For me, that is crucial for both injury prevention and recovery.
In terms of anxiety, you may find that other activities like gentle yoga or meditation can also help manage anxiety while not placing much physical stress on your body.
You may choose to "save" some exercise calories so that you can eat more on rest days.5 -
In general, yes, rest days are important. Specifically, it depends.
Everybody has their own limits and capacity. It's just like one person can squat 500 lbs and do it again, while someone else is beat after lifting the bar a few times. The heavier you are, the more stressful walking is going to be, the more you do it the more accustomed your body will be, and the better able to deal with it. Some people hike the PCT (2,660 miles) without taking a single rest day, that's not topical but it shows there isn't a universal law for walking and rest days.
Listen to your body. If you start feeling run down, or suddenly lose motivation for a couple days, take it easy. If you don't take rest days, then good sleep, nutrition, and hydration are more important to you than to most people. Shoes too. If you're already doing this most days, then it's probably ok, but there are no guarantees in life.5 -
Recovery is important for everyone - but that is very variable depending on capabilities and training stress.
Rest days are important for some - but unnecessary for others depending on same factors.
Only you know if your walking starts to accululate fatigue or is within in your personal limits to do daily. If you aren't feeling it as "strenuous" then I'm not seeing a reason to stop your daily walks but if that changes you adapt accordingly.
How are you accounting for your walking calorie burns at the moment?
If logging as exercise then you just get to eat less a day you don't walk.
If in your general activity setting then it's just an average and I wouldn't bother changing anything.2 -
Your muscles repair themselves during rest. So yes, rest is important.
I disagreed with this part of the post.
Your muscles actually repair themseves 24 x 7 - it's a continuous process (muscle protein synthesis and breakdown processes never stop just the rate changes).
It's just a shorthand saying to make people consider recovery, it's not actually how bodies work.
Rest is a form of recovery but not the only form. Which is why many people train (not just walk) every day.4 -
Personally I wouldnt take rest days from walking unless it was 20miles plus but I walk 13+ miles on a daily basis (no car and walk or run everywhere).
But rest days are important, that doesn't mean you have to do nothing on rest days, it's all relative. I'm usually crazy active mon-sat and then Sunday I have a stretch session and short run. It took a lot for my PT to persuade me to take this break, but I am feeling the benefits2 -
I though rest days help to acclimatise the body to the activity level expected, giving yourself the benefit of rest as your energy requirement change. Much depends on the level of inactivity one is starting from. For the originally, "couch potato", incredibly sedentary person, even someone who is elderly, walking any distance can be an achievement in its self. The best thing is to listen to your own body and do what is right for you, knowing when the" laziness thought" is creeping up is something to acknowledge and put back into its box, as long as you are not putting your body under undue stress for you. Good luck find your happy range.0
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I believe that rest days are important. I am trying to listen to my body - usually it is telling me that a couple days of recuperating are necessary. It also helps me to introduce a totally different exercise once in a while, in my case water aerobics. It all looks like a lot of fun but after an hour or so and getting out of the pool I can feel that I had a good workout.0
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I think you can take clues from your own body. Walking can be done at a wide range of intensity. Your distances are considerable, but it sounds like you are mixing it up with shorter and longer walks, and maybe you are spreading it out over the day.
In general: If you are particularly sore, then you might benefit from a rest day (or you could do a shorter 2-3km easy walk). If not, you can keep going. @sijomial pointed out that muscle repair is a continuous process!1 -
I dont think you need a rest day from walking. I go to the gym 6 days a week but also walk 10 miles which I think is 16km on average per day. Granted my walking is spread over the day/night (walking the dog) but its low intensity, heart rate barely makes it to my fat burn zone but it's great for burning additional calories.0
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My answer rests entirely upon my age, 64. Rest days are vital!! That is also because I'm am exercising on less than year old hip replacements and recognize still that for years I did little or no exercise because of daily discomfort and lack of mobility. I am not about to over-extend and risk putting myself back there. Any anxiety is sated by knowing I will be back at it tommorrow as I will be. Today was off day because I had an a appointment.1
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Having re read my post I want to rephrase. Basically if walking is not strenuous or pushing you physically then really no reason to take a rest day. If however you find it difficult or strenuous then there is no harm in taking a rest. As Gerald points out were not in a race, it's better to be active on days when you feel able rather than risking an injury which could compromise activity on other days.
When I mentioned my own walking distance I was referring to multiple walks over the day and night which arent particularly brisk or taxing although they do involve multiple hills. I suppose I would find walking more taxing if I was walking 5-10 miles at a brisk pace or within a short period of time.0 -
I failed to mention that I am walking usually at a fairly brisk pace for 60 minutes at a time. I am not likely to do that on consecutive days. However, on following days you would find me in pool doing a variety of exercise for up to 90 minutes that range from hip exercises (never stopped my post op PT, I just moved it to water) to lightly jogging in place. I take one or two off days a week, almost always on Sunday gamedays!0
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geraldaltman wrote: »My answer rests entirely upon my age, 64. Rest days are vital!! That is also because I'm am exercising on less than year old hip replacements and recognize still that for years I did little or no exercise because of daily discomfort and lack of mobility. I am not about to over-extend and risk putting myself back there. Any anxiety is sated by knowing I will be back at it tommorrow as I will be. Today was off day because I had an a appointment.
BTW I blew off the aforementioned "off day" and did a light hour on my treadmill 😊0 -
For walking that distance, no need for a rest day. If you are running, then it depends on your goals, but still probably don't need a rest day. Lifting weights is another story entirely and will require rest days.0
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Everyone is different. What will usually be the answer is based on how intense the exercise is and also age.
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Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
An exercise routine is quite new to me (the past 3.5 months). I’m in my 40’s, female and have about 5 more kilograms to go (I didn’t have heaps to lose). Any suggestions on what kind of exercise I should be doing? I tend to lose interest quickly in hectic workouts...0 -
You dont need to do hectic workouts. You don't need to exercise at all to lose weight just stay in a calorie deficit from your tdee.
If you want to start an exercise program that's good, do something that you like. More chance of sticking to it that way.
If walking they distances is new to you then its likely that will be exercise and doing you good. Your heart rate will be elevated and you will be burning plenty of calories. As you adjust to what your doing you could change routes or walk a little faster.
Move a bit more, sit a little bit less and measure your food intake and you will lose weight.1 -
SuperMotivated56 wrote: »Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
An exercise routine is quite new to me (the past 3.5 months). I’m in my 40’s, female and have about 5 more kilograms to go (I didn’t have heaps to lose). Any suggestions on what kind of exercise I should be doing? I tend to lose interest quickly in hectic workouts...
Since you've got cardio under control - strength training. Your future post-menopausal bones will thank you.
If this is brand new to you, I highly recommend a gym, and a trainer, which can be short term while you learn form. Every gym I've ever joined has offered 1-3 sessions with a trainer for free, and many have had small group classes for free or cheap.
Telling the trainer you want to "lift like a man" a la The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess should eliminate a hectic workout like what I have seen trainers give to women.3 -
SuperMotivated56 wrote: »I don’t undertake strenuous activity, but walk between 8km and 10km on most days. Do I need to take rest days? If so, how do I manage my anxiety (and kilojoules) for not exercising on that day?
Our ancestors evolved to walk long distances 365 days a year. Unless you're going from being very sedentary to walking 10K a day you probably don't need a rest day, Having said that, monitor your fatigue levels and adjust as necessary.
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I took a rest day. Instead of hiking, I just drove my camera to a scenic place and took some pictures.
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Absolutely, especially if u are starting exercise for this time. Or in my case in the 50+ crew.0
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This answer depends, but in your case, unless your walks are highly strenuous (steep hills, fast walking, rough terrain), then I don't think a purposeful rest day is "needed" (unless your body is really telling you otherwise).
Now, if you are doing hard walks/hikes, enough to make yourself sore afterwards, an easier day may not be a terrible idea.
Harder workouts, weight lifting, etc - those are more likely to require some rest periods. For example, I lift heavy 5 days a week (plus cardio), and my weekends are definitely needed "rest" days. One of those is generally an active day (house cleaning, horseback riding, maybe a bicycle ride), the other tends to be a bit lazier but may still do some of the above - or not. Right now, I need those days, and by Monday I'm ready to hit the gym again, but come Friday, I'm pretty beat and need the rest.1
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