By not having 'rest' days.....

[lockdownmu]

I'm one of those rare people (maybe not so rare now) who enjoys exercise. The actual bit not just the feeling after.
Typical week would be day one: 30 minute interval run, 20 minutes weights or functional training, stretches or yoga.
Day two: 30 minute spin class, 30 minutes yoga
Day three - same as day one
Day four - same as day two.
Five: might do longer run still some weights
Six: day two
Day seven: may just do a bit on the bike and yoga not always weights.
I do get DOMS when I change my workout and I do eat well and drink lots of water.
I take a multivitamin and only drink Friday and Saturday nights - half a bottle over each night.
Husband doesn't drink.
Have exercised around my DC (7 and 11) - hi out early and do a bit of the yoga stuff at lunchtime.
This is my lockdown routine - if I were commuting into the city I would need a rest.
Am I damaging my body but not doing complete rest days.
Does anyone know of any scientific papers if I am doing it wrong?

I wouldn't train the same muscles repeatedly without giving them a chance to heal. If you are alternating muscle groups,. By the sounds of it you are training legs 7 days a week, give them a rest!

Sorry meant to say it's ok not to rest if you are alternating muscle groups though!

I take maybe two rest days a month but have been known not to. Usually the rest days are forced upon me by circumstance.

However I vary my exercises and intensity so I am not training the same muscle group more than two consecutive days max.

Do you feel that you're damaging your body?
Are you recovering well? Able to bring intensity to the classes and sessions you do? Progressively overloading on the weights?
If you weren't able to exercise as normal, how would you feel, mentally?

I don’t tend to have rest days either. What I do though, is make sure I’m not working the same muscles day in day out. So I alternate running with weights/strength and Pilates. I also vary the intensity. And if I’m injured, I’m sensible. One of my knees is sore this week so I’m not running on it.

What do you do if you’re injured?

A yoga day counts as a rest day so just do a longer yoga session one day and nothing else. Or go for a long walk at the weekend, still be exercise but not high impact. Or go for a swim one day a week when the pools open.

A yoga day counts as a rest day

Depends on the yoga.

A power/vinyasa class can be more challenging than an hour of weight training.

how intensive is the biking you do? because I dont have a car so am on my bike most days but would still consider a day I cycled and did yoga as a rest from intensive exercise. However, I imagine if its an exercise bike (or you are a less lazy cyclist than me) it would be more intense

I’m a yoga teacher rather than a gym type fitness instructor, but you may be hindering your results. Rest is part of the process of getting stronger and fitter. This is especially true with weight training - you cause tiny tears in your muscles which then heal when you rest and become stronger.

Also, although you can do yoga everyday, it is not necessarily a ‘rest’, especially if you are doing lots of high impact activity. Yoga can be pretty tough - it depends what style you’re doing.

@speakout

A yoga day counts as a rest day

Depends on the yoga.

Exactly. An ashtanga class is hardly a rest day.

Youd know if you were. Your body adapts, people have rest days when they're doing the same muscles to their limit over and over and pushing to do bigger weights or longer faster runs. If your maintaining the same level of fitness you're fine.
Your body would hurt if you were over doing it.

That’s not true nottherealslimshady you can do a repetitive action for quite a while without feeling any pain, but be weakening that area very gradually over time. This is why people pull their backs out picking up socks from the floor, etc.

If I wasn't able to exercise I wouldn't be happy.
My legs - yes they are feeling tired! But not tired enough to stop me training intensely every other day.
I think I need to take rest days. I alternate the yoga and yes it can be hard.
When you rest what do you do that day? Sounds like I should be doing nothing.
When I was commuting I would take Sunday off completely and often a day during the week.
Lockdown has changed that.
I'm still working but from home.

Apologies image isn’t very clear. It basically shows how your tolerance weakens over time without rest but improves if rest is incorporated into your workout schedule.

My yoga today for example was a hip opening class - yesterday I did some sun salutations but on Wednesday I did a 45 minute power practice.

You can walk on a rest day or maybe try a yin yoga class.

Maybe tomorrow I will aim to do very little. Rather than yoga maybe I need to do a stretch class.
I will see what I can do to rest my legs and it sounds like that's what I need to do.

Muscles don't build while you are working out. They build while you are resting.

So, doing weights makes tiny rips in your muscles, and then your body works to repair them & makes them stronger. (There is probably a scientific way of saying that). If you are not resting, they don't get a chance to repair, so your results will not be as good.

If you aren't interested in results, then it won't matter. But if you want to build muscle tone, get stronger & build stamina - a rest day is essential.

A rest day doesn't have to by lying about on the sofa. Swimming, walking, gentle yoga would all be low intensity ways to get a rest day.

Not having rest days can also damage your immune and nervous systems, and lead to an increased risk of injury. You don't need to ask us for the science, you can google it.

I don't know of reliable scientific research but the simplistic theory is that exercise 'breaks' down muscles that require 24-48 hours to heal and hence become stronger. Training the same muscle groups before then causes breakdown (in simplistic, non-medical language) and either risks injury or negates some or all of the effect of the training. That is more relevant for significant weight training, less so for 'lifestyle'/'playing' at weights. Aerobic exercise is somewhat different - long distance athletes train daily though, I think, still have rest periods and tailor long term training plans towards peaking for significant events.

@speakout

A power/vinyasa class can be more challenging than an hour of weight training.

depends on the weight training. I can assure you, no yoga class is equivalent to the sort of weight training I do.

You will not be able to keep this up for much longer, especially if you have any minor niggles. Your body needs to be able to mend itself and you are not giving it the opportunity.

Perhaps set aside one day to go for a walk in the fresh air - not a punishing march, just a stroll to loosen everything up. I would suggest going for a swim, but I don't think there are many places open yet.

If I wasn't able to exercise I wouldn't be happy.
Sounds like you exercise more for your brain than for your body (which is fine!)
Make sure you do something soothing for your mind on your "day off", so that it doesn't feel like you're doing "nothing"

Also, in term of varying your exercise regime... gentle swimming? (may give your joints a rest, compared to the other types)

I can assure you, no yoga class is equivalent to the sort of weight training I do.

Depends on your goals.