How Many Days Does It Take to Recover After Working Out?

If you have health and fitness goals, you may be interested in working out as often as possible, but you’ll see more significant results if you schedule an adequate number of rest days in between sessions. Workouts of higher intensity and volume like sprinting and lifting heavy weights will require more time off than lower-intensity sessions like walking or beginning weight-training programs.

  1. Importance of Rest

    • While it’s the actual exercise activities, such as cardio or weight training, that are responsible for stimulating cardiorespiratory and strength developments, it’s during the rest periods in between your workouts that these developments occur. According to Keith E. Cinea of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, not getting enough rest will limit your developments. Pete McCall at the American Council on Exercise adds that working out at too high an intensity for too long without getting enough rest can lead to overtraining, which leads to weight gain, lack of sleep and immune system deficiencies.

    Weight-Training Recovery

    • How much rest you need between your weight-training workouts depends on your training history and workout volume. Those who are following a muscle-building workout program are completing multiple sets at a higher number of reps. Thus, they need more rest. In addition, advanced lifters who have been weight training consistently have to perform higher-volume workouts in order to continue to elicit strength and size gains. Higher-volume workouts require more rest time. If you’re just starting out or are performing two or fewer sets of each exercise, 48 hours, or one day, of rest in between workouts should be adequate. However, those performing a higher-volume routine likely need 72 hours, or two days, off in between.

    Rest Between Cardio Bouts

    • The required days off between cardio workouts depends on the intensity of your sessions. You can perform steady-state, lower-intensity cardio bouts on back-to-back days. However, if you’re incorporating the high-intensity principle to your cardio training, which involves short bursts of maximal intensity, you’ll need two days off in between. McCall recommends structuring your weekly workout so you alternate between lower- and higher-intensity sessions.

    Maximizing Rest Periods

    • You can help maximize your training benefits by using your days off to facilitate the healing process. Light walking or another low-intensity cardio workout can increase blood flow and help recovery. In addition, ensure you’re staying hydrated and getting at least eight hours of sleep per night. When you’re sleeping, your body produces muscle-building and healing hormones.