While the fitness world may convince you otherwise: it’s really, REALLY important to have regular rest days and time off the gym for your body to rest, relax, and recover from training.
“More” does not necessarily always equal “better,” and working out too many days a week or training too much can actually be detrimental to your athletic performance, your health, and your physique.
You can only positively adapt from what you can recover from.
So you could think of rest days like putting gas in the gas tank of your car. It’s a non-negotiable and should absolutely be a priority in your training.
Not getting enough rest days can be a recipe for:
- mental burnout
- injuries, chronic soreness or fatigue
- poor workout performance, not hitting PR’s
- digestive woes, poor sleep
- hormone or menstrual cycle issues
Rest Days = Best Days
Let’s define what a “rest day” means: it means time off or time away from physical activity so the body can rest, relax, recover, and recharge.
Could you go casually cruise on a standup paddle board? Go for a long walk on a hiking trail? A restorative yoga class? Of course.
But the premise of a rest day is that you’re doing mostly just that: resting – rather than working hard and putting more strain on the body.
(I think every gym has “that person” that is there exercising 6-7 days a week, taking multiple fitness classes a day, training for hours on end… and they’re usually also the same person that’s chronically sick, constantly injured, complaining about how they haven’t hit a new PR in a while, or frustrated that they can’t gain muscle or lose weight. Don’t be “that” guy)
How Many Rest Days?
How many rest days YOU need is gonna vary person-to-person, depending on age, goals, how you train, what your nutrition looks like, etc.
But a good general rule of thumb? Get at least 1-2 rest days/week.
You can still be active and do stuff on rest days. And you should still be getting ~7000-8000 daily steps.
You don’t have to sit and rot on the couch while streaming Netflix (although you certainly could – especially if you’re someone who struggles with doing too much!)
We’re just saying maybeee don’t get super sweaty or try to make a workout out of whatever you’re doing.
Also feel free to take off your watch or fitness wearable if you can’t seem to let go of paying attention to your heart rate, activity rings, or calorie burn!
Ideas for Your Rest Days
Take time for your body and mind:
- get a massage
- visit a chiro or physical therapist & get worked on
- loosen up with some yoga or mobility work
- read a book or magazine
- listen to a podcast
- watch a movie or show on Netflix/Hulu/etc
Get outside:
- go for a long walk or easy hike
- toss around a frisbee or football with friends
- take your dog (or kids) to the park
- cruise the neighborhood on your bike/skateboard
- enjoy time by the pool or beach
Get sh*t done:
- go grocery shopping, cook/prep some food
- run errands, do laundry, clean your house
- knock stuff off your to-do list
- grab coffee with a friend
- get your nails or hair done
Should Nutrition Change?
It’s common to see people think that if they didn’t workout that day, that they should eat less food.
Please *don’t* do this, it’s a trap (:
1. You may find yourself on the yo-yo rollercoaster ride of under eating and then overeating
2. Recovery comes in many forms: rest days, getting lots of sleep, eating enough carbs and calories, etc.
If you don’t workout but then eat way less, you risk canceling out some of that recovery and may find yourself more sore, tired, or not performing so hot at the gym the next day.
3. A body that is consistently fed is a body that can easily prioritize building muscle, getting stronger, and performing well. Glycogen synthesis is also a bit delayed in the body, so it’s mostly your nutrition the day PRIOR that’s likely fueling your workout TODAY.
Do Less, Better
As long-time veterans in the training and nutrition space, we know first-hand how tricky the fitness and wellness world can be to navigate…
Which is why we spend SO much time trying to educate on how to train smartly and sustainably.
We really, reallyy don’t want you to have to learn things the hard way (like we often did)
In our Paragon Training Methods workouts, you’ll always see regularly programmed rest days, as well as deload weeks.
And we also carefully monitor training volume so that members can maximize their time and energy spent working out while *also* not feeling broken, beatdown, or burnt out.
Train hard – and then recover harder. It’s where the magic happens, pinky promise!
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