How much should I rest between workout days? This may be one of the most important questions to consistently improve performance – yet this one is not clearly prescribed. Crossfit recommends a 3-day on 1-day off regimen with variations like 2 on 1 off or 5 on 2 off to match the work week. Mark Sisson of Primal Diet fame works out 5 days with 2 recreational days. Most gyms support a 3-days a week membership program (that makes it 3 on 4 off). And some firebreathers do multiple WODs a day…
We’re supposed to listen to our bodies – which is easier said than done. Most days our bodies are beaten up from the WODs and cannot be trusted for sound advice. Also, we’re supposed to challenge our bodies with demanding programming. Plus there are so many things to get better at, it seems like wasting a WOD is a crime…
I tested multiple schemes and 3-days-on/1-day-off seems to work best. I like adding stretches of 5-7 days sometime when I do WODs every day or even double-WOD it. A good 24-36-hour recovery period seems enough most of the time since we’re not training to muscle failure and rarely stress the same movement 2-3 days in a row.
I think programming rest days is as important as programming a WOD. I force myself to take the 3rd day off even if I feel fine. Also, I’m not quitting on day 2 unless I have an injury.
WOD
10 rounds for time following this pattern:
1 clean, 1 front squat, 1 burpee
1 clean, 2 front squats, 2 burpees
. . .
1 clean, 10 front squats, 10 burpees
TIME: 13:59 @ 115 lbs
