Full rest day or no?

Here's my experience.  Sometimes I swim on my rest day just so I don't have to double up as much.  So far I've gotten away with doing that for 3 weeks, but now I'm starting to struggle and had to take a rest day.  But...I find that if I swim on what should be a rest day that I can go longer without a full day off, which means less doubling up and I prefer that since it goes better with my schedule.  It's hard doubling up workouts with a full time job.  it' snice to have an evening off every now and then to take care of non-tri stuff.

For me, my legs are what fatigue first since they are juggling both biking and running.  Swimming for me is easier because it's only one sport impact the upper body.  So with that in mind, you could swim on your rest day where you are technically resting your legs but using it as "active recovery."

I  take that approach and when I start feeling worn down then I take the full day off and then double up to make up for the rest day.

Note:  You just have to listen to your body and pay attention to when it starts to tell you that you need a rest day.  If you know your body then you'll know when you're ready for a rest day and make sure to take it so you don't suffer from injuries or overtraining.

Edited by runnergirl 2010-04-16 12:00 PM

I don't seem to be taking a lot of rest days, but sometimes life hands them to you.  My plan does not call for rest days, but I know that there will be days when I'm stuck late at work or where the weather is uncooperative or when I'm tired and those will be the rest days. 

In the meantime, I treat my swim days as rest days because my legs are resting more on those days - especially if I'm doing a long continuous swim.

I currently train for half-iron distance, but here's my take on rest days:

When I first started in triathlon, two years ago, I wanted full rest days.  I needed full rest days.  Even up until last October I was still taking a full day each week.

This winter/spring, however, something changed.  I'm finding that I feel 'flat' after a full rest day, so in lieu of no activity, I'm doing recovery activity.  It may be as short as an easy 1 hr. bike or very easy 1/2 run... or even 100% form/drill work in the pool.  I'm finding that by doing something more along the lines of active recovery (instead of full-blown rest), I'm much more ready to hit it hard again the following day.

Edited by shellabree 2010-04-16 12:15 PM

For some athletes it might be good to have a weekly day off because it might help you cope with training and life
priorities/stress better.Thats more like a mental break,however if you are managing your training load properly, physically you most likely won’t need to take a day off every week (depending on your fitness, physiology and goals more like every ~2-4 weeks).

The idea that athletes “must” take of a weekly day off is just one of the many myths perpetuated by popular "gurus" in our sport; in particular since most plans have already around 24hrs in between sessions at some point during the week which accounts already for a day off.

In the end it, is up to you to figure out what works for you or not.

Edited by JorgeM 2010-04-16 1:04 PM

Listen to your body.  I think it's completely a personal thing.  Try moving your easiest swim of the week to rest day and see how it feels.  You'll know when you need time off. 

For me, last season, I took full rest days and felt like I needed them.  I kept training through the winter and this season have found that I need less rest.   Listening to my body has worked out to me needing a full rest day about once every other week and on the other week I'll have a day with just swimming.  Sometimes I'll feel like I need a little rest and will move a morning workout to the evening (and do a brick of some sort) and I've found that to ward off needing a rest day as well.

Don't be a slave to the plan.  Try it and see what works for you - just be smart and pay attention to how your body and mind respond.

I am one of those people that needs the mental break. So much stuff starts piling up around the house... laundry, bills, dishes, EVERYTHING... I need that day off of workouts just to catch up on life in general. Get up late, get home from work early, and take care of non-triathlon business.

For me, it's usually my mind that needs a rest day, not my body.  But I totally agree with moving a workout to your scheduled rest day to take the load off the rest of the week - if your body feels ok and you're getting recovery when needed, I don't see a problem with it.  My rest day follows my 2 weekend long workouts so I personally wouldn't move anything but a swim to that rest day just to make sure I could sill recover. (IMHO.) 

This year I'm NOT going to be a slave to my plan.  doesn't mean that I'm going to slack, just that if I have to move stuff around to better fit my life - I'm going to be ok with it and just go with the flow!  And that, my friends, makes me smile just thinking about it!

agreed with jorge.  when you need one mentally, take it but for me I usually feel a whole lot worse after a rest day.  A rest day for me during IM training is just getting a steady swim in. Thats enough to recover and keep moving without totally taking a day off.  good luck at cda!!!

I am following one of his plans too. I do not take mondays off simply because I don't like doing two a days on the weekends, so i move my weekend swim to monday. on recovery weeks, do plan on taking the day off however.

i was better able to manage my time by not have a full day off. I'm a creature of habit, and once I got into my routine it was easier for me to manage things instead of just taking the whole day off..  Plus like jorge mentioned you can get 24 hrs off, so that's a day.

fridays should have been my days off, but it was easier to swim with my masters group in the morning so once I was done at 6am  I wasn't working out till my saturday morning ride

I didn't take many rest days during IM training.  I would have a "light" day of training which may include a swim and/or easy bike.  I go by how my body feels.  I'll take a rest day if I feel i need it, but i usually feel better with active recovery, such as a swim.

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I like having a day of rest.  When you're in a build phase, then the day of recovery helps your body heal, and build new muscle.

Plus, it's a big mental thing for me.  I like having that day of rest.  I often take time on my rest day to clean/oil/maintain my bicycle and motorcycle. 

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My opinion - if you feel like you NEED a rest day, you're training in the preceeding days was too intense.

Note - that is very different than taking a rest day for good reasons.  But if you feel like you're at the end of your rope by the time your rest day comes around, the workload during that time was probably too high.

Many athletes walk the line between injury and recovery all too often... myself included in the past (I hope it's in the past).  Far better to focus on consistency/repeatability than to over-train, recover, repeat.

Like others have said I don't think this is a black and white issue.  What works for some may not work for others.

For myself, I've tried it both ways.  In the past I'd move a swim to my scheduled day off and for the most part I thought it worked for me.

However, with the IM training plan I'm following now I decided to follow it exactly and it calls for every Monday off and I have to say I'm really, really loving that full day off and will likely stick with it. 

Mine calls for Monday's off, too, and I love it so far.
I've been taking an hour yoga class on Mondays - it's been awesome after the long rides/runs on the weekends.

Yoga's not rest   

your training is looking good

As others have indicated, you need to figure out what works best for YOU.  Some need a complete day away from the sport, others don't.

Personally, I take rest days when I need them.  Sometimes rest days are mandated by my schedule or travel.  My coach typically puts a rest day on every Monday.  If time permits, I slightly rearrange the schedule.  So instead of resting Monday then swimming and running on Tuesday, I might do one on Monday and one on Tuesday.  IMO, this maximizes my time...especially the potential for more sleep.

If I am able to swim/run on Monday morning, then I get the best of both worlds.  I will typically get nearly 24 hours in between my Mon-Tues and Tues-Wed workouts.  There is my rest day(s). 

I usually did --- it was as much mental for me as it was physical .. nice to have a day where I woke up and said "nothing today!" (except laundry/ haircut/ eyebrow wax/ everything else I've been neglecting )

I used to have Mondays off and loved it for the opportunity to sleep in and catch up on life, but then I realized having a weekday off wasn't really "rest" since I had to work. So this season I worked with my coach to drop my rest day in favor of a flex day on the weekend (generally Sunday but I switch sometimes) where I can do something cross-training wise. I have other hobbies outside the sport (shocking, I know) like hiking, the rock climbing gym, a ride just for the pleasure of riding (no intervals, no HR targets, no mileage goals) so I do something like that instead.

To ensure my body has recovery time, I have a day each week I can just swim and therefore have 24 hours off before the next round. It's working for me so far, even after hiking 5 hours once on my "rest" day and then doing a 78 mile ride the following day. The mental reward and time I get to spend with friends is so much better for me.