A Beginner's Guide to Rest!

Whether you have been working out for years or you are new to the workout game, rest days are a must. Most of us are aware of what it feels like to be sore from movement, but sometimes it is hard to determine when to push through it vs when to rest.  A common question I get from my community is “how many rest days do I need?” and it is super dependent on your body and your routine.

Exercising is a stress to the body and although it can have positive health impacts, it also takes a toll on the body as well. Taking a rest day allows your muscles to repair themselves from the stress of exercise and allows your energy levels to rebound.  

And even though most of us know this, it can still be hard to navigate rest days. How many times have you encouraged a friend to chill and rest just to turn around and run yourself into the ground because YOU can't rest? Maybe you are better at that than I am, but I have definitely done this more times than I can count. I find that is because many of us do not know what kind of rest we need and we have a hard time resting in general.

Let's dive into reasons why we take rest days from exercise and a couple of types of rest days!

Reasons to Rest:

Because You Want To: Wanting to rest is enough of a reason. Establishing a relationship with exercise and your body that is sustainable and healthy takes time. Learning to listen to those cues can be challenging and navigating rest and work is one place those challenges show up. This is a practice all on its own and it is worth listening to your body.

Help Prevent Overuse Injuries: When you first start exercising, your muscles and joints aren't used to the new stresses being placed on them. Too much too soon can lead to overuse injuries like stress fractures, tendinitis, and muscle strains. This is why I am often suspicious of those popular 30, 60, or 75 day workout and lifestyle challenges. They can be really motivating and many people jump into them without an exercise foundation and end up injured early on. Not all injuries are preventable, and scheduling regular rest days gives your body time to adapt and recover. 
Allow Your Muscles to Repair and Strengthen: Exercise is a stressor that causes microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. Rest days give your muscles time to repair the damage and get stronger through a process called protein synthesis. Without adequate rest, your muscles won't be able to fully recover and the stresses will add up. Taking a rest day can actually help you get stronger!

Restore Your Energy: Exercise can make you feel more energized overall and it expends energy and can leave you feeling drained if you consistently push too hard. Rest days help restore your energy levels so you can come back to your movement practice with enough energy to move in ways that feel good.

Help Prevent Burnout: While a single rest day may not be the difference between you and total body burnout, it can help set you up for a better relationship with rest. Pushing yourself day after day (during exercise and in other areas of life) can lead to mental exhaustion. Learning to embrace rest days and lean into the idea of shame-free breaks can be great for your mental and physical health.

Types of Rest

Regular Degular / Passive Rest Day 

TLDR: Passive rest days are days without intentional exercise and with more downtime. They can be great for restoring energy and healing muscles.

Passive recovery, or regular degular rest days, allow your body and mind to chill and expend less energy. If you are new to working out, it is important to schedule days where you are not actively engaging in the exercises you’ve been doing. Depending on the intensity of your workouts and your goals, you may be working out almost every day but you should be taking at least one rest day per week! 

For most of us, a regular rest day will still involve you doing the things you do every day except for intentional exercise. This means you will probably still be doing chores, chasing kids and pets, going to work, or whatever else you have going on because it is hard to do “nothing”. This makes it even more important to prioritize sleep, hydration, and nutrition to allow your muscles to recover.

Listen to your body and go at your own pace. Do less than you think you need to on these days. Passive rest is just as important as active recovery in allowing your body to rebound from exercise stress and continue to get stronger over time.

Active Recovery Rest Day

TLDR: Active recovery days still involve some intentional movement but at a lower intensity than your typical workouts. They can be helpful for moving through sore and stiff muscles.

Active recovery days are a way to keep your body in motion without going all out. Typically this involves less intense movement than your usual workout routine. This could include stretching, going for a walk, doing your mobility work that you keep saying you're going to do.  

When you do more intense exercise, you are likely to get sore and stiff. I like to think of active recovery days as a way to avoid becoming the tin man from The Wizard of Oz because I am gently moving my sore muscles to help break up the stiffness. They can also be great for building consistency without the pressure of performing at 100%. Choosing to take an active recovery day could mean you still get up, get dressed, and move which can help keep up the routine you are working on establishing without overdoing it.

Radical Rest

Radical rest is a concept that many people are not familiar with. It involves exerting as little energy as possible to help with healing. It may not be something that everyone needs regularly, but in the case of illness and injury, radical rest can be essential. If you are recovering from something like Covid or the flu, doing as much radical resting as possible can help prevent lingering fatigue down the road. The same with a physical injury like a tweaked back or concussion. For things like back, knee, hip (etc.) injuries, you can eventually transition into the active recovery phase and work with a physical therapist and/or trainer to get you back to moving. However, your body does require downtime to heal and taking more radical rest, like doing the absolute least, can help with this process. It is not always an option for everyone, but it is important to understand and try to make accommodations for your recovery.

Final thoughts: 

Finding the right balance between work and rest takes patience, especially when you're excited about starting a new exercise program. But your body needs recovery time to reap the full benefits of exercise. Skipping rest days can quickly lead to fatigue, sapping your motivation and leading to feelings of resentment towards exercise. Approaching rest as an essential component of your routine, not as a failure or waste of time, can help reframe your relationship with resting. You get to decide what works best for you!

If you found this perspective valuable, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback and support. Share this with a friend or drop a comment below.

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Edited: April 2024

Originally Published: March 2024