Taking a rest today!

Being kind to your body is very important! I bought a used piston rower and I have been using that - it's low impact and works my body all over. I have slowly built up my frequency / intensity / time. And I sometimes overdo it. (I am so motivated to lose my COVID quarantine weight gain). So, I cut back just to give my body a chance to recover. So - listen to your body and love yourself and your process... "do the thing" but, gently!

Have anyone cut down on carbs? Tell me what worked better for you to lose weight. In need of advice.

Rest days can be important for avoiding overuse pain/injuries . . . but are also important for fitness progress. It's the body's repair process that creates fitness gains, after the exercise has caused some challenges to body tissues. The repair happens during rest/recovery, with the exercise as the trigger.

I think of recovery as being like pulling back the bow-string to shoot an arrow forward: It can feel like one is moving in the "wrong" direction, but there is no shooting forward without the pulling back.

If new to exercise, it's good to take relatively more rest days. As we get fitter, we can handle more exercise (more intensity, duration or frequency), need somewhat less rest/recovery between, for some exercise types. It's a gradual process to build fitness, keeping just a manageable bit of challenge in the picture, without overdoing.

Also, especially as one gets fitter, it can be useful to think in terms of varying which body systems are challenged by the specific exercise sessions. Challenging different aspects on alternating days, for example, lets a challenge day for some body systems be a recovery day for other ones. For example, even as a longtime exerciser, I find I do better if I row on alternate days, and do something else (lift, bike, etc.) in between.

It's tempting to be super-motivated and throw oneself into daily intense exercise at first, especially if chasing calorie burn. That's not necessarily the most effective route to long-term, sustainable health improvement, though.

Good job on your workouts . . . and on recognizing that you need some recovery time!