Whether rest days are truly needed when working out is a common question among fitness enthusiasts. On one hand, taking rest days gives your body time to recover between workouts and prevents overtraining. But on the other hand, some worry that taking too many rest days will hinder progress or fitness gains. So what’s the right approach?
In this article, we’ll break down the pros and cons of rest days, look at expert recommendations, and provide sample workout schedules with and without rest days. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of whether rest days are really necessary for your workout routine.
The pros of taking rest days
Here are some of the main benefits of incorporating rest days into your training:
Muscle recovery
When you strength train or do resistance exercises like weight lifting, you cause small tears and damage to muscle fibers. Your body needs time after training to repair these tears so the muscles can rebuild stronger. Rest days provide the time necessary for this muscle protein synthesis to occur. Skipping rest can hinder optimal muscle growth and strength gains over time.
Injury prevention
Overuse injuries like stress fractures, shoulder impingement, and tendonitis occur cumulatively over time with repeated strain. Taking regular rest allows inflammation in tendons, joints, and muscle insertions to subside before the next training session. This reduces the risk of overuse injuries compared to training daily.
Mental recovery
Just as physical recovery is important, rest days also provide mental reprieve from the demands of exercise. This prevents mental burnout, loss of motivation, and decreased performance. Rest gives you a chance to refresh your mind so you can tackle your next workout at full power.
Metabolic recovery
Intense training sessions deplete your glycogen stores, the muscles’ and liver’s storage form of carbohydrates. Rest days allow your body to completely replenish these glycogen stores so you can fuel your next workout at optimal levels.
The cons of taking rest days
While rest days have clear benefits, some downsides exist as well:
Loss of consistency
Taking regular rest days can make it harder to stick to a consistent workout schedule compared to training daily. This could negatively impact your progress if you start consistently missing workouts or taking longer breaks than intended.
Decreased calorie burn
Workouts significantly increase your daily calorie expenditure. When you take a rest day, your body will burn fewer calories compared to a workout day. This can impact weight loss efforts if nutrition intake isn’t adjusted accordingly.
Loss of performance momentum
Some people prefer to work out daily because they feel it helps them progress faster by keeping their performance momentum going. Taking rest days can feel like a setback if you lose some strength or endurance between gym sessions.
Less time efficiency
If your primary fitness goal is burning calories or losing fat, some argue daily workouts let you reach your goal faster compared to taking 1-2 rest days per week. The increased calorie burn from more frequent training adds up over time.
Expert recommendations on rest days
Most fitness experts recommend incorporating at least 1-2 rest days per week for optimal results and to avoid overtraining. Here are some general guidelines based on your workout program:
Strength training
For weight lifting or resistance training, experts recommend resting each muscle group for 24-48 hours between strength sessions. So if you train your chest on Monday, you’d want to rest until at least Wednesday before hitting chest exercises again. Most people follow a “split” routine that only works a couple muscle groups per day to allow adequate rest.
HIIT training
Because high intensity interval training (HIIT) involves explosive bursts of near maximal effort, these workouts require longer recovery. Aim for 1-2 rest days after each HIIT session to allow full muscle and metabolic recovery. Due to the intense effort, you should avoid doing HIIT more than 3 times per week.
Endurance training
For endurance sports like running, swimming, or cycling, experts recommend hard training days followed by an easy recovery day. The intensity and volume is reduced on the recovery day to facilitate muscle repair. When training for a race, make sure to take one rest day per week.
Flexibility/mobility work
Light mobility and stretching sessions can be performed daily without rest days since these exercises don’t damage muscle tissue. Proper warm-ups and cool-downs can aid recovery from intense workouts as well.
Here is a summary of how many rest days experts recommend per week for different types of training:
| Training Type | Recommended Rest Days Per Week |
|---|---|
| Strength training – Total body | 2-3 rest days |
| Strength training – Body part splits | 1-2 rest days |
| HIIT training | 2-3 rest days |
| Endurance training | 1 dedicated rest day |
| Flexibility/mobility | Rest as needed |
Sample weekly workout schedules
To see what incorporating rest days looks like in practice, here are two sample 5-day workout schedules – one with 2 rest days, and one with daily training for comparison:
Workout schedule with 2 rest days
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower body strength workout | HIIT workout | Rest day | Upper body strength workout | Endurance workout – running | Rest day | Total body circuit workout |
Daily workout schedule
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower body strength workout | Upper body strength workout | HIIT workout | Lower body strength workout | Endurance workout – running | Total body circuit workout | Endurance workout – cycling |
As you can see, the key differences are that the daily plan has less strength training per muscle group and no full rest days. The plan with rest days also separates demanding power workouts like HIIT and heavy strength training by a day of active recovery or complete rest.
Conclusion
While excessive rest days can limit progress, training daily without breaks generally isn’t advisable or sustainable long-term. Our bodies and minds need recovery time to perform at our best.
For the average person focused on general fitness and aesthetic goals, experts recommend 1-2 scheduled rest days per week depending on your specific program. Listen to your body as well – if you feel excessively fatigued or sore, take additional rest as needed. Periodizing your training with a harder 3-4 week block followed by an easier recovery week is also wise to avoid stagnation.
With adequate rest built into your training program, you can continue making progress safely and sustainably. Just aim to be as consistent as possible with your workout schedule outside of planned rest days. Take care of your body, and your body will take care of you in the long run.