What are good rest days ?

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Typically, I work out 5 days a week and then take rest days on Saturday and Sunday. I am still somewhat active on Saturday, but do not do a formal strength training workout most of the time (this weekend an exception).. On Sunday, I typically do not do anything more then stretching, yoga, walking or a warmup type workout. I have not had any problems with this approach to resting, but I am wondering if it is ideal. Sometimes I feel like I do not need 2 days of rest every week. Furthermore, I think back to back rest may also be compromising my muscle growing process. Don't know, but it is a theory. I eat very well in terms of every couple hours focusing on the right type and amount of Protein and do use Protein shakes, creatine and BCAA supplementation religiously from wake to bed time. I never get a day with even moderate soreness. No overtraining yet.

Furthermore, I am going to need to start consistently training 6 days a week of pure cross fit in the fall to prepare for regional Cross fit tryouts in summer 2014. Some posts I have read in the forum suggest resting on Friday and Sunday. My trainer also suggested this when I asked her this last week. The only issue, and it is kind of personal, is I like to workout on Friday to break up the workday which tends to be about 12-15 hours of computer work.

What do you guys think? Give me some pros and cons about why you choose different days for rest. Also, what do you guys do differently in terms of supplementation and activity on your rest days? I tend to scale back creatine and BCAA intake on rest days, but still eat about the same except for fewer carbs. On workout days, I intentionally carb up before working out to give my muscles the proper nutrition in order to avoid fatigue too early in sets.

[mark! 449]

What's a rest day? My training looks like this typically.

Cycle 1

Day 1: Heavy Bench

Day 2: Heavy Deadlift

Day 3: Shoulder work/accessory work

Day 4: Heavy Squats

Day 5: Lower/Back Accessory

Day 6: Cardio

Cycle 2

Day 1: Light Bench/Speed Work

Day 2: Lower Accessory/Speed work

DAy 3: Upper Accessory/Triceps Biceps blast

Day 4: Lower Accessory

Day 5: Back Accessory, stretching

Now here's the kicker. Day 1 isn't any particular day. Day 1 is whenever I want it to be. So, say Day 1 is Saturday night, Day 2 isn't Sunday or Monday, it's whenever I want to get it in. My goal, however is to Do at least bench and deadlift work in a 7 day week. In between the days I'll do cardio, I'll even do light accessory work before/after in between days. I never sought out certain rest days, there's no science behind Friday/Sunday being best other than a lot of people take Friday off because they wanna go out and drink, wasting anything they've done the previous week in the gym, and Sunday because they're so hung over from Saturday night. A lot of people really struggle and need set days off/on in their life, but if you're not that person, do whatever feels right for you. If you're feeling beat up, take a rest day, get some carbs, relax. If you are like me, and feel like you can go straight through a week without a solid rest day, don't take a rest day. As long as you're getting enough sleep, recovery will happen. You can't go heavy non stop, you can go heavy for a cycle, and then light for another cycle. I'll run cycle 1 for 5-6 weeks, upping the weights every week. Cycle 2 lasts for 1-2 weeks, more like a deload week just to relax but stay active and still doing work that's going to help. Some people have more luck not doing a damn thing on their off days, I just feel like I'm wasting time. If my upper body is trashed, my lower body gets worked and vice versa. Over training is just like starvation mode, it takes a ton load more to get to either one of those places than most people know.

[nsquared 232]

I work out Sunday thru Friday and rest on Saturday. I am very low carb always (exept veggies and avocado) and that doesn't change on Saturday, but it is a very true rest day. I get a 90 minute massage every other Saturday, run errands, do laundry, no working out of any type. I don't change my eating on Saturdays. I just don't work out.

In July, my company shuts down for the week of the 4th. I took a complete rest that entire week. I will do it again in December when we shut down for Christmas week. So for two full weeks every year, six months apart, I did and will, continue to take a full workout break. I did modify my eating a tiny bit during that week, but because I am pretty low carb always, I didn't change too much.

I actually enjoy my Saturday breaks each week and I think my body deserves it. The full week break was also nice, but I don't think I could do it more often than two times per year. The company shut down helps make it possible because my entire routine is up ended by the shutdown.

This routine has been working for me and I have seen great results but I do not think it is uncommon for serious trainers to take the weekend off. I say do whatever works for you. Your body does need rest, it's simply a matter of degree. Maybe try a 6-day workout cycle with one rest day versus two and see how your body responds. I have a friend who workouts seven days a week. She feels it works for her, but she is often ill or otherwise injured, so it might not be working for her so well, IMO. Trial and error, I say.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Love the responses! This is valuable information. Thanks both!

[aroundhky 1,174]

Fiddle.....you'll probably know when you've been overtraining and there will be little doubt you've reached that stage. At that point, your body will pretty much shut you down from exercising anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Rest is essential, but how much rest and recovery one needs probably varies a great deal. With my crazy schedule and all that's going on, I do my training Mondays to Saturdays and Sundays are always my rest/recovery day. Rest meaning zero intense exercise, but a brisk walk or playing with my kids is usually the most strenuous activity I have on Sundays, and I don't call that exercise. Maybe "active recovery" at the very most.

[wcn1970 239]

My theory is if you don't know whether you are over training or not then you aren't. I rest one day a week. Usually based on the weeks schedule and what day fits best. A lot depends on how intense my workouts have been as well. Some weeks I won't rest but only do cardio. You need to know what works. Change things up, getting good rest at night could negate an off day, at least for a while. I do however push to be sore. I feel as though if I don't ever acquire any soreness then I am not pushing as hard as I should be.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Thanks Around. After all these responses, I am going to try 1 rest day a week, on Sunday, and turn Saturday into a formal training day. I do not feel overtrained yet per your description. I also like to call my day off "dynamic rest" as it involves some light cardio or floor exercises. Enough to bring energy into my day, but nothing like a training day.

[mark! 449]

Active recovery has been my best friend through all of my meet prep and such, but right now, no meet prep and just building, I rely on a good nights sleep, glutamine, melatonin and contrast showers.

[linarestribe 24]

Active recovery has been my best friend through all of my meet prep and such' date=' but right now, no meet prep and just building, I rely on a good nights sleep, glutamine, melatonin and contrast showers.[/quote']

I'm sure this is lame but what are contrast showers?

[nsquared 232]

I'm sure this is lame but what are contrast showers?

Contrast showers are showers that alternate between very hot and very cold Water. The goal of these showers is to improve circulation and help reduce muscle soreness.

[linarestribe 24]

Oh thanks.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I did 100+ jumping lunges on Thursday as a segment of a hard cross fit work out (see below). I still have sore quads today. finally, I am sore from a work out. I think that is where real results will come from. I decided to take a rest day yesterday and workout today instead. With respect to this thread topic, I am considering taking rest days on Wednesday and Friday as a way to maximize strength building after cross fit days. That would change from resting on Saturday and Sunday.

The interesting thing is I gained a few lbs from Thursday. finally! You probably are not used to hearing about someone deliberately trying to gain weight, but it has been hard to put on more lean mass with my weight at around 175-178. Today I am 181.5 and I can see the noticeable different is muscle mass in my quads. Thank you jumping lunges.

I didn't eat any differently, but on my rest day yesterday I sucked down BCAA (branching chain amino acids) all day and chilled out as far as fitness. No activity. I also tried a new product called re-power that is supposed to be a "powerful, multi action anabolic amino formula." Yes, a lot of marketing gibberish. However, I am going to give it a few weeks to see if it will lower my bf more and put on lean muscle mass. It really promises a lot of miracles for those that do "ultra hard workouts", but as the usual skeptic, I need to walk the talk with it before endorsing it wholly.

In summary, here is what my week has looked like so far, including today and tomorrow:

Monday (timed sets - 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off)

1 mile run (8 min)

Light straight legged deadlifts (100)

20 minutes: star jumpers, full dive bombers, jack knives and hip raisers

Tuesday (cross fit):

1600 m run

20 unassisted pull ups, push-ups, hip extensions, air squats, ght sit-ups and lunges

One rep testing- 350 deadlift, 250 back squat, 150 front squat, 250 bench press, 150 overhead lift (no jerk)

My deep squats are getting so much better now that I am starting to get better mobility in my core region. The roller really helps with loosening up this region. Once this area lessens, I have found the hamstrings are loosening such that I can bend over with straight legs and place my palms on the ground without pain in the calves and hamstrings. This is a huge win.

Wednesday ( 2 ladder sets counting up and down 1-4-1-4):

1 mile run

Light bench press and dead lifts (100)

20 minutes of ladders sets consisting of lunge and twist, one legged Romanian deadlifts, one armed push-ups, supermans

Thursday (cross fit):

2000 m row (1:50 / 500m)

15 unassisted pull-ups, push-ups, hip extensions, air squats, ght sit-ups and lunges

5 rounds of 10 back squats at 60-80% max

4 rounds of 8 front squats at 150, 18 vups, 36 jumping lunges (8 minutes)

Friday (rest) : lots of stretching and rolling out muscles.

Saturday (circuit):

1 mile run (8 min)

Light dumbbell deadlifts, bench presses and flies (100 lb total)

20 minutes of 8 rounds of Jumping lunges, bouncy pushups, vups and one legged hip raisers. Each exercise 20 s, 30 second break between rounds) A good full body work out. It still feels like a challenge to me.

Sunday ( rest) - I am going to go watch the Seattle cross fit games at gasworks park, perhaps participate as it is open without qualifying to everyone for some events. My motivation is to go study the peak performance of others to gauge what it is like to compete at the regional level. Maybe I will have to try it out tomorrow!! I will definitely start competing soon. The first "real" compete will be for the regional games next summer. My first long term goal is to qualify at regionals next year (2014) and be a top finisher the year after (2015) before competing at the national level (2016).