rest days!

You definitely need to let your body rest.

ive been doing C25k as well, i had been going to the gym 6 x per week doing mixture of C25k and strength as well as 30DS everynight at home....had a rest day (from gym) on sunday and my muscles have never felt so stiff and sore. I think they may have been given the chance to realise the trauma they are being put through...is it easier just not to stop??

My rest day consists of walking at least 2-4 miles. (Sun)

Otherwise im walking and doing circuit and strength training! (M- Sat)

I love to exercise and I alternate exercises which helps the muscles heal. :happy:

Especially when you first start getting into a program like running, rest days are every bit as important as working out. Your lungs may be able and willing to keep going every day, but your joints, ligaments and bones need to adapt to the stress.

If you feel you need to do something on a rest day, then make it different from running. Swim, cycle or row etc...

Only do one workout a day and I rest on the Sunday. I'm planning on adding an evening work out (30DS!) in coming weeks, then I'll take a rest day or two from that on a different day.

I usually do 1-2 rest days per week depending on how many heavy weight days I had, sometimes you just have to listen to your body. Now that I've gotten more advanced in my training, I usually do whats considered "active rest days" which is light yoga, walking, low impact barre style workouts and find that has helped a lot with keeping my joints loose, getting lactic acid out of my sore muscles, I always make my real lazy rest day the day after a heavy weight day of whichever body part is lagging in strength/definition more and let them rest up a full 24 to repair or a endurance day to let my heart/joints rest too.

I rest for one day a week, and rearly train more then four days in a row, always for one hour. Im doing 6 week 6 pack combined with Ripped and Killer buns.

In this journey, I have learned that rest days are vital to your body's well being. It's great to be so motivated that you want to workout everyday - but honestly, our bodies NEED the rest. When we rest - they recover from what we've put them through and they are able to repair themselves. Some people say that working different areas of the body means you can go ahead and workout every single day, but for me... that didn't work. My body NEEDS the rest days. You don't want to end up with an injury from overtraining.

chicainthesd:
I don't think you're doing it wrong unless you're gaining or stagnating.
I'm saying this as someone who's only learnt this recently (Mum of 2 pre-schoolers who works outside of home and isn't home from 7.30 - 5.00) but you need to make time for yourself. I don't have the time or money to go to a gym, so I set my alarm for 5am and duck out before the kids wake up and take a run around the neighbourhood.. not only does it help with exercising etc, but.. oh lord, it's so great to be out of the house without a 2 year old asking me for milk or whatever and a 5 year old not whining every 3 seconds about the latest complex problem in his life.
In fact i don't need to think about them! When I run, I just think about breathing and think about the music on my iPod.. I get home before 6, just as they wake up, then get ready for the day.

As a mum we NEED to look after ourselves and put ourselves first - even if it is at 5am as the sun rises.