How often do you rest?

[LadyMarmyLard]

I'm new to lifting weights, I'm following a beachbody program called Body Beast so that I can workout at home.
Anyway I've reached phase 2 now which is a lot higher in intensity and there is only 1 rest day a week. I'm fucked.
Is this enough time for my body to repair itself and build muscle??
One of the days is cardio and abs but this is definitely not a break! it still involves light dumbbells and things like jump squats etc
I'm concerned if I don't follow the program exactly I won't get results.

I rest every other day, reasoning is that I'm 48, on the days I do exercise, it's an hour of 100% weights, cardio and circuits. I know what my body can and can't take & need the day in between to recover. Every day or even 5/6 days out of 7 would be a chore and I'd not enjoy it so much.

Listen to your body if you're feeling like you need the rest.

It really depends on you, there are a lot of variables - your age, your physiology, the sort of exercise you're doing, what your goals are. Some people thrive on one rest day a week. Other people need more than that. I used to do 3 days on, 1 day off (so between 1 and 2 rest days a week) and that worked fine for years. I'd run one day, do kettlebells the next, do some sort of high intensity interval work or circuits the next. So I was alternating the sorts of demands I was placing on my body. Now I'm doing powerlifting training, which is weights only, I only train 3 to 4 days a week, so I have 3 to 4 rest days. That's pretty standard for powerlifting training I think - because it places a different sort of demand on your body.

If you are feeling tired and run down then you might need more rest days. However you might also need to look at your diet - are you eating enough? This is key especially if you're wanting to lose weight - easy to fall into the trap of eating too little to fuel your work outs. Also are you getting enough sleep?

Then again you might just be adapting to this new level of intensity in your program. Maybe give it one more week and if you're not feeling any better, then look to make a change - either more rest or more food!

Thanks for your comments, I think you're right about maybe not eating enough and not sleeping enough. I'm following the programs nutrition plan which gives me 2200kcals a day which sounds like a heck of a lot but I'm BFing and up throughout the night. I haven't added additional calories to take this into account.
This type of training is new to me and it feels so wrong to be eating so much...it goes against everything I've ever done.

Think I'm going to add a rest day after every leg session because that's when I'm at my most achey.