https://vitals.lifehacker.com/do-you-really-need-a-rest-day-after-exercise-1792349953

1. 8/23/2018 Do You Really Need a Rest Day After Exercise?
https://vitals.lifehacker.com/do-you-really-need-a-rest-day-after-exercise-1792349953 1/5
THE A.V. CLUB DEADSPIN GIZMODO JALOPNIK JEZEBEL KOTAKU LIFEHACKER SPLINTER THE TAKEOUT THE ROOT THE ONION CLICKHOLE
SKILLET TWO CENTS VITALS OFFSPRING THE UPGRADE APP DIRECTORY HOW I WORK
Do You Really Need a Rest Day After Exercise?
Beth Skwarecki
2/14/17 1:40pm
Rest days are a standard part of exercise programs, but they’re not the only
way to avoid overworking yourself. Let’s look at the difference between rest
and recovery, and when you can bend the rules.
The Reason for Rest Days
Most strength-focused programs like weightlifting either work your whole
body and then skip the next day, or else they have you split up your workouts
so that, for example, your arms get a rest on leg day. The idea is to let each
muscle recover from a workout before you ask it to do the same thing again.
• 33 8
Photo via VisualHunt

2. 8/23/2018 Do You Really Need a Rest Day After Exercise?
https://vitals.lifehacker.com/do-you-really-need-a-rest-day-after-exercise-1792349953 2/5
Should I Do Full-Body Workouts, or Work One Muscle Group At a Time?
Workout programs usually aren’t labeled as “full-body” or “body part”
routines, but we’ve all heard …
Read more
But not every activity works this way. Runners, for example, often run every
day, and may only take one or two true rest days a week. But within that
pattern, they will alternate days of hard running (like speedwork, hill running,
or long runs) with easy runs that feel less challenging to the body.
Other sports may fall somewhere in between, but nobody expects to work
every body part to exhaustion every day. Even when elite athletes do workouts
every day that look killer to us, it’s because our “hard” is their “easy”. You can
bet their coaches schedule in just enough of the easier workouts to keep the
athlete’s progress on track with minimal risk of injury.
Rest days and splits help us to pace ourselves. Too much hard running, if
you’re not used to it, sets you up for tendonitis and other overuse injuries. And
too much exercise of any kind can lead to a syndrome called overtraining
where your body may develop flu-like symptoms and disturbed sleep because
it just can’t keep up with the demands you’re putting on it.
There’s Nothing Magic About Resting for One Day

3. 8/23/2018 Do You Really Need a Rest Day After Exercise?
https://vitals.lifehacker.com/do-you-really-need-a-rest-day-after-exercise-1792349953 3/5
Taking a single rest day after a hard workout isn’t the only way to keep
yourself from overtraining. There are a few reasons it’s a good rule of thumb,
though:
If you can accomplish those goals with another schedule, though, feel free to
do so. If you enjoy all your workouts, even the hard ones, slowly include more
hard days in your schedule. If you feel okay with that, keep doing it! But if you
end up sore or fatigued, listen to your body and put those rest days back in.
If soreness is your problem, be aware that skipping one day may not be the
best way to deal with it. Soreness peaking at 48 hours is just an average, and
the true timeframe can vary. Your muscles might only feel sore and weak for
one day, or if you tried something new and difficult, you might feel it for a
week. At the beginning of a new workout routine, you might even need three
or four easy days.
How to Work Out When You’re Still Sore From the Last Workout
The hardest part of sticking to a workout routine may be starting, but the
second-hardest part is…
Read more
Recovery Doesn’t Have to Mean Total Rest
Photo by Fanta Productions
Delayed-onset muscle soreness often takes two days to peak. If you did a
too-hard workout on Monday, you might be feeling only a little bit sore on
Tuesday and think you’re okay to work out some more. If you waited until
Wednesday instead, you would have a better sense of how sore or injured
you are. Then you would be able to make a better judgment call about
whether, and how hard, to work out again.
Resting every other day means only half of your days will be hard
workouts. The other half will be rest days or easier days, so the schedule
keeps your total workout intensity manageable.
Mentally, it’s easier to stick to a workout when you enjoy it. Hard
workouts aren’t always fun, and you may need to psych yourself up to try
something really challenging. It’s okay if you don’t feel up to that every
day. Having some easier, almost relaxing days can help you stick to your
schedule.
·
·
·

4. 8/23/2018 Do You Really Need a Rest Day After Exercise?
https://vitals.lifehacker.com/do-you-really-need-a-rest-day-after-exercise-1792349953 4/5
Some people prefer the term “recovery” to “rest” days, because total rest isn’t
necessarily your goal. After all, lifting a fork to your mouth is a similar action
to a bicep curl, so if you just did a heavy arm day, would you be unable to eat?
Clearly, some amount of activity is fine on a rest or recovery day.
This is where you have to calibrate your own sense of effort. If you’re new to
exercising and you just did a day of heavy squats, a five mile bike ride is
probably not a great choice for the following day. But if you bike five miles to
work every day, you should be able to keep doing that even on your “rest”
days.
Stop Working Out So Much On Your "Rest Days"
Workout days in your exercise program are simple to follow: you just do the
workout. Then, on your…
Read more
When I did push-ups every day for 30 days, a few people suggested that I was
setting myself up for injury by not taking rest days. But as I wrote in that
article, I ramped up my fitness very carefully. A few sets of pushups every day
is my new normal, and it’s no more taxing to me than a bike ride is to a bike
Photo by Aurimus.

5. 8/23/2018 Do You Really Need a Rest Day After Exercise?
https://vitals.lifehacker.com/do-you-really-need-a-rest-day-after-exercise-1792349953 5/5
commuter. Some days I might try a more challenging type of pushup or I
might do more reps than usual; but I balance out those harder days with, you
guessed it, easier days that are closer to my baseline effort level.
As you learn your own strengths and limitations, you too can alter your
workout schedule according to what works for you. That might mean you only
take one or two rest days per week, or it might mean you do mega-hard
workouts and then lay low for a few days. If you’re getting a reasonable
amount of exercise in total, and if you aren’t getting sore or injured, you’re
probably doing okay.
Illustration by Jim Cooke.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beth
Skwarecki
Beth Skwarecki
Health Editor
Email Twitter Posts
FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE
Take an Occasional Break From
the Gym to Keep Up Your
Progress
Plan Your Rest Days Like You
Plan Your Workouts
Should I Do Full-Body Workouts,
or Work One Muscle Group At a
Time?