Rest days are a critical component of any effective exercise routine. Deciding when to schedule rest days depends on your specific goals, current fitness level, and the types of workouts you are doing. While rest requirements vary by individual, most experts recommend taking at least 1-2 rest days per week to allow your body to recover and repair itself. Let’s take a closer look at some guidelines and factors to consider when planning your rest days.
Guidelines for Scheduling Rest Days
Here are some general recommendations for scheduling rest days into your workout routine:
- Take at least 1 full rest day per week where you do no strength training or cardio. 2 rest days per week is even better for most people.
- Avoid doing high intensity workouts like heavy weight lifting, sprints, or HIIT on consecutive days. Schedule an easy recovery workout or complete rest day in between.
- Take a rest day after you try a new intense workout or significantly increase your training load. This gives your body time to adapt.
- Schedule a light active recovery workout like yoga, stretching, or easy cycling on some rest days to promote blood flow without overexerting yourself.
- Take a full week off from exercise every 4-6 weeks for a “deload” to give your body a chance to fully recover.
While these guidelines provide a general framework, your optimal rest schedule may vary depending on your specific needs.
Factors That Influence Rest Day Needs
Several factors affect how much rest your body requires between workouts:
Your training program and goals
Your overall training program and goals heavily influence rest day requirements:
- Strength training: At least 1-2 full rest days per week are recommended when doing frequent heavy strength training to allow muscles to fully recover between sessions.
- Endurance training: Endurance athletes can typically handle more frequent training with fewer rest days, but should still take at least 1 full rest day and focus on easy sessions during some workouts.
- High intensity intervals: Routines involving sprints, HIIT, or heavy powerlifting require more rest time between sessions – at least 1-2 days off due to their intense nature.
- Trying to build muscle: Natural muscle growth occurs during rest, so take at least 1-2 full rest days per week if hypertrophy is your goal.
- Fat loss goals: Some short rest periods can boost metabolism and calorie burn. But too few rest days can backfire, so keep them in your schedule.
Your fitness level
Your current fitness level also impacts rest needs:
- Beginners: More frequent rest is recommended when you first start working out to allow your body to gradually adapt to new training stresses.
- Intermediates: 1-2 rest days per week is usually sufficient as your body gets used to regular exercise if you listen to fatigue signals.
- Advanced: Experienced athletes can often train more frequently with shorter rest periods between workouts. But recovery should still be built into the overall program.
Age
Older adults generally require more rest than younger people due to reduced recovery capabilities:
- 20s-30s: Can typically tolerate higher training frequency with 1-2 rest days per week.
- 40s-60s: Often benefit from additional rest days to allow full recovery between intense sessions.
- Over 60: May need to prioritize rest even more depending on fitness level and health status.
Injury History
If you have old injuries or are prone to overuse syndromes, additional rest days are wise to avoid flare ups:
- Schedule extra rest days if you have any nagging joint, tendon or muscle issues.
- Increase rest days if you notice pain or movement impairments during/after workouts.
- Reduce training load and frequency until you can train consistently without irritation or pain signals.
Work/Life Demands
Your outside responsibilities influence rest needs too:
- Stressful job, poor sleep, travel, or life stresses may necessitate more recovery time.
- Insufficient sleep is a big factor – rest days are less beneficial without enough good sleep.
- Schedule workouts when you have adequate energy – don’t force training when overly fatigued.
Overtraining Risk Factors
Some people are at higher risk for overtraining and need extra rest days:
- Highly competitive athletes who train at high volumes.
- People with intense training regimens combined with lots of additional life demands.
- Hard gainers who struggle to build muscle even with proper programming.
- Those with obsessive workout habits or exercise addiction issues.
Watch out for overtraining symptoms like persistent fatigue, loss of performance, insomnia, mood issues, or frequent illness and take preventative rest days.
General Tips for Scheduling Rest Days
Here are some tips for optimally scheduling rest days into your regular workout routine:
- Aim to take at least 1 full rest day per week where you do no strength training or cardio exercise.
- Schedule a second rest day after your most challenging workout of the week or when increasing training load.
- Take occasional light active recovery days with short, easy workouts like yoga or a leisurely bike ride.
- Vary your rest days – don’t always take off the same days to allow for training schedule variability.
- Plan ahead and commit – actually schedule rest days on your calendar like any other appointment.
- Listen to your body – take additional rest days when feeling excessively fatigued or sore.
- Adjust your training volume and intensity appropriately after rest days to avoid overexertion.
- Focus on mobility work, stretching, nutrition, and sleep quality on rest days.
Additional Rest Day Tips for Strength Training
Proper rest and recovery is especially crucial for making strength and muscle gains. Here are some extra tips for rest days if lifting weights is your primary exercise:
- Take at least 1-2 full rest days per week from lifting with no strength training.
- Avoid lifting heavy 2 days in a row – separate squat, deadlift, and power days with lighter sessions.
- Schedule a full rest day after increasing your weights or hitting a tough 1 rep max.
- Take a light cardio day after an intense leg day to promote circulation without overtaxing your legs again.
- Aim for a full week off every 4-6 weeks for a deload to allow muscles full recovery time.
- Get a massage, use foam rollers, ice sore areas, and focus on mobility work on rest days.
When to Avoid Rest Days
While rest days are vital, there are some cases where you may want to avoid taking an entire day off from exercise:
- When trying to establish a new exercise habit – take rest breaks but avoid long off days.
- If experiencing significant tightness or mobility issues – gentle movement can help.
- When recovering from injury – active recovery promotes blood flow to aid healing.
- If you regularly struggle with motivation – a full break may inhibit getting started again.
- To maintain a caloric deficit for fat loss – extra activity increases calorie burn.
In these situations, consider an active recovery day instead of full rest. Just avoid intensity.
Signs You Need More Rest Days
Watch for these signs that you may be overtraining and need more recovery time:
- Excessive soreness that persists for days
- Plateau in performance, strength, or endurance
- Inability to complete workouts fully
- Elevated resting heart rate
- Chronic fatigue affecting daily activities
- Insomnia or restless sleep
- Frequent minor illnesses or infections
- Loss of motivation for workouts
- Mental fogginess
- Irritability, depression, or other mood changes
Increase your rest days if experiencing these issues consistently to allow your body to recharge.
Sample Weekly Rest Day Schedules
Here are some example rest day schedules you could follow for different training scenarios:
| Training Type | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy weight lifting | Lower body | Upper body | Rest day | Lower body | Rest day | Upper body | Rest day |
| HIIT training | HIIT workout | Steady state cardio | Lower body weights | HIIT workout | Rest day | Upper body weights | Rest day |
| Endurance running | 5 mile run | 3 mile run | Rest day | Intervals or tempo run | 4 mile run | Long run | Rest day |
| General fitness | Full body weights | Cardio day | Yoga/stretching | Cardio day | Full body weights | Active rest day | Complete rest day |
Tailor your schedule based on your specific program and energy levels each week while including the appropriate number of full rest days.
Listening to Your Body
While these frameworks provide a good starting point, remember to listen to your body’s signals above all when planning rest days. Notice symptoms of overtraining and allow for flexibility in your schedule. As an example, here are some signals that indicate you should take a rest day:
- You still feel sore or fatigued from your last workout
- You are dreading your planned workout, feeling unmotivated
- You feel pain, strain, or discomfort during exercise
- Your heart rate feels elevated at rest
- Workouts feel like a struggle and your performance decreases
- You aren’t sleeping well or wake up extremely tired
- You feel mental exhaustion or mood changes like depression
Honor what your body is telling you and take a break if you experience these signs. You may need to rearrange your schedule to fit in an extra rest day when necessary. This will ultimately promote better long-term results.
Making the Most of Rest Days
To optimize your results, make good use of your rest days with these recommendations:
- Focus on sleep quality – get on a consistent sleep schedule and aim for 7-9 hours per night.
- Eat well – emphasize nutritious whole foods to refuel your body; increase protein intake.
- Hydrate well by drinking plenty of water and electrolyte-rich beverages.
- Engage in active recovery like gentle stretching, foam rolling, massage, etc. to speed muscle repair.
- Go for relaxing low-intensity activities like walking, leisurely cycling or swimming, golfing, etc.
- Catch up on other aspects of life like work, relationships, hobbies, passion projects, etc.
- Avoid stressful situations or pressing responsibilities if possible.
- Reflect on your training and make adjustments to your program as needed.
Proper rest combined with good nutrition, hydration, and low-key activities allows your body to rebuild stronger.
FAQs
Is it bad to take 2 rest days in a row?
Generally, it’s fine to take 2 rest days consecutively, especially if your body needs extra recovery time after a very strenuous workout or heavy training cycle. Just don’t turn it into a habit. The day following your second rest day should involve exercise again to maintain consistency.
Can I do cardio on rest days?
Light or moderate cardio is generally fine on rest days as long as you don’t overexert yourself. Just focus on low-intensity, steady state activity vs. sprints or intervals to promote blood flow without placing excessive strain on your muscles.
What should I eat on rest days?
Focus on getting enough protein, healthy fats, anti-inflammatory foods, and micronutrients. Some good rest day choices include eggs, oatmeal, nuts, fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry, organic dairy, avocados, sweet potatoes, hummus, or quinoa. Avoid excess empty calories.
Can I do yoga on rest days?
Yes, yoga and other light stretching are great active recovery choices for rest days, as long as the style you practice isn’t too intense. Gentle yoga helps reduce soreness, improve mobility, and relax both body and mind.
Conclusion
Scheduling adequate rest days – typically 1-2 per week – provides the recovery time necessary for optimal performance, muscle growth, and injury prevention. The ideal number for you depends on your training program, goals, current fitness, age, and overall recovery capacity. Allow for flexibility based on your energy levels and don’t ignore signs you need more rest. Use rest days to refuel, repair, and come back stronger.