Rest days

[Gpcpa]

Hi Coach Rip,

2 Questions:

1.) Do I need to take rest days when doing bodyweight exercises? If so, why? Can I do bodyweight exercises daily?

2.) Do I need to take rest days when weightlifting if my body no longer is sore? Can I do the same lifts daily?

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. What is the purpose of rest?

2. What is the cause of soreness?

[Adam Skillin]

Can I play?

1. What is the purpose of rest?

The purpose of rest is to allow the body to recover. Hormonal and physiological changes that occur during and immediately after a workout represent the "stress" part of the stress-recovery-adaptation cycle. Rest is what allows the recovery and adaptation (supercompensation) parts to occur. Rest allows for the body to normalize hormonal states (including, specifically, testosterone:cortisol ratios), manage inflammation, grow contractile (muscle) and other tissue, and prepare for the next correctly programmed bout of stress.

2. What is the cause of soreness?

Eccentric work (which is all but absent in the olympic lifts) is the main cause of soreness, especially when the lifter puts himself through a quantity of volume or a new exercise that he is not accustomed to. Soreness is not usefully correlated with the status of the lifter along the stress-recovery-adaptation cycle. The exact mechanism of soreness is not precisely understood, but despite the common misconception, it does not have anything to do with lactic acid.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Good. Now, what about bodyweight exercise must we consider in light of the above?

[Adam Skillin]

Good. Now, what about bodyweight exercise must we consider in light of the above?

The first thing I'd consider is the fact that if they're insufficiently difficult to disrupt homeostasis, they don't generate an adaptive response. And if they are sufficiently difficult to disrupt homeostasis, the trainee is simply experiencing the novice effect, and would have near equal success jogging on a treadmill, hitting a heavy bag, or riding a bicycle.

Since bodyweight exercises can't, by definition, be incrementally loaded (loading them makes them cease to be bodyweight exercises, i.e. the bodyweight squat becomes the squat as soon as you put the barbell on the trainee's back), they are all but useless for the training of the strength adaptation via the stress-recovery-adaptation cycle (or Selye's "General Adaptation Syndrome," if you prefer), outside of the short-lived novice effect. They could arguably have some, limited use for training the strength endurance adaptation, or cardio, but there are far better tools available to the lifter for both these jobs. Further, training the strength adaptation, because it underlies the other physical adaptations, will give the weak trainee far more bang for his buck when it comes to increasing strength endurance (not to mention balance, agility, etc). Also worth noting is the fact that strength is, by far, the most persistent physiological adaptation in the realm of "fitness."

In addition, while the trainee may become sore from bodyweight exercises when he's unadapted to them (especially if he's generally out of shape), if he continues to practice them, soreness will mostly or completely cease to occur. This lack of soreness cannot be assumed to indicate that the trainee is ready for another bout of stress, since soreness is such a poor indicator if the trainee's progress through the stages of general adaptation. But since the bodyweight regimen will, in short order, cease to be able to provide a sufficient stress to induce an adaptation anyway, the trainee who just enjoys his pushups and air squats can go ahead and do his cardio exercise every day anyway. Since it's not actually training.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Excellent job.

[hollismb]

Awww. I was gonna ask if I could play too, but Adam beat me to it and stole all the good stuff, so I'll just say that the good ole' suntan analogy would be appropriate here.

[SJB]

Adam is trying to take your job. But he will never be TMPHBITEU.

[Sean Herbison]

Adam is trying to take your job. But he will never be TMPHBITEU.

I think Adam's just trying to be TMPHBITEU (<150 lbs).

[IronMan]

Can't bodyweight exercises be incrementally loaded by changing the leverage? Gymnasts get very strong.