When is a rest day not a rest day?

I think that's a variable answer depending on your experience & fitness. I know when I first started, a rest day meant ZERO exercise and I would need to it to recover or get ready for an event. But now, about 2 years later, a rest day might be 30-40 mins on the elliptical or a fun bike ride or a very slow 5K with friends. So, IMO, it all just depends on how fresh your legs feel and what you're ultimately comfortable with.

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x3. I've only been at this for a few months but I can already see that how I view my rest day will vary. When I first started I had to do nothing on my rest days because my level of fatigue was way too high. As my training progresses, I'm finding I can start to work in some recovery runs or bike sessions on those days if I need to. However, I'm still going to try to take at least one day completely off each week when I can. It makes a world of difference on my recovery, the quality of the sessions I have after my rest day and my overall mood.

Hope that helps.

--Chris

I've been told that you should have one full rest day weekly...two if you're new to training. Also, it is good to have one day of active rest (i.e. other activity) once a week as well.

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Rest day means no training. Folks try to rationalize this or that...but resting means not working out in my opinion and that of my coach. I follow what he tells me don't do anything. This is my 5th year and I still need my rest days I think now that my volume is up but when I first started I needed them too.

When your inlaws show up and and expect to be entertained all day.