Rest Days

I tend to aim to train up to five days as a minimum and anything more is just a bonus and considered an active rest day and only ever strategic so I am not overworking my body. Saying that the hours I train vary session to session depending whether I add calisthenics to it or not that could have me training anywhere from only one hour to nearly three.

If you are feeling tired and weak for a couple of weeks, maybe try resting for a week and see how that affects your training. Having days off is not a bad thing.

Every three to four months, I will have a few days off in a row and rest completely while focusing on more rehab, mobility and stability work.

I motivate myself to get to the gym when I don’t want to by remembering the feeling of accomplishment when I leave! And I follow all of my fitness sisters on social media to keep me held accountable for each day but I know when I need to have a rest day. I grew up as a gymnast so it’s embedded in my brain to keep moving!

On a recovery day, I normally do nothing workout-related whatsoever. But recently I have tried to fit stretching and yoga on the rest days.

I try my best to get a good eight hours of sleep but a six to eight will do. I do take yoga regularly and on stretch more on my active rest days just to recover and still get that training in. I have a foam roller and a ball ready just in case I do need some form of release on the muscle tensions.

The times where I do need to take a step back to avoid injury I just do the best I can around it. If my shoulder is playing up, I’ll just train legs, if I have pulled a calf, I will train arms, and if I am completely worn and know it’s too risky to train and tired, I will pull my diet in a bit and take a few days off. Rest days are bullshit but necessary.

I don’t have ‘cheat days’ as I am usually able to incorporate everything into my macronutrient intake. I do have occasional days off tracking and/or higher calorie days.

I believe my plant-based diet as well as my willingness to take rest days has helped me to stay injury-free.

I played soccer five to six days a week and went to the gym/practice six to seven days a week, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve given myself more rest days to allow myself time to heal. 🙂

A normal week I do Olympic lifting combined with normal strength training one to two times a week, run twice a week, yoga one time a week and a shorter high intensity session, one session a week. Rest days when the body needs it.

Luckily, I’m a Physiotherapist and I can prevent and handle injuries in a great way. I always listen to my body to understand if it needs rest. I usually recover with a slow run or active rest day based on fitness workout and a lot of stretching.

To note: I never walk LESS than 10k steps/day. Even on my rest days (Sunday), I’m ALWAYS hitting over 10k steps. In fact, typically, I average around 20-22k steps/day.

I have a chiro/physio I see every two weeks to keep me in check and I ensure I have at least 1 rest/day per week. If I feel rundown I have a forced rest day. I know the signs now so its just up to me to listen.

I train five days a week, 30-60 min incorporating strength, endurance, flexibility, HIIT, Pilates and Yoga. I have two active rest days a week and I aim for 10,000+ steps a day.

Some of the best hacks for life outside the gym include a thorough stretching on rest days.

So whether it be avoiding certain exercises, or taking rest days, listening to your body is of utmost importance.

My training lasts 45 min to 1 hour, no more if the intensity is high. I train 5 times a week. I train one muscle group per workout. Every 4 days I have my rest day.

Sleep is crucial for me. If I get less than 8 hrs of sleep I can’t function. I try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning, even on my days off.

The additional training days vary between 20 min to hours if I am out hiking. That leaves me with 1-2 rest days per week, where I might do some recovery focused modalities or nothing at all

For recovery, that would be stretching, which I am a little slack at doing, foam rolling and a good remedial masseuse are essential as is a rest day, good nutrition and supplementation and structuring my training correctly.

My recovery time is non existent. I never have a rest day, I just train different parts of my body to give them a rest.

I allow myself at least one rest day per week.

I usually have one or two rest days per week, and other days I do basically what I feel like doing. I listen to my body and what it needs that day, and I also keep up with some basic maintenance and goals that I have for long term.

Dedicated rest days are also incredibly important for me, I know there is one or two days a week that I set in advance so I can make time for friends that I don’t see at the studio.

Today, I am disciplined enough to train 6 days a week. Friday, is usually a rest day and sometimes it involves physical activities like going for a swim as a family.

These days I train two sessions five days a week and have two full rest days on Thursday and Sunday.

For me fitness is like a daily chore, so there is literally no rest day. On days when I am tired, I will engage with Yoga, meditation, a long walk to the grocery store or if not much household chores.

I recover quite well so I have very limited rest days. I personally find my body holds up better and feels better with limited days off from gym.

I don’t beat myself up when I’m lacking a little motivation. I believe in accepting things as they are, not as we want them to be. I find this a useful technique to understand my actions. I often take unplanned rest days.

If I am super sore the next day from workout out maybe I’ll take a rest day or just incorporate a routine focused more on yoga and relaxing/stretching my muscles.

I train 6 days a week and occasionally throw in a run or yoga on the same day as my weights or as active rest on my rest days. I don’t run more than twice a week but would like to do more yoga – it’s kind of a new thing at the moment.

This sometimes meant taking an extra rest day because the intensity just wasn’t there on a given day; Which was frustrating, but it had to be done.

I try to drink non-caffeinated teas on my days off so that my caffeine tolerance goes down and so my body isn’t dehydrated.

I used to burn out my body by thinking I needed to train seven days a week, it was unnecessary. On your rest days stay active, hit 10K steps and stay on top of your nutrition.

I train mostly twice a day five days a week. Monday to Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday I train and I keep rest days usually on Wednesday and Sunday.

I always always always take a rest day every week. It is so important, whether you’re training for a marathon or just love working out. Your body needs to recovery and REST.

Currently around 4k on rest days and 4.5k on training days (shout out to those hard-gainers and fast metabolism guys!).

Recovery and rest are also important to prevent injury. I like to have 2 rest days per week. I get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep every night, sleep is very important to me and I can feel the difference everywhere when I’m lacking in sleep.

I take at least two rest days a week.

I try and train usually five days per week to keep it balanced and fun. Anymore then that is a bonus, but also keeping space for rest days. Sometimes the biggest challenges are the ones we need to face.

I like to make my rest days on the weekends mostly so I can enjoy true days off from my work week Monday through Friday. Being that I portion my training volume carefully throughout the week, I thankfully have the energy and strength to get through five to six days of training without a problem and then enjoy a good rest day or two sometimes.

I train anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours, 5 days a week, it just depends on what I’m working that specific day. I generally like to take two rest days out of the week for recovery.

Also, I take two rest days a week typically. If I want my muscles to grow, I gotta chill for a second and let them! And you know I’m after bigger bicep peAks. Who isn’t?!

Sunday: Rest Day

I normally have two hour sessions three times per week, but since I often teach, I’m physically active almost every day, I normally try to have one-two days off during the week, so if I plan to teach workshops or perform, I try to plan my trainings in such a way that I could have at least one day off per week (not always it is possible). I eat clean and do not use supplements regularly.

As yoga is different from fitness, there is no real need for complete rest days. It’s okay to do one day “only” meditation. For me, it’s not about pushing harder but keep on going, improving and learning.

I was never injured. I take a rest day when my body tells me. I take regular massage, hyper volt, cupping, stretch, foam roll and I see a chiropractor regularly.

Sunday : Rest day

My injuries have been limited since learning more about human anatomy, proper set up, and periodizing my training programs. I used to be one of those people who could never take a rest day, even though my body was telling me otherwise.