Rest Day - do I really need it?

[cline]

I've been ordered by my trainer to take a rest day today. He ordered one last week, too. I refer to these as "house arrest" and they make me feel lazy and like I'm not getting any energy out. I really like going to the gym, etc.

My typical week is

Monday: functional fitness/weights/strength w trainer

Tuesday: same but on own (program from trainer) or cardio

Wednesday: same as Tuesday

Thursday: same as Monday (trainer)

Friday: same as Tuesday

Saturday: boot camp

Sunday: hard yoga class or some type of outdoor trek/hike for at least 5-8 mi.

I also walk to/from work/gym 3.25-3.5 mi/day.

I hate being ordered to rest days. Do I really need them? I'm not sore, I'm not hurt.

And, it's not an addiction to a cardio machine or anything I just really like the workouts and the activity and the routine of going after work, being with other folks, etc. Plus, as I said above, there is this psychological nagging thing that I'm being lazy, this will prevent progress, etc.

I know you all have good insights here. Thanks!

[Rooks]

Personally, I take rest days but mainly because of life causing them. My take is that as long as you are listening to you body (i.e. not hurting something) and you aren't butchering one body part over and over again (i.e. switching workouts), I don't see a need for rest days.

[This is Seth]

If you don't take a rest day... when will you play video games?

Do whatever works for your body. I consider cardio days "rest days".

[bigm141414]

Yeah it depends on a lot, what your program looks like, training age, fueling situation, goals etc.

I personally take only one rest day a week usually, other than that it is running, biking, or weight lifting.

[weirdquark]

Speaking as someone who was alternating lifting days with heavy-ish cardio days for eight weeks, after a while I felt a little tired and run down. I wasn't sore or injured, just tired. Eating and sleeping more didn't seem to help. But doing extra things on some days to let myself take a 'rest' day where I did not very intensive yoga instead of the cardio both made me feel less tired and improved my lifting the next day. So if you're full of energy, you probably don't need a rest day and could keep on doing what you're doing. But I at least needed occasional low-intensity casual workout days.

[Maggie May]

I think if you are strength training, you do need at least one complete rest day. But listen to your body. Sometimes I do yoga or bike riding and call it a rest day. So it sounds like you are doing that

[Guest Snake McClain]

i say if you don't have signs of overtraining. and you are being careful and not overdoing it you probably don't REALLY need one. HOWEVER i've seen some studies that show just taking a week off for a full recovery has caused people to come back into the gym and see some gains since the last time. its good for your body to get a solid rest from time to time.

[fsjjunkie]

If you aren't working really hard, you may not need a rest day. Most of the training plans I've seen for marathons, cycling centuries, triathlons, etc have rest days and strongly recommend taking them. If you are putting up heavy weights, doing something else that aids in recovery, or resting the next day is usually a good idea, even if you don't feel sore or tired. The best advice I've been told or read anywhere was learn your body and listen to it. Every single person is slightly different, so there's no 100% absolute prescription that works for all.

[aj_rock]

Keep the hard days hard and the easy days easy.

Aside from mental fatigue, there's really no reason to take a day where you abstain from ALL forms of physical activity. Just make sure you practice active recovery on hard-worked body parts and try not to exercise a given muscle too many times with not enough rest.

[cline]

What you guys are saying makes sense to me. My workout days are a mix of lifting and functional stuff and general strength. For example, last night was TRX incline push ups, wall walk ups to handstands, push press, and finished with a tabata protocol of 1 leg burpees. So it wasn't all heavy lifting to exhaustion. That's a typical type of work out for me. I'll walk to/from work today but my trainer's feeling is that should be about it.

Mentally, I love the workouts. But now I'm worried that I won't make progress so I have a psychological fear of not working out. gah!

whine whine whine

[aj_rock]

If you feel the need psychologically to be in the gym, maybe go and then just take it very, VERY easy. Mobility. Light light light jog.

[Zorch]

I hate being ordered to rest days. Do I really need them? I'm not sore, I'm not hurt.

Listen to your body and mind. If you're feeling tired, worn down you probably need a rest day. But your body feels good and you're doing well psychologically, then there's probably no harm in doing what you're doing.

Some programs don't have full "rest" days, but instead have lower-intensity "active recovery" days that serve the same purpose. Maybe that's the sort of thing that's right for you. Personally, I found that when I'm really pushing myself, I really benefit from 1, sometimes 2 rest/recovery days per week, minimum.