How often do you take a rest day?
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I take active an rest day ... Currently, I would go for a walk then wind down with plyometrics my coach previously recorded for me.0
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ToffeeApple71 wrote: »Just curious really. I did a really long run today (for me)! and I'm going to walk tomorrow to "recover"....but I wondered if it would be more beneficial to take a rest day instead. Which got me wondering how often others rested completely, or whether everyone just mixes it up to change their activity. How many people exercise 7 days a week. Curiosity only...just wondering what others do (and I know everyone is different) 😊
I'm typically (and currently) a high volume exerciser, doing swim, bike and run workouts. It sounds like you are seeing some benefits from active recovery (walking, easy jog, easy cycling, etc.) as a way to get blood flowing through tired muscles. I often use that method during my "rest days" and in fact my coach has optional sessions built in to my 7 day/week training plan, so I can choose to take either active recovery or complete rest, typically on Mondays.
As mentioned by others, whether to rest or be active on off days depends on a few factors, including your current fitness, training load, etc. When thinking about rest days, I try to understand whether I'm just sore from the last workout, or if my recent training load demands a full rest day. In addition, I often do a "self care" routine, such as yoga, stretching or foam rolling, either after my last Sunday workout, or on Mondays, which is my scheduled "optional training day".
I think the other factor to consider is whether or not you are training for a specific event, or just staying trained to maintain fitness. If training for an event, following a training plan will give you the built in rest days, or reduced volume training weeks, that allow for a fitness build over time while minimizing the chances of injury.
If not training for an event, I like to mix up training and vary the workouts so l work different muscle groups and to avoid boredom. Finally, if I'm bored or really fatigued, its time for a rest day (or several!) so that I come back refreshed and ready to train again.2 -
Personally I schedule three rest days per week for resistance training.
Depending what you train it probably a good idea to take time for recovery for most people.
That doesn't mean programming can"t be written intelligently for 7 days a week.
Personally I ran every day 5-19 miles for over a year while riding a couple days a week. Played & coached baseball and trained 3-4 days per week. I would recommend it for 99.9% of people.
Load management is key to lower injury risk and progress in anything. I would find a coach or appropriate programing to follow.
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I really don't. Since I train just one bodypart a day, it has ample time (a week) to recover. And I do some sort of cardio everyday, albeit the intensity is different for them. My rest is when I actually get to sleep.
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If not training for an event, I like to mix up training and vary the workouts so l work different muscle groups and to avoid boredom. Finally, if I'm bored or really fatigued, its time for a rest day (or several!) so that I come back refreshed and ready to train again.
I'm not training for an event. Just walked for a year then one day started jogging and now I'm doing 3-4 runs a week with gym sessions thrown in on other days.
I'm thinking of doing a 16km event which is in November so I'll start looking at a proper training program.
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ToffeeApple71 wrote: »Just curious really. I did a really long run today (for me)! and I'm going to walk tomorrow to "recover"....but I wondered if it would be more beneficial to take a rest day instead. Which got me wondering how often others rested completely, or whether everyone just mixes it up to change their activity. How many people exercise 7 days a week. Curiosity only...just wondering what others do (and I know everyone is different) 😊
I'm more about active recovery than just not doing anything. You need recovery from more strenuous exercise and if you're relatively fit, doing something like a walk or an easy bike ride or something isn't going to impede recovery and actually tends to benefit recovery.
The less fit one is, the more recovery they are likely to need, which may indeed mean taking days off completely...but someone with a pretty decent level of fitness is going to be able to still do light activity and still recover from more strenuous work.
I typically lift 2x per week and have one ride, maybe two that is fairly strenuous...so three - four days per week of more strenuous work and three to four days of light to moderate exercise activity that is typically more "recreational" than a "workout".
There are days when I'm just worn down and in that case I just listen to my body. I slept really poorly last night with only about three hours of sleep and I'm absolutely exhausted today...so I won't be going on my normal bike ride today.0 -
ToffeeApple71 wrote: »
If not training for an event, I like to mix up training and vary the workouts so l work different muscle groups and to avoid boredom. Finally, if I'm bored or really fatigued, its time for a rest day (or several!) so that I come back refreshed and ready to train again.
I'm not training for an event. Just walked for a year then one day started jogging and now I'm doing 3-4 runs a week with gym sessions thrown in on other days.
I'm thinking of doing a 16km event which is in November so I'll start looking at a proper training program.
That should be a fun distance to race. Since you're running 3-4 times/week now, you'll be able to roll right into a training plan without a hitch!1 -
Team no real rest day here.
This is also the first year I’ve been injured while marathon training though. Maybe age =need for rest day? I do hate a rest day. Makes me anxious.
That said, I have an active recovery day (Pilates and elliptical, not running/cycling/heavy-ish lifting) once per week.0 -
I set up my workout days in two sets - in the morning I alternate walk/run/bike/rest; afternoon lifting push/pull/leg/rest. So I do at least one every day. Sometimes if I’m sore, I’ll take the rest day out of order.
Once every 8-12 weeks, I’ll take a rest week then change up my lifting routine when I get back.
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Depends on what my workout(s) consist of, but it is very rare for me to have a complete 'rest' day where I'm not active in some way for a good period of time.
At the moment, my daily activity is my side job (5 days a week, 2 hours a day of manual labor at a horse barn - before my "day" job), and on weekends I'm frequently working on or riding my motorcycles, maybe riding a horse, hiking, doing yard work, etc - it may not be a "workout" persay, but I'm almost never sitting still all day.
When I'm able to keep up a lifting split, I will take 2 days a week off of lifting...again, the other "life" activities still happen, but I'll leave the iron on the rack a couple days
Due to a fubared ankle, I have to limit anything that is repetitive impact (including walking) - I can do a fair bit, but I can't do a several mile hike/walk more than a couple/few times a week at most (due to said ankle, running is physically impossible as my ROM is too limited to run). But again, that doesn't mean I can't move or do other things, just that constant repetitive pounding I do have to limit (or pay dearly for it).0 -
I take a day off during the week in between my workouts usually Wednesday and take weekends off too..so 3 days . On my rest days I try to still get in my steps though0
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I lift three days per week (non-negotiable), try to get in two cardio days per week, which leaves two non-gym days. Maybe once per month one of those days is actually spent lazing on the couch all day; the rest are spent groceries, household cleaning, and keeping up with four teens and two dogs.0
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I think you'll get vastly different answers here for this and it all depends on what activity you are doing and how often...and how long your personal body takes to recover. You said you're running and I'm a runner too so this is what I do.
But, IMO --- having at least one day a week where you do no intentional exercise is good and can't ever hurt anything. I personally run ~10k 3-4x per week(working on upping that mileage)...so I tend to have two days of no running between my runs (but plenty of people run everyday...even longer distances and are fine). I typically will hike or walk on those days --- I will definitely hike or walk on at least ONE of those days and maybe on the 2nd but also maybe just do nothing. If you have a hard run, walking the next day is what you SHOULD do...don't use that next day as the 'rest day'. It's better to get some recovery in your muscles by using them. It will take longer if you stay off your feet.
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Just started back training so I go gym 3 times a week now so 4 days off0
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I am only doing walking for cardio so I am not doing rest days at the moment. I might try to get into running and some upper body lifting, and when I do that I may incorporate a rest day.0
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I shouldn’t really but when I give into temptation of the sweetness kind or white carb kind I give in the rest of the day 😏 I know I shouldn’t before I get a tongue lashing of people here ☺️0
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I don’t take many days off, but I do vastly vary the intensity. For example, I cycle 3 days a week, run/swim 2 and usually do some hiking or surfing on the 7th, plus tennis 2x a week.
Some of those runs are really short and slow. Some of the swims are just paddling around and playing in the waves. But I make a point to get in some activity just about every day.
If I’m feeling pain or life gets in the way excluded.1 -
When I was younger I was working out 7 days a week for 2-3 hours. It wasn't good at all. Now I work out 3 days a week for 1hour and my shape is better than ever.0
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I take 1-2 rest days per week, depending on my needs.0
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I save my days off for injury or illness. I walk in place while watching TV on some of my days off too so I prefer to stay active rest day over full blown rest day.0
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