But what counts as rest, exactlydo it’s crucial that you avoidallexercise?
Ill break down the purpose of these days and answer your questions about what does and doesnt count.
What is the purpose of rest days?
Rest daysactuallydo the following:
They balance your workload.
Note that the number and pop in of rest days depends onhow hard the work days are.
If you did six days of relatively easy workouts, one rest day each week would be plenty.
They help you fit exercise into your schedule.
They take the guesswork out of easy days.
There are ways to safely exercise without rest days.
They arent necessary for muscle growth.
They dont allow full recovery.
The results of your workout take days to weeks for your body to fully recover from.
When should I take rest days?
This depends on your training program.
That allows for a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, which is very popular for beginners.
For people with more experience, an easy day can take the place of a rest day.
Above all, if youre writing or modifying a program for yourself,listen to your body.
Its unwise to jump into a five-day-a-week plan when you dont normally exercise at all.
What should happen on a rest day?
In a strength training program, your rest days should give you a break from any serious strength training.
On a rest day, you may keep up your baseline level of activity.
If you normally get 8,000 steps, you might still take 8,000 steps.
If you normally walk your dog, you might still walk your dog.
You dont literally have to rest, you just have to keep your activity to your baseline level.
Can I do strength training when Im resting from cardio, and vice versa?
Once you get used to it, yes.
Strength training and cardio are different enough that they dont give your body the same kinds of stress.
In fact, lifters who do cardio may find that the cardio helps their muscles to recover.
And runners who add some strength training may find that the benefits outweigh the lost rest time.
Beginners should approach this cautiously, though.
That said, remember to listen to your body.
Just pay attention to how that goes, and make adjustments as needed.
Can I walk on my rest days?
If you dont normally walk much, start with just a short walk and see how that goes.
Can I do yoga on my rest days?
Yes, if you keep it relatively light compared to your harder workout days.
If you feel like your yoga session does that, perfect.
Can I do active recovery on my rest days?
Depends what that means to you, but probably!
Use a little common sense and youll be able to figure it out.
