Rest days

[gibnic]

Sorry if it seems like I am posting a lot of basic stuff, I am trying to get myself back on track and fitness is not something that has ever come naturally to me...

 

I am wondering how often you guys take a rest day, and where in your fitness routine they fall. 

 

I am currently doing strength 2x a week (moving up to 3x next week) and cardio 4x a week and one day I rest. I do light yoga every day with a couple of longer, more intense routines throughout the week. 

 

When I first started out a few weeks back, it was easy to tell when I needed a rest day, I was so sore! But now that my body is adjusting I am not nearly as sore and I feel like I should be doing some sort of workout every day. 

 

I know it is important for strength training to have a day in between workouts, but what about cardio? 

[I-Jo]

I'm one of those sleep when you die people- so I do lots of things and never have good recover so I'm a do as I say not as a I do person.

 

 I do have one day where I do little to nothing- it's REALLY hard to maintain 1 day of rest and see gains. I'm pretty much a junkie- I HAVE to work out- it's like my fix. And I mainline coffee and I'm not getting bigger.  LOL  I dance also and on dance days I do no strength training- but we do work quiet hard so it isn't really a "Rest" day. 

 

I think doing strength 3 times and cardio 2-3 would be more than adequate. I would say have at LEAST 2 days of rest. bare minimum to be honest. And plenty of sleep. 

[KingZora]

I am a firm believer in the "active rest" mentality... so I lift 3 days a week, and these are generally the hardest workouts I do all week, where I really push myself and I feel dead tired, barely able to rack the weights exhausted.  Then along with that I tend to do something else active every day, but not necessarily a workout, so I will go to yoga a couple times a week, go rock climbing, play some soccer, go for a fun run around town.  Listen to your body pretty much, if you are getting the results you want then you are resting enough.  If you are having a hard time making your lifts then you should consider resting more, simple as that!  

 

There are no hard and fast requirements for how much rest a body needs... but generally going a heavy day, followed by a light day or two is just a good idea and will keep your body happier.  That light day can be complete rest if you desire.  And of course the best time to get rest is sleeping, so make sure you get a full night of sleep!  If you aren't getting good sleep you aren't going to easily get stronger.

[stevembk]

I force myself one day a week to rest, usually friday. I feel that a day in between strength training is the most important.

 

You could choose a day that works into your program if you need to be fresh for a hard lift or cardio. Or pick a day that works with your schedule where you would rather sleep in/go to happy hour..etc. I would think that you could still do your light yoga on a rest day.

 

I know a lot of triathletes who train over 12 hours a week. They use the weekends for long stuff and rest on mondays.

[Nudist]

I just go with what my body is telling me. I rest when I need it. Sometimes I trick my body into thinking it rested. I usually work out in the morning. Sometimes I will sleep in and work out at night instead, and it makes me feel like I have rested. I think my legit rest times don't come enough(as per the normal societal rests), because of my background in wrestling where we would train ourselves to be able to fight through the typical exertion levels. We had to be able to continue to perform even when we were super tired. We practiced for 2-3 hours everyday, and then had tournaments on Fri-Sat. Sunday was typically our only day off, but we were still encouraged to go running or something. 

 

Go with what your body tells you. 

[I-Jo]

oh yeah- mine's on a wednesday- it just works out like that. I lift Sunday, Tuesday Friday (most of the time) I do Dance Monday - HIIT thursday and Saturday.  Sometimes  need more- and I get it b/c of things- but that's the schedule I TRY to run.  It's hard- but I like it. I hate sitting at home doing nothing. lol

 

If that puts it in perspective for you- I don't have any reason for that other than it's my BF's "weekend" and I work full day hours- plus part time self scheduled PM/weekend hours- so I specifically do not schedule work or gym time so I can give him my undivided attention at least 1of the 2 nights he is here (out of town relationship) of just us and no running around for work. 

[JakeJoh10]

I lift 4 days per week, and do HIIT once or twice per week.

 

So, I typically only have 1 or 2 rest days. However, they're not complete rest, as I do some mobility work, stretching, foam rolling to help with recovery.

 

Jake

[gibnic]

Thanks guys, this helps =) 

[sumdawgtwigg]

I'm normally a one day on, one day off, kinda guy. I usually run mon, wed, fri, and then lift on the opposite days. Make sure to get your rest days in there to avoid injury. Says the guy who just injured himself for running twice in a day. 

[ModernSpartacus]

I do a short 5 min cardio warm up and 20-30 minutes of calisthenics 5x a week and weight training usually 3x a week after my calisthenics workout. I take Sundays off and on Saturdays I don't have a specific workout routine, so it's a laid back, optional thing, usually some more advanced calisthenics, working on my challenge goals, weapon and fight training outside ect. So 5 days of intense exercise, 1 day of whatever exercise I feel like and 1 day of welcomed rest.

[Anivair]

Basically, I work out Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  I rest the other days.  My workouts are big lifting and some mobility, etc.  

 

Once every other week I do a saturday that is movnat or running or something. 

 

About 1-2 times a week I get in a good bike ride. 

 

that's about it. I might start amping up the running in preparation for the mud ninja, though. 

[brmiller0808]

I have SUCH a hard time with "rest days". I don't feel they're necessary at all - unless you're injured or sick. I alternate strength training one day, cardio the next with yoga every morning and I shoot for an hour of exercise everyday. If I feel I need a rest, I only do light cardio or ease up on weights or repetitions. I think you just need to listen to your body. The benefit of working your body all the time, is that when you do need a rest or have to take one, you don't feel as bad. 

[barefooted]

I generally alternate one light day with one hard day, sometimes following a really hard day with two light days. But never two hard days in a row. It was a tip I learned from a running podcast (mojo for running).

[Tarmac]

Currently,  I lift Monday-Wednesday-Friday, with a bike ride or a run on Tuesday and Thursday. Sunday is my only real "rest day" and it's still relatively active, largely because it's my only real day off from work, and therefore my only day to get things done around the house/errands/et cetera...

[Barbarossa]

Right now I'm sort of on Anivair's schedule.  However, I think that I'm going to add in super lightweight technique work for my lifts on Tuesday and Thursday.

 

Technique work is good.