Do I need a "rest day"?

This is not medical advice.

There is this narrative in making a workout routine where trainers say that you need to schedule a rest day. You can’t workout all the time, or everyday. These suggestions are always in fitness magazines ( or Muscle and Fiction, as one of my instructors called it).

There is definite benefit to getting sufficient rest, yet that is hard to quantify. Some studies will even question how much sleep we need. Some are suggesting that 8 hours is too much, and our health is sluggish with too much sleep.

Crazy schedules

One of the problems with scheduling a rest day is that rarely do people follow and complete all the work out days. So you’ve already had a rest day before it’s due.

There is a famous study about how people with fitness gadgets were less fit than people without technology. The scheduling of rest days fits into the similar narrative of planning too much, and not enough “doing.”

Overtraining

This is also hard to quantify. Years ago we advised taking your resting heart rate when you woke up. I’ve read anywhere from 5-15 beats per minute over your average suggested overtraining, or that you weren’t resting enough.

Professional athletes likely exceed this frequently, or are in such good shape, their resting heart rate may not be affected. Or they don’t care, or can’t afford to care. I can’t picture Tom Brady seeing this heart rate and thinking, “oh, better call Belichick and tell him I won’t be in today…” Uh, no.

Sleep disruption, and a loss of exercise or strength performance are other red flags.

Injury rest is different, and in many cases that will just mean less intensity, not less movement.

Exercise addiction

Some of us are addicted to exercise, and feel like we need to workout every day. To those of you who aren’t addicted to exercise, now is your turn to mock us. Lighten up! your thinking. It’s like that Nike commercial when the guy yells at the runners, “yeah I used to run…WHEN I WAS 8!”

One of my favorite burns against us addicts, is the bumper sticker that says “0.0,” in reference to the runners who put “13.1” or “26.2” running mileage stickers on their cars.

Exercise as coping mechanism

I used to suggest to some patients that they had some overuse injuries and needed a rest day, however learned later that they had some past trauma, or other addictions. Daily activity was how these people cope with their issues, so I am wary of those circumstances.

Longest living people don’t schedule a rest day

They also don’t have gym memberships, fitness watches, work under florescent lighting, sit in traffic, etc.

They are relatively “rested” all the time, I think, as in less stress. The people who live the longest garden on hillsides, nap, drink wine, dance, socialize, etc.

Exercise is a form of cumulative stress on the body. Sometimes it is beneficial to us, sometimes we kill ourselves to work all day, and “exercise” ( which our body perceives as more stress).

If that is your schedule and lifestyle, scheduling a rest day may be necessary.

My suggestion

I don’t schedule rest days. I just wait for when my work schedule is too busy, or one of the kids are sick, etc. Many times it’s hard to be honest and objective with yourself. Do I feel really run down and miserable? Maybe I should rest. Then there are other days where I do something and feel better afterwards after the endorphins.

I’ve been exercising for over 30 years. I can afford to skip a day here or there.