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?

Wrong crowd OP!

Seems totally fine to me. An hour today, including yoga throughout the week. A nice mix in fact.

Will seem excessive to many but an hour a day - totally normal for also a hefty number of people.

OP if anything I think we tend to move too little. I think daily exercise is a must. As to what type that depends on what each person likes and can do. I would maybe look at incorporating more varieties of exercise and see what combination you enjoy the most.

The level of exercise you are doing is in no way enough to damage your body.

Just be careful op. A few people have come on saying you’re fine now, but anyone who works in the health and fitness industry will tell you that test is a vital part of becoming stronger and fitter. Yes, we can and should move every day, but that movement should be more natural. Someone mentioned their dog up thread - no, their dog doesn’t have a rest day, but their dog also only does the movement that it is meant to do naturally. Humans generally exercise in an artificial, deliberate way and this is different. Even walking is different to how we would naturally move, because of the shoes we wear. Damage can happen gradually, over a long period of time - your tolerance to the stresses you are putting on your body reduces if you do not rest. Stressing your body is not a bad thing as long as it is combined with sufficient rest - this will make you stronger and more resilient.

Yoga practitioners get fed up with people dismissing yoga as easy, when it actually involves a great deal of strength and discipline.

I could just as easily point out that lots of people are suggesting swimming as a rest day but you can stil injure yourself swimming. I normally swim 4 days a week but my technique isn't good enough and I get shoulder pain at times.

While yoga can be intense (I've been doing it for 20 years) it should teach you to listen to your body and not push it to the extremes. That's what separates it from gymnastics or dance. I think there's a tendency in some sections of the yoga community to be all about hitting the asanas rather than teaching the mental discipline to hold back.

count I was replying to posters suggesting that yoga was a nice rest from all the other ‘proper’ exercise the OP was doing. Yes, I am aware that there is more to the practice of yoga than asana - I am a teacher - but I don’t get the impression from the OP that she is approaching yoga from anything other than a physical exercise point of view (apologies if this is wrong OP). This thread is about exercise and keeping your body safe, so I’ve responded from that point of view.

Sadly I am a lazy bum who doesn't exercise but dh is an addict and has been for years. He doesn't have rest days and looks alright to me.

He is useless at not exercising if he is poorly, I have to intervene and encourage him to rest. He is as he is and it is a better addiction than drinking or smoking so I can live with it.

Is a bit worrying that some posters think 50 minutes to an hours exercise a day is too much. And a regime that incorporates yoga, light to moderate weights and a mix of Cardio.

So bizarre. And a bit depressing.

OP the only thing that might be a problem is that you even think that 50 mins to an hours exercise might be a problem!

I don't think it's either the type or the amount though - it's more the comments that the OP has made, like "If I wasn't able to exercise I wouldn't be happy" and "I like that it makes me feel in control"

I agree with you in general, most people don't do enough - and often what they do isn't enough in itself!

But those that regularly exercise and have done for some time will completely relate to these feelings!

To not exercise just feels bleurgh to me. It’s a poxy hour!

And as for control - it definitely sets the tone for my day by starting with exercise. If ever I can’t, it just feels a little.... slower!

I get that - and I've been there! But when it starts to get you into thinking you should be going twice a day ...

But rest is a part of the process. This is when your body repairs itself and becomes stronger. Movement everyday is obviously fine - but weight bearing exercise requires rest in order to optimise results. Also, repetitive movement in one area over a long period of time, without rest, decreases your tolerance in the area of the body that you are targeting - resting and then going back to it increases resilience. If you do 50 squats everyday without ever having a break, then your knees will eventually pay the price (and you might not feel the pain related to the damage when you are actually squatting - it might happen even you are doing something else so you then don’t associate it with the repeated squatting action). If you squat two or three days a week, with rests in between, then you will become stronger and more resilient in the targeted area instead. I did post a graph that showed this, but I got it removed as I didn’t have permission to reproduce it. Another point is that elite athletes are not actually improving their bodies in a way that promotes longevity and strength/health in their bodies long term - that is the price you pay for pushing your body to its maximum performance. This is all from proper scientific studies - not made up bullshit, as some posters seem to think. When people post about science in other topics it is taken seriously, but it’s being completely ignored by some people here - probably because I told you I am a yoga teacher, rather than a scientist. If I want to do my job well I need to understand bodies and I have worked my butt off to learn this stuff. I have posted several times about the sorts of movement humans would naturally do vs targeted, deliberate exercise. OP - you will become stronger and more resilient if you rest. You could work on gradually increasing the intensity on exercise days if you feel you need to do more, but rest is an important part of how we function.

* I get that - and I've been there! But when it starts to get you into thinking you should be going twice a day ...*

But has the OP said that she wants to start going twice a day?

I’m hiding the thread now, as getting too invested and I have other stuff I need to do today! Generally speaking, I find mumsnet a poor place to ask for advice based on healthy diet and exercise practices. It’s not hard to find this info online if you want to understand the actual science behind movement.

The best indication is your performance. If you notice you're getting slower on your runs/weights seem harder, you're doing too much.

7 days in a row wouldn't kill me.
But even in my 30's I'd have a couple of rest days a month and just go for a walk.

You won't get weaker letting your body recover every so often.

No @Atadaddicted she didn't, and I didn't say she did - that was my own experience. But the way the OP is talking is very reminiscent of how I was feeling at the time, which was why I posted.

Also reminiscent of how I feel.

But I’m good with that.

I really admire people like you op. I feel exercise is something I have to force myself to do. It has never been something I would willingly do.
If i may ask, how did this love for it come about. Were you always sporty or grew up in a very sport oriented family?

I don't have rest days- but then- I don't work terribly hard!!

I'd say day 7 is a rest day. In summer I do a long bike ride for my "rest" and in winter a spin class and yoga.

I.e I wouldn't run everyday but doing something different and lower impact is rest

I aim to exercise every day, circuits mainly at the moment plus a 6km walk and a 20km walk usually on a Sunday. I do a couple of online classes on a Friday and have a PT session once a week with heavier weights.
During lockdown I’ve been using my own weights which limits me to 40kg, but prior to March my 1RM deadlift was 85kg, 60kg squat. I’ll be back in the weights room next week thankfully.
The only rest days I take are the ones that naturally occur when life gets in the way, which is two or three days a month.
To be honest, an hour or so of strenuous exercise isn’t “over-exercising” and wouldn’t require scheduled full rest. I’m 57 and too much rest causes stiffness - motion is lotion - so I keep going.

@Atadaddicted

Is a bit worrying that some posters think 50 minutes to an hours exercise a day is too much. And a regime that incorporates yoga, light to moderate weights and a mix of Cardio.

So bizarre. And a bit depressing.

OP the only thing that might be a problem is that you even think that 50 mins to an hours exercise might be a problem!

This ^^

Yes, OPs schedule is fine but it's hardly overdoing it.