Hi All.
I'm curious to find out what people do on their rest days when not doing a C25K session. What strengthening exercises (if any) do you do? Does walking count as strengthening and if so, how far is a sensible walk for a rest day?
If you have any good tip of things to do / or to avoid, I'd be grateful to hear them.
Hi,
I did the NHS strength and flex podcasts on my rest days when I was doing C25K. They're a mixture of walking and strengthening exercises, and helped me build up the strength in my legs and other areas as well.
I walk my neighbour's dog. I walk everywhere in fact. I also do exercise DVD's at home (Jillian Michaels) which I love! I have a bike which I hope to break out of the shed for an airing quite soon.
Cycling, love it, a good few miles out on the (mountain) bike, great fun, And as MissW and vivh61 said walking, we all jump into the car all to readily when in fact it's just as easy to walk and if you do it regularly it makes a big difference.
Rest days on C25K were literally rest days for me, particularly towards the end. Once I graduated and was on a distance I found ok, cycling, walking, swimming are all good. However, right now, I am building distance so my legs are telling me to rest again. Always do stretch n flex exercises so knee lifts X 10, squats X 10, they help so much
I tried the strength and flex NHS podcasts but found them really boring. I don't own a bike but I do like to walk and have just been making sure I do a minimum of 10,000 steps per day - I guess I'm OK to just walk on the rest days? I do occasionally bust some moves on the Wii Fit 
Like vivh...I did the NHS strength and flex podcasts on my non run days when I was doing C25K...They were really good... used them whilst on the IC too! I needed my rest days though... I was glad of them!
Since graduation on non run days now.. cycle a lot...gardening and generally rushing around keeps me in line. I walk everywhere locally, really too. Stopped using the car for short journeys...
Lol barmybit.. dito.. I have wii fit..before beginning on c25k I religiously done my obligatory 30 min step up/ stretch routine.. I have a fitbit which registers the 10,000 steps two or three times a week.. I use some dumbbells weights a few times most days.. walk to work and back ( if the bus is not due) 3 kids and a dog..a man to clean about after.. oooft think we deserve a rest? Lol... spring has sprung so maybe that will boost our enthusiasm really should try a bit more.. I have been swimming twice in 7 weeks x
Walking, swimming, cycling and all that jazz are excellent cross-triaing exercises, but they are all more cardio. If you want strengthening exercises (and you do want strengthening exercises), you need to do something which involves resistance. That can be bodyweight exercises or using weights.
Fitness is composed of a lot of different elements: Cardiovascular / respiratory endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed, Coordination, Agility, Balance, Accuracy. Running really only addresses the first two of those, and possibly Speed if you do specialised training for it. Cycling adds in a bit of balance. But neither do anything for flexibility and agility, for example. Or Strength and Power.
my suggestion is always to have a balanced exercise programme: a base of cardio, a couple of strength sessions and maybe a day of something like Yoga for flexibility.
And always be squatting. Every day.
I love a swim as it's basically no impact, very toning and you can still get a good aerobic workout if you want one. I tend to see how I feel- yesterday, after Friday's hard run, I swam but didn't overdo it as I was tired! Happy Easter!
Strength and flex is supposed to be ace but I haven't done it. i would go for that it will help your running no end 😎
So today I did 45 minutes on the Wii Fit but only on the Muscle and Yoga sections. This was various squats, stretches, lunges etc so I hope that will count for the strengthening bits, If it stops raining, I will venture out for a walk.
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