Everyone's Health

Hard chargers are advised to give the body a break

By Jon Briley

Exercisers who favor moderate to high intensities should take one day of rest a week to allow the body to rejuvenate and consolidate the gains of exercise.

“But wait,” you protest. “I thought we were in daily battle against inertia. Now you're saying take a day off? Won't my body wither, or bloat, or something?”

Exercise causes micro-trauma to muscles, which get stronger when they repair themselves during rest. The same applies to your general physiology, which must “ramp up to meet the demands of exercise,” says Conrad Earnest, chief exercise physiologist at the Cooper Institute in Dallas. He and others recommend one full day off a week.

Without proper recovery time, areas of wear and tear become weak links and are more prone to injury and, importantly, less likely to show strength gains. So, while you might burn a few extra calories by not taking a day off, your body will be less efficient in capitalizing on the work you do.

Don't wait until you feel pain or weakness to rest, says William Roberts, an associate professor in the Division of Sports Medicine, University of Minnesota. But do “rest more if you have symptoms.” Skipping rest days, he asserts, is the most common cause of overtraining injuries.

Earnest and Roberts agree that a rest day is not needed for low-intensity exercisers, such as people who walk a couple miles a day.

For those who train hard, trainers urge “periodization” – variation in the amount and intensity of exercise – and some volume of rest. For those devoted to what is called the “macro-cycle” of year-round sports training, Roberts recommends taking a month of rest per year. For example, if you train hard for basketball season, you'll want to schedule a full month of active rest, usually just after the season ends, to allow your body to recover from the abuse of repetitive competition.

For people in a “meso-cycle” of three to six months of training, Roberts recommends one week off – though not, of course, right in the middle of prepping for a race or playing in a season of competitive sport.

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