Rest days

Aimee Tinkham

Hi all! I know rest days are super important for our bodies to repair and to rest. But does anyone else have issues “allowing” themselves to take those days? Exercise has become a huge part of my life over the last 8 years. I feel better physically and mentally when I exercise. So taking a rest day sometimes makes me feel like I’m getting off track or that I’ll lose progress. Now realistically I know that’s not the case lol But I can’t help but feel like I should do something. Am I alone in this? What do you do on rest days to still “rest” but also still be active?

Sawyer Paull-Baird

Hey Aimee-

You're right, rest is super important. In fact, our bodies don't actually adapt during exercise, they adapt in response to it AFTERWARDS.. which requires rest. If you think about it this way, you may feel a little more accepting of your rest days.

That said, "active rest" strategies such as going for a light walk, stretching, doing lighter/less intense forms of yoga, doing a low intensity corrective exercise routine (think of those PT-esque exercises you may have gotten from your FP or a PT in the past) can all help you get the necessary recovery you need, while still feeling active.

So, if you'e looking for something to do on your off days, those would all be great strategies. Keep your eyes open for some mobility workouts going up on the forum next week. Those could be great additions for your off-days.

As an aside, refer to this thread here for the most important recovery strategy of them all 😉.

Angela Johnson

@Aimee Tinkham You're not alone in this <3 and cheers to all that @Sawyer Paull-Baird said.

Beth Manoogian

@Aimee Tinkham I have a hard time allowing myself to rest, but I know without rest days I am more likely to get injured, and also when I take a day or two off, I am much stronger/faster in my next workout. I’m the kind of person who would work out twice a day, every day if I had the time and wouldn’t get injured but alas, my aging body and career won’t allow this!

Mike Stack

@Aimee Tinkham, I think what @Sawyer Paull-Baird said is so important in terms of active recovery, it's really my whole foundational concept for rest days. Saying that while I think it is critically important to take rest days from higher intensity training (like heavy circuit or strength training), I think it is equally as important to be physically active every day (complete rest if rarely good for the body in terms of recovery).

This could be the way you balance your desire to exercise with your need to recover (physically and mentally). If you can find good active recovery strategies (like walking, yoga, stretching, and even recreational sports) it's a great form of cross-training, allows your mind to stay in the habit of moving every day, but also provides the benefit of speed up the recovery process. The human body recovers better actively than passively (moving helps to deliver nutrients, remove waste products, and provides good balance within the nervous system). With all of that said, I like to think of rest days less in terms of complete rest and more in terms of scaling up and down intensity of exercise. Some days can be super high intensity (like FSx or a hard FS class), some days moderate, and other days low - but you can certainly do something activity and exercise related on a daily basis provided you undulate the intensity of the exercise/activity.

Heidi Morris

I love getting out for a walk around my neighborhood at least on rest days. No matter how cold, or even dark it is at 6pm :( I have found that I notice different things even in the winter, and there is some sort of subtle softening to the world when it is cold and/or dark out. Or maybe it's just because I have a hat on LOL :) Either way, it feels great to still move, even if it's not intensely.

Lauren Baker (RH)

@Heidi Morris - I commend you! My walks are steady as recovery in the summer but man, winter... I cave!

@Aimee Tinkham You are NOT ALONE! :) The thing that has helped me mentally be 'okay' with rest days is reflecting on why I'm moving in the first place: to be my best self. It helps with anxiety, gives me confidence, builds strength, benefits my health, provides connection with others, allows me to do my favorite outdoor activities (walking/hiking, swimming in the summer and skiing), etc. If I don't take a rest day, I'll likely end up too exhausted (or injured) to do any of these other activities... which isn't me at my best.

Just got back from a trip and I worked in my favorite activities to the vacation. I may not be pushing myself to the extent I do in an FSx or strength class, but going on a hike or tackling a hill skiing I didn't think I could - or trying something new, brings so much joy and confidence. If I had killed myself before I left I couldn't have done any of that.

Not sure if any of that helps, but work in (mental) progress over here :)

Peter Schultz

So I very rarely, if ever, take a rest day, but my exercise usually varies during the week between FS classes, weightlifting, running, or playing sports (particularly soccer). Does varying your workouts kind of create a "rest day" effect by changing how you're using your muscles?

Sawyer Paull-Baird

Hey @Peter Schultz I would say that generally varying the exercise stress does indeed reduce risk of overuse injury. This is because you are working a variety of different muscles in a variety of different ways and the variety means less repetitive stress. That being said, if you're exercising/playing spots 7 days per week, I would generally encourage you to identify 1 or 2 of those days as "lower intensity". Maybe it's soccer, maybe a run? Regardless, if you have 7 days of intense exercise week after week, even if it's less risk that doing 7 days of the same thing, I would still say you're playing with fire a tiny bit in regards to sustaining an injury or (even though it's overstated) "overtraining".

Katelyn Meck

I would love to chime in on this. On rest days I always just encourage clients to keep moving just at a lower intensity. Cleaning the house, going for a walk/ hike, taking a Yoga class, foam rolling/ stretching, and any sort of fun activity like a sport are great options. Though the weather is a bit colder, another good option to get your steps in and enjoy some scenery is to pick a nearby downtown and walk around looking at Christmas lights or see if there are any local winter festivals. Take advantage of the festive holiday time!

Peter Schultz

Does a 9:00 mile pace count as low intensity? 😅 also, high intensity is the only way I play soccer lol

I think I'm like a couple of the other people who have chimed in already - if what I'm doing isn't at least a relatively high intensity, it really doesn't feel like I'm actually working out, and I feel like I'm slacking or being lazy.

Mike Stack

@Peter Schultz, to add on to what @Sawyer Paull-Baird said, varying the exercise you do, as well as the exercise intensity does make a difference for sure. That being said, it's important to realize your central nervous system (CNS) gets taxed every time you exercise, regardless of what the exercise is that you're doing. Since all exercise is under our volitional motor control the CNS really has to ramp up to support all forms of exercise (have it be weight lifting, running, or recreational sports). Considering this, I think it's important to keep in mind that you CAN cross-train your muscles and your biological systems by doing different forms/intensities of exercise, but you CAN'T cross-train your CNS, it is always forced to work, and work on a high level, when we any form of exercise.

Although this seems like it's not that big of a deal (like how much can your brain's involvement in exercise really dictate exercise performance and training results), it actually is a huge deal if you understand a little neuroscience. The brain is actually the most important exercise organ in the body; more important than your muscles, your heart, or your lungs. This related to the predominant model of fatigue and performance in current exercise science research. This model of fatigue is called the "Central Governor Model," and it basically states that the CNS dictates all fatigue and thereby performance during exercise. The word governor is very strategically chosen by researchers of this theory. It basically postulates that there is a governor in our brain that keeps us safe from ourselves when it comes to exercise (in an effort to keep us from "overdoing it" and having something bad happen, like injury or other disease states). This governor can regulate outputs of several kinds (strength, endurance, speed, hormonal levels, wakefulness, etc.) to influence performance during exercise and the amount of stress that occurs to the human body. Remember since exercise is a stress to the body, and the body likes to limit stress on itself this regulatory mechanism of the central governor is a very effective way to ensure our body's system stay safe as we place the stress of exercise on them. Now all this might seem abstract, when you dig into the literature on the central governor model of fatigue it is really the only theory that explains all type of fatigue and performance during exercise (I won't get into the depth of this theory here, but it is supported by volumes of research and the preponderance of the evidence on performance and fatigue during exercise does, indeed, seem to validate this theory).

You can probably guess where I'm going with this. If you exercise every single day you don't give your CNS a chance to recover fully (no matter if it's a different form or intensity of exercise). If the CNS not recovered fully that governor will always be holding back a little performance capability from you (over time we can see this governor hold back more and more and eventually in some cases it leads to overtraining syndrome and very poor exercise performance and adaptations. The net effect of this holding back is sub-optimal exercise performance over time and thereby sub-optimal results. With that said, I always highly suggest a strategy of taking at least one day off per week from all exercise. As I've said earlier in this thread, you can certainly be physically active (walk, stretch, do chores around the house, play with your kids, etc.), that should be something you do every day. That said, all of the research supports (even for the best athletes on the planet) taking at least one day off per week from exercise completely to facilitate recovery, prevent overtraining, and increase the likelihood of continued positive training responses, while minimizing risk of injury.