Taking Days Off From Training
It can be hard to figure out when you should take a day off from training. We all know that going to the gym and exercising makes us healthier, so some people think they need the biggest exercise dose possible. This article is for the person that is all or nothing, the fitness athlete who keeps getting hurt, or the athlete trying to fine tune their program.
Why are days off important?
Days off from the gym are important to maximize your fitness and minimize your risk of injury. It is important to give your body a chance to rest and recover. Contrary to the popular term “wear and tear,” the body actually responds more similarly to the phrase “wear and repair.”
You work your body hard in the gym. Your muscles, tendons, and ligaments are placed under stress. By taking a day off, you give these tissues time to respond to the training and repair themselves stronger than they were before. This cycle of wear and repair is how you become stronger over time.
In addition to giving your body a chance to recover from training, it is important to give yourself a mental break from the gym as well. Days off help keep training fresh and exciting so that you can make sure you are fully present and giving it your best when you are at the gym. It’s better to go to the gym 5 days a week and give 100 percent than it is to go daily and just run through the motions.
How many days off should I take per week?
When figuring out how many days you should take off per week, there isn’t one exact answer that applies to everybody. It is dependent on the individual’s training history, what type of training they perform, the intensity of training, whether they are in season or out of season, among many other factors.
Some people can tolerate much more training volume than others based on what they have built up to in the past. For this reason, they may be able to tolerate working out 6 days per week. On the other hand, this same volume could be excessive for someone just starting an exercise class for the first time.
In my opinion, no one should “train” 7 days per week. The body needs some time to rest and recover regardless of how fit you are. This doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone needs one day where they sit on the couch and do nothing. But, at the very least, everyone needs a day when they are resting from their typical level of training. So very fit athletes with a high level of training history could work out 6 days per week and then do a slow bike ride on their 7th day which would serve as their recovery. This athlete is then training 6 days and doing active recovery on the 7th day as the bike ride shouldn’t be at an intensity where it feels anywhere close to “training” in this scenario.
Another athlete may do great with 5 days of their typical training, one day of an active recovery walk, and one day without exercise. It varies from person to person.
Another important factor to consider is the type of program the athlete is following for their training. If your primary form of exercising is walking, you can probably handle 6 to 7 days a week without a problem. If your primary form of exercise is CrossFit, I’d recommend 4-6 days per week based on the research available regarding reducing injury risk in the sport.
Listen to your body
“Listen to your body” is advice that many medical providers will give. While this is good advice in the majority of scenarios, I want to point out one scenario that doesn’t quite fit the mold. When you have soreness from exercising, you may want to listen to your body and totally rest. But being sore from a workout doesn’t necessarily mean you need to take a day off. Oftentimes, getting moving the next day helps you feel better quicker. This can either be by continuing to follow your typical program, or with an active recovery day.
After a good warmup or a day of active recovery you may feel much better than if you didn’t move at all. Listening to how your body feels the moment you wake up may tell you to avoid this beneficial movement later in the day. Alternatively, if you try the warm up or if your body feels beat down even with the active recovery movement, then listen to that feedback as well.
Listen to your body, but try some light movement to expedite your recovery. Active recovery could include a long and slow bike ride, a slow jog, or walk. Check out our article on zone 2 training to see how that information can help with your active recovery.
https://www.shorestrengthpt.com/blog/heart-rate-zones-and-zone-2-training
Use technology to help you
We are lucky that there is a lot of technology available to help give us more information about our readiness to train. Fitness trackers, smart watches, and other various heart rate wearables can give us information that can help us make our decision about the need for a day off from training. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a great metric that has recently been getting more attention and should be considered when looking at how your body is recovering from the demands you are placing on it. For more on HRV, visit our blog post here:
This information is great to have, but it shouldn’t be viewed in a vacuum. Don’t only look at technology and fully ignore how your body feels. It is just another piece of the puzzle to consider.
Training is a marathon, not a sprint
Sometimes adding that extra day at the gym will help you reach your goals. But remember, training is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s important to schedule time off where your body can physically and mentally recover so that you can attack your next training day and get more out of it.
It’s better to schedule your own days off, rather than an injury scheduling them for you.