How often do you take "rest days?"

[MOTH]

Hey everyone! Well, I've really been working out these past few weeks. I was even able to start running again, since my knee is healed. The thing is, some days, I just don't have much energy and don't feel like doing anything besides eating raw food and reading a book. I try to listen to my body, so I just go for a walk or something anyway to help keep myself moving.

I was wondering how often people take "rest days?" I KNOW that it's good to take them, in my head, but sometimes I give myself a guilt-trip about it, feeling like I should force myself to work out and be active even when I feel lazy and mellow.

Feedback appreciated. Just wondering how everyone else does it.

[domestic goddess]

Personally, I run every day whether I am tired or not usually. I need it for my mental sanity :D I don't take days off often, but that is just me. I would not recommend that though. Once a week take a day off if you are concerned. You have to decide if your body is just tired because you are feeling lazy or if it truely needs a rest. For me, its usually laziness so I get up and run.

[plucked]

I think the deal with muscle building is a need for a 24 hour break for them to heal/build. With cardio you could do it every day.

It sounds like you are ok with your routine though, so I would stick with what you are comfortable with. Maybe your body is still dealing with stuff from being hurt? If that's the case, you may get a big spurt of energy soon and want to start moving around more.

[beckx]

i find that when i take a day off from exercise it usually turns into two days, then three... if you're hurt, take time off, but our ancestors wouldn't have taken a day off from running/walking/building/swimming/rowing/daily physical activity needed to sustain their way of life, so i don't think it's something you have to do - that's how i look at it.

[Eva]

I never take full rest days, but I do rest from running at least once per week. On those days, I walk a lot (like 1-2 hours or more sometimes) outside and still get plenty of exercise.

When I ran cross country, we rested once per week on Sundays, and we swam on that day (but in our running shoes and in the pool!!!). As a whole team, we did not have many injuries (and I was never injured once in five years), so that must be okay...

[Morn]

Hey everyone! Well, I've really been working out these past few weeks. I was even able to start running again, since my knee is healed. The thing is, some days, I just don't have much energy and don't feel like doing anything besides eating raw food and reading a book. I try to listen to my body, so I just go for a walk or something anyway to help keep myself moving.

I was wondering how often people take "rest days?" I KNOW that it's good to take them, in my head, but sometimes I give myself a guilt-trip about it, feeling like I should force myself to work out and be active even when I feel lazy and mellow.

Feedback appreciated. Just wondering how everyone else does it.

I give myself at least 2 days of rest a week sometimes 3. You are right you need to listen to your body. Oh and the days you really feel like being lazy or it is druger I suggest doing something fun and out of the ordinary that doesn't seem like exercise i.e. a bike ride, swim, rollerblading, dancing, a walk, etc.

[Morn]

Moth you should join us in the exercise challenge section. You will see that a lot of people will record their rest days especially on the weekends when people spend more time with their families and do other social things.

[RawSinger]

I personally feel that everyone should aim to break a sweat in some way every single day. I believe our bodies are made to move and sweat. Sure, it's o.k. to take a rest day. I'm don't think you should be obsessive about it. But I don't think it's necessary when we're talking about cardiovascular exercise. On the other hand, if you weight train in addition to cardio, you need to let your muscles rebuild, so I'd only do that 2-3 times per week, every other day. If you're simply tired, it's still good to be active everyday. I find that the less active I am, the more tired I get, the less I feel like exercising. It's just an extremely vicious cycle. But you must listen to your body; if you really don't feel well-are in pain, recovering from illness, etc., don't exercise.

[Veganforlife]

Rest, what's that? I never rest. Never really need to unless I am dehydrated...

::bumps self on the head::