Rest Days?

[bambu101]

Just curious how other people handle rest days. Apart from stuff that gets in the way, like illness or a personal crisis, do you schedule them into your planned workouts for the week, or do you wait until your body tells you- enough already!? I’m sure it is different for people training for triathlons vs. “regular” folk , like myself. I realized yesterday that my body was feeling kind of “beat-up” and sore from the aerobic stuff and weights I have been gung-ho on for the last couple of weeks. I looked at my work-out log, and realized it had been 10 days since I took a break, which is unusual for me. So I took today off, aside from some stretching at 5 AM, even though I am feeling a little guilty about it.

[LBTC]

Hi, Bambu! Your body definitely needs rest, and regularly. A lot of people who get lots of exercise, will give different body parts rest and work other areas on a daily basis. From what I've read and noticed, the difficulty of your workouts can make a difference how much rest you need - i.e. a very strenuous leg muscle workout could take up to 3 days to recover from, so for the next few days, legs should do no more than light walking or spinning without resistance, but upper body could do some work....

My general approach is to have a plan, but listen to my body. If my planned rest day is Wednesday, but I feel tired on Tuesday, I'll swap them. Different people need different amounts of rest, but almost every advice I've ever read is to take at least one whole day off a week. I've also recently read to have a recovery week every 4 weeks, with lighter exercise than usual.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[HillSlugger]

I bike 4 days a week, run two, and swim one evening (after biking in the morning). Yeah, I'm training for a triathlon. I schedule every Saturday as a rest day. If something will prevent my outside Sunday ride I might switch my Saturday and Sunday, but I always get in that rest day.

[hellosunshine]

oh the guilt issue,isnt it a horrid wasted emotion!im endeavouring to have one no bike day a week,i tend to swim on this day and treat myself to a sauna,AND I STILL EAT WELL.before i didnt on rest days and then i found the next day i wasnt refreshed and replenished.i also plan proactive things to do instead.like spring cleaning!bigger dog walk,i duno,clean the car.........OR EVEN CLEAN YOUR BIKE

[Mimosa]

I have at least one day a week 'off'. It sort of depends on the racing/training schedule (or the weather) which day of the week but mostly I plan it on a monday or friday. I normally do a half hour muscle stretching excercises on that 'off' day. Rest is essential to give your muscles time to heal/recuperate.

[Offthegrid]

I take Fridays as my typical rest day. (Except for this past week when I had a rest week. .) It's important to schedule these in so you don't suffer burnout.