Rest Days??? Define "rest" please.....

I almost always do yoga on my "rest" days. If you're feeling particularly tired/beat, especially after a hard effort (brick or two a day), a complete rest day is also good for the mind and body.

edited to add: as you go longer (i.e. HIM), or depending on your current fitness level, complete rest is more important as this is when your body recuperates and actually gets stronger. 

Rest = rest, IOW to NOT do anything at all in terms of training. "Active recovery or Unload" in the other hand means to have an 'easy' training day which won't produce intense fatigue on your body and will promote the recovery process for your body. (That in combination with a good nutrition plan)

Using that as a reference you can have a rest day after a 14 day period of training for instance, BUT in the same period you can include an ‘active recovery’ day every 7^th day (6 days of training 1 active recovery day). Better yet, you can have an ‘active recovery or unload week’ every 2 or 3 periods of intense training (i.e. 2x14 day of training) and of course rest weeks after a racing season or a hard race.

I learned to take him seriously in these matters at last year's Florida 70.3 when he passed me like I was backing up during the bike leg.

Yoga is fine on a rest day, provided it's not the heart-pumping, hot/sweaty vinyasa style that is so draining yet magically restorative at the same time...  for me, that's not rest.

Rest is taking a break from all vigorous training, i.e.

taking a long walk or doing a house project instead of getting out for a training ride or run,

swimming a local pond or pool just for the sheer joy of it, not for a continuous distance,

doing something satisfying just for you and/or your partner/SO/family 

We get stronger when we recover from training.  Recovery can be active, like an easy spin on the bike or a walk or an easy swim, but for someone just starting out it's best to take a day or two off each week.

Taking a day off after 6 days in a row of exercising is not being lazy. It's being smart.  Getting injured or burned out from overtraining is not.

It's an alien squid on John Hurt's face.

descasena - 2007-01-10 9:30 AM OK so my "rest" day was walking for 20 minutes at a slow pace then an hour of yoga. I feel rested today...and ready for my swim/bike brick tonight... thanks for the feedback everyone!

Enjoy the brick!