How Much Recovery Do You Really Need Between Workouts?

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Recovery is important, and it gets more important the harder (and more often) you work out. Some wearables like Whoop put a number on your recovery, and others, like Garmin watches , even estimate how long a workout will take you to recover from. But in reality, recovery isn't as straightforward as that. It's normal to work out on Monday and be a bit fatigued on Tuesday, but that doesn't mean you need to take Tuesday off. Let's talk about what recovery really means, and how to get it. WHOOP Peak - 12-Month Membership $239.00 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $239.00 at Amazon Frequent rest days are a simple way to pace yourself, but they’re not the only way If you’re just getting started with an exercise program, resting a day between workouts is often recommended. Couch to 5K asks beginning runners to rest every other day; so do Starting Strength and Stronglifts 5x5 , which are aimed at people new to powerlifting (training the squat, bench, and deadlift). This is a good strategy for beginners, mainly because it limits the number of hard training days. Every training day is a hard day at first, and this way you get a good mix of working hard and taking it easy. But after a few months of working out regularly, you’ll be able to handle more than zero work on your light days. Experienced runners often think nothing of doing a light jog every day, much like we all have a baseline level of activity (standing around at w…