Do You Really Need to Add Rest Days Into Your Exercise Routine?

But not every activity works this way.

Whatever your schedule looks like, those rest days or easy days are there to help us pace ourselves.

An alternating schedule is easy to follow.

You just stay home if it’s not a workout day, and you know you’re on track.

Its okay if you dont feel up to that every day.

Having some easier, more relaxing days can help you stick to your schedule.

Routines with rest days are easier to schedule around your life.

If you could accomplish those goals with another schedule, though, feel free to do so.

If you feel okay with that, keep doing it!

Clearly, some amount of activity is fine on a rest or recovery day.

This is where you have to calibrate your own sense of effort.

But as I wrote in that article, I ramped up my fitness very carefully.

Can I walk or do cardio on rest days?

Yes, if that’s your baseline level of activity.

I also havethis guide to figuring out what to do on your rest days.

If you feel like youneeda rest day, you probably do.

A workout is just a workout.

Or, if there’s really no reason to skip, go do the workout anyway.

Rest (or recovery) days should be preventative.

Theykeepyou from getting too run-down.

Sorenessdoesn’t have much to do with recovery, believe it or not.

you’re able to be well-recovered but feeling a little sore, or vice versa.

On a new exercise program, I’d advise sticking to your scheduled recovery days.

You might feel a little more fatigued for your next workout.

You may notice other effects on your health, like poor sleep.

But then again, maybe you’ll be fine.

As we discussed above, rest days aren’t magic, they’re just a tool in the toolbox.