Are rest days always necessary?

lukeout007
lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm doing C25K which has me jogging 3 times per week with a day of rest in between each. Yesterday was my day to jog and today should be my rest day. I'm going to be over my calories but not enough to the point where I couldn't exercise to get back under. So my question is would there be a problem with doing another jog today? Is there a specific reason for the rest days? It felt necessary when I started but I just finished week 7 and it doesn't feel necessary anymore.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,422 Member
    When you first start a running program, it is designed to keep you from injury.

    Your tendons, ligaments, muscles etc are not conditioned to be used to the point of stress just yet.

    This is covered on the C25K (coolrunnings) website.
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    I'm not familiar with that particular program, but, the point of rest in general is to give your body time to recover. Just because you feel like you "can" workout, doesn't mean you should.

    The amount of rest you need depends on a lot of factors, but if you're training hard, you need at least a couple of days off per week.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    What everyone else said but also if you feel like you want to do something do some other type of cardio other then running. :) Jump on an elliptical, go for a super long, accelerated (but not running) walk.

    Running is high stress (on your body) so yes, rest days are needed.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
    Yes.
  • yummy♥
    yummy♥ Posts: 612 Member
    rest days are when the magic happens.

    also, they are restful, which is nice.
  • maura1110
    maura1110 Posts: 171 Member
    I think you're technically supposed to, but when I did C25K I did not take as many rest days as were in the program. There are 3 workouts per week and I generally did 5 or 6 a week with 1-2 rest days and I never got injured. Not saying it will be the same for you because everyone is different, but this is just my personal experience.

    I did this a year ago and now I'm training for a half marathon and running a lot more and I have found that rest days are much more important to me now as my muscles get alot more sore so I take the rest days that are recommended in my program.
  • rcramer7
    rcramer7 Posts: 138 Member
    When you do cardio you don't need to take rest days unless you're tired, sore, injured or new to exercising. When you lift weights you need atleast 24-48 hours between workouts because your muscles have been ripped and torn. They repair when you rest and won't if you don't.

    Cardio uses fast twitch muscle for endurance activities. It is a low impact exercise. When you do cardio you burn mass energy and when you stop cardio you stop burning energy.

    Lifting weights tear your muscles up and burns energy for the workout and recovery... that day, the next day and will until it repairs itself for the next workout.

    Running is high stress on the body and high impact on the joints but not on your muscles.
  • mostaverage
    mostaverage Posts: 202 Member
    Yup, the rest days are there to give the muscles used time to recover, but that means you can do a different cardio, cross-training, something like swimming, cycling or elliptical if you have access.
  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
    I was under the impression that muscle soreness, whether from cardio or strength building, was a result of the same thing...muscles tearing.
  • geneanroberts
    geneanroberts Posts: 39 Member
    I would just do some walking or maybe a bike ride, something less strenuous on your body but still will burn the calories.
  • rcramer7
    rcramer7 Posts: 138 Member
    I was under the impression that muscle soreness, whether from cardio or strength building, was a result of the same thing...muscles tearing.

    "muscle soreness" yes. "soreness" from running could be your toes, ankles, knees, back, head from a tree branch....
  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
    I was under the impression that muscle soreness, whether from cardio or strength building, was a result of the same thing...muscles tearing.

    "muscle soreness" yes. "soreness" from running could be your toes, ankles, knees, back, head from a tree branch....

    Ah...well all of my soreness from running is in my calves. But I'm not even that sore...
  • rcramer7
    rcramer7 Posts: 138 Member
    Mine is mostly from my ankle. I have 17 pins and a plate. Plus, I have psoriatic arthritis. But, I can't run (except from the po) so, I walk real fast. Real fast when I take a tylenol #4.

    I may be wrong but they say cardio is best when you wake up and on an empty stomach (less some carbs and water I'm sure) or right after you workout. I guess so you burn through your stored glucose and start burning fat for energy instead of food for energy?!

    I don't want to do anything except eat after I workout so that's not gonna happen. I do like walking a few miles first thing in the morning and drinking a protien shake, the wait for lunch to eat. It makes me feel knocking on random doors and saying WHAT"S UP!!
  • auditorz
    auditorz Posts: 15
    If you think you can run daily then try it. Slowly add more frequency to your workouts and carefully monitor your body. There are monks that run a marathon every single day. When I was in high school I could run every day and not really get sore. But I was a skinny stick back then.

    Now I'm 31 and I don't run more then 2-3 times a week. I believe in exercising daily, but have active rest days where I do Yoga, Kenpo, basketball, or hikes that tax the body in different ways. I don't run two days in a row or lift heavy weights two days in a row but thats what keeps me fresh and injury free. Other people have bodies that respond differently and need more or less rest.

    But don't let rest be an excuse to be lazy, I think its easy to say oh I should just park my butt on the couch because I need to rest from a run. There is no reason you can't do a different type of exercise. If you want to be lazy and park the *kitten* on the couch thats fine, none of us are perfect, but just admit you are having a lazy off day.
  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
    Mine is mostly from my ankle. I have 17 pins and a plate. Plus, I have psoriatic arthritis. But, I can't run (except from the po) so, I walk real fast. Real fast when I take a tylenol #4.

    Guess I'm not the only one with leg troubles....titanium bar in my right leg.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    After having to take 6 weeks off thanks to a stress fracture, I take rest days seriously now. :smile:

    But if you're in the first few weeks of C25K, where you're only running a total of 9 minutes of the workout, I would think it would be ok. But on week 7... to be safe, just do something lower impact, like a long walk/hike, elliptical, bike ride, etc.
  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
    After having to take 6 weeks off thanks to a stress fracture, I take rest days seriously now. :smile:

    But if you're in the first few weeks of C25K, where you're only running a total of 9 minutes of the workout, I would think it would be ok. But to be safe, just do something lower impact, like a long walk/hike, elliptical, bike ride, etc.

    I'm starting week 8. 28 minute runs.
  • Chagama
    Chagama Posts: 543 Member
    Biking and swimming are good cross training activities for non-running days, they do not use the same muscle motion and will allow you to be fresh for the next running day. Don't do the elliptical machine, that's the same muscle motion as running, so you won't get the recovery.
  • trysha1231
    trysha1231 Posts: 163 Member
    I am currently doing C25K as well. I am currently up to running 10 minute intervals. On my 'rest' days, I have added a warm up of walk/jog intervals of 20 minutes (5/10/5) and then I do my ChaLean extreme work out.
    I have found that I have really started to enjoy the jogging (I can't say running, because I go at an easy pace) and I worry that if I don't do SOME sort of jog I will loose what little endurance I have built up. I guess I should really consider taking a rest day now and then. :ohwell:
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
    rest days are when the magic happens.

    also, they are restful, which is nice.

    I LOVE what she said here. I have to humble myself now to "rest" because I am so loving exercising now. I'm not doing anything extreme nor anything like that, but what I am doing (a LOT outside walking, treadmill/30 minutes, full body stationary bike/30 minutes,Nordic track full body/resistance stepper(10 minutes) sometimes my ab doer twist chair, sometimes my rower, bowling(one per week or so), 3 & 8 lbs weights every other day) is burning HUGE amounts of calories and I do need to rest and wonderful things happen as/when I rest. It seems like weight loss is more when I rest sometimes too. I usually take a day off at least from more "sweat" producing exercises once per week--so I work-out six days per week.
  • Meggles63
    Meggles63 Posts: 916 Member
    Mine is mostly from my ankle. I have 17 pins and a plate. Plus, I have psoriatic arthritis. But, I can't run (except from the po) so, I walk real fast. Real fast when I take a tylenol #4.

    Guess I'm not the only one with leg troubles....titanium bar in my right leg.
    You too! Mine's in my left. Actually no pain, but I've got a bit of a limp. Funny thing is, when I run, it doesn't bother me :smile:
  • Fit_Canuck
    Fit_Canuck Posts: 788 Member
    I'm doing C25K which has me jogging 3 times per week with a day of rest in between each. Yesterday was my day to jog and today should be my rest day. I'm going to be over my calories but not enough to the point where I couldn't exercise to get back under. So my question is would there be a problem with doing another jog today? Is there a specific reason for the rest days? It felt necessary when I started but I just finished week 7 and it doesn't feel necessary anymore.

    As someone who just finished the program personally I needed the rest days, if you don't you may start to experience tendons becoming a tad too tight, runner's knee is another symptom. Follow the program as recommended :) You'll have plenty of time to push you limits after.
  • 5Goodyz
    5Goodyz Posts: 10
    First - I concur with everyone that you should take the rest day. A couple of reason why - prevent injury, let the muscles recover from the stress. Couple of other issues that I did not see but are also factors.
    1. Some of the soreness (depending on your effort level) is due to lactic acid and other toxins that build up in the mucsles when you exerted effort against them. Your body needs time to flush these toxins out and get new O2 and nutrients into them. A good alternative to cardio or strength training is yoga. I know its not man-ly or whatever, but I have been doing it for about 3 years and love it. I helps stretch out all of your body and is still a workout.
    2. You can also look at lower stress events to do on a rest day (although if the program says rest - I would rest - it gives you something to look forward to) Take a look a cycling (no impact - but still a potential smoker (focus is recovery) or swimming. Swiming engages all of the muscles but no impact and can still work on your cardio.

    Again - if it says rest - enjoy the break. Continue to hydrate, stretch and look forward to your next workout.
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