I started adding exercise into my weight loss program this week and I am really loving it. The problem is I don't FEEL like I need to take a "rest day" right now; I want to keep going. I know I will be eventually taking them and people have told me before that not taking them is dangerous, but right now I feel like I could skip this week's "rest day"
Should I just suck it up, do what I am supposed to do, and not get on the treadmill tomorrow, or just take the risk and do my usual 20 minute iFit program (walking 3.4 mph with 10% incline max) if that's what makes me feel good?
i would say that if it is walking for 20 minutes, it's fine to do every day. when i was going from 220 to 170, i walked for 40 minutes a day at a good pace and i felt fine.
now that i'm running miles, i need a rest day every couple days.
This is not really exercise advice - just habit-forming advice. When I first start a new habit, I'm usually really excited and want to DO it and SUCCEED and go ALL OUT! One of my little psychological tricks is to hold myself back a little bit at the beginning. This puts me in a spot where a) I don't wear myself out as fast b) I MISS doing the thing I've decided to do. It keeps me excited for a bit longer and c) My body trusts me to give it the rest that I promised it.
I really don't think it's harmful to walk every day, but a day of rest may be a good thing, especially if you want it to become a life-long habit.
That's just my two cents.
Take a rest when you want it. Most running training guides that help prepare you for a marathon have a rest day once a week, but they'll also say that rest day can be for cross training (biking or walking instead of running). It's important to have one or two days a week that focus on a different muscle group. Your muscles also heal and grow when at rest.
I do thirty minutes a day of exercise and sometimes more but there will be days when you wake up and think today is a rest day. Oddly enough, on rest days is where I actually see the changes in my body like muscle definition, inches lost, etc. I think sometimes the body does need a day or two to "catch up".
On the P90X "lean" rotation of exercises I was doing, one day a week was dedicated to rest or the "stretching" exercises. Maybe if you do a full set of stretches it will feel more like you have worked out.
I think you'll be okay, pay attention to how you feel though. Also if you get bored maybe as others have said make some days cross training so you are not always doing the same activity. Even taking a day "off" the treadmill and going for a hike/walk in your city/town could be variety that you need to keep you interested. Then again you may like the routine of doing the same thing every day.
I exercise 1 1/2 - 2 hours per day every day and almost never take a rest day. I do mix it up and don't usually do the same exercise more then 2 days in a row. Listen to your body - if it needs a rest it will tell you.
As I understand it from college and graduate human biology classes, the "rest day" is to allow for muscle building and repair (because intense exercise, causes micro-tears in the muscle).
But it's not the "day of rest" that's required, it's resting of the muscles that were damaged. In low-intensity exercise, there is no damage, so there's no need for the "day off." And even in high-itensity exercise, you don't necessarily have to have a day off, just a day off for the muscles that were worked.
For example, many athletes and body builders exercise different muscle groups (say upper body one day, lower body the next) on alternate days so that each muscle group get's it's "day off" without having to take a day off.
Unless you're exercising enough to be very sore the next day, I'm not sure there's any need for a day off (but it wouldn't hurt to consult your doctor, especially if you have health issues of any kind).
Is this safe?
Oddly enough, on rest days is where I actually see the changes in my body like muscle definition, inches lost, etc. I think sometimes the body does need a day or two to "catch up".
