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{{label}}Staff Writer - 1.2 min read
02 May 2019
Are rest days really important when you’re training? If so, how often should I be taking one?
– Dave, SA
Rest days depend on the individual and the type of training that they’re doing. Most of my clients can get exceptional results by training four days a week – for a total of four hours¬ – then taking three days off.
Spending four hours a week isn’t a huge ask for most people. That’s going to give them an ample amount of time to rest and recover between sessions. Especially if they’re doing Monday and Tuesday training, Wednesday rest, Thursday and Friday on, then the weekend off.
As people become more comfortable and start advancing, then you might be able to introduce another day – like a Saturday morning. I can have really advanced clients training six days a week, with just a Sunday off to recover. But at that level, we’re talking about people who are competing at bodybuilding shows.
Metabolically, people who are training at that level are a lot more efficient. Also, when they train more days we tend to spread their programs out. Instead of doing four long sessions, we get them doing six shorter ones. That way, I can have them training more body parts, more frequently.
One thing I’ve noticed is that people like to do things in extremes. People decide that they want to get lean, so they start starving themselves and try to train six times a week. The reality is that your body adapts very quickly, so if you want to make changes you need to approach it intelligently. You want to be doing something planned out over a long period of time that will enable you to keep growing.
– Ty Phillips, senior trainer and nutrition coach at Fitness First
Staff writers come from a range of backgrounds including health, wellbeing, music, tech, culture and the arts. They spend their time researching the latest data and trends in the health market to deliver up-to-date information, helping everyday Australians live healthier lives. This is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances
Disclaimer:
The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as financial, medical, health, nutritional, tax or other advice. It does not take into account any individual’s personal situation or needs. You should consider obtaining professional advice from a financial adviser and/or tax specialist, or medical or health practitioner, in relation to your own circumstances and before acting on this information.
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