What is an Active Rest Day?

Recovery is the glue that holds it all together.

Whatever your training looks like – lifting, stretching, hybrid, cardio – regular rest and recovery give your muscles time to repair, restore energy levels, help you grow stronger, and enable you to embrace a true sense of balance. Recovery is the key to making progress.

But did you know that rest and recovery can come in multiple forms, and don’t always mean complete stillness or spending the day on the sofa – aka ‘passive recovery’?

An ‘active rest day’ might sound like a contradiction on paper. In reality, it’s a powerful way to build in gentle movement after high-intensity exercise, supporting muscle recovery rather than preventing it.

So, if you’re searching for a way to recover while staying mobile, an active rest day might be exactly what your body needs. Read more about the benefits, advice and tips for embedding active rest days into your routine in our blog below, so you can feel even more powerful, strong and confident.

If you’re searching for the perfect active rest day fit, explore Oner Active’s extensive activewear collection, including the SoftMotion and Rest & Recovery range. Whether you’re planning on gentle movement or embracing a slower pace of full relaxation, our range of joggers, hoodies, tops, and more offers soft yet supportive pieces designed to maintain you through every moment of rest and recovery - moving with you when you need it, and helping you unwind when you don’t.

What is an Active Rest Day?

An active rest day offers a more intentional approach to recovery. Instead of total inactivity, you engage in light, low-impact movement that supports circulation, reduces stiffness, promotes overall restoration and boosts your mood.

Gentle activities like walking, cycling, stretching, or yoga allow your body and mind to recover while staying in motion, helping you feel refreshed and purposeful rather than stuck or sedentary.

What are the Benefits of an Active Rest Day?

Downtime makes all the hard work possible. But why should you incorporate some light movement into your recovery on an active rest day?

Support Muscle Recovery

Higher intensity exercise, such as strength training, causes tiny microtears to the muscle fibres, triggering a process of repair that ultimately makes them larger and stronger.

Engaging in low-intensity activity on your active rest day supports the muscles to recover and eases soreness. Light movement increases blood flow, delivering vital nutrients and oxygen to your muscles. This keeps them warm and helps them heal, meaning you can recover faster and prepare for the next workout. Gentle activity also improves blood flow to the brain and calms the nervous system, so active rest days ease stress and support the mind as well as the body.

Reduce Muscle Soreness

With intense exercise, lactic acid and other metabolic byproducts can accumulate around muscle tissue. As active rest increases circulation, it facilitates the removal of this buildup, reducing muscle stiffness and inflammation.

Aid Balance & Consistency

Sticking to a workout routine is about consistency, preparation, and a personalised approach, advises Oner Active founder and personal trainer Krissy Cela. Rest days are a fundamental component of a consistent plan, enabling muscles to repair and helping you to retain better fitness - and fewer injuries - in the long term.

‘Active rest days’ reinforce the habit of movement in a routine, making it easier to dial up the intensity on more active days. What’s more, by focusing on mobility, low-intensity active rest days are also a great way to work on your balance.

When is Complete Rest the Better Option?

Whether you need complete rest or active rest is a case of being in tune with, and listening to, your own body, particularly on the days after a high-intensity workout or exercise routine.

If your body feels slightly sore and you think gentle movement might help to boost circulation and reduce tension, consider active rest. If your body feels completely fatigued and you are mentally drained, complete rest may be the best option.

Signs You Need An Active Rest Day

Your body is your most reliable tool in indicating whether it could benefit from an active rest day. Here’s what to look out for:

Persistent Muscle Soreness

If you’re experiencing frequent or persistent muscle soreness, it might be time to take an active rest day. Maintaining light exercise on your rest day helps bring oxygen-rich blood to your muscles, increasing their ability to repair and reducing soreness. It might feel counterintuitive to move if you ache, but it can be just what the body needs to ease tension and stiffness.

Feeling Consistently Fatigued

If your mind or body feels drained, consider taking an active rest day. Cortisol, the hormone that gives you extra energy, naturally spikes with intense training. Light exercise helps normalise cortisol levels, so you increase circulation and feel more energised without adding stress or exacerbating fatigue.

Feeling Regularly Stressed

Engaging in light exercise releases endorphins, which in turn boost your mood and help to reduce stress. Maintaining this routine on your rest days, but on a lighter level through activities such as walking or swimming, can help keep your mood level and promote a better sense of wellbeing.

Oner Active founder Krissy Cela definitely understands the power that an active rest day can have, not only on your performance but on your overall wellbeing. A good active rest day can be your secret weapon when it comes to reaching your goals both inside the gym and on your journey of personal growth (whatever that means for you).

Examples of Active Rest Day Activities

What exactly counts as an active rest day activity? How you differentiate between low and high intensity depends on your fitness level and exercise routine. At Oner Active, we recommend the following as effective active rest day activities:

Walking

A leisurely walk with your dog, friends, or family is the perfect way to boost circulation throughout your body and deliver much-needed nutrients and oxygen to your muscles. It also helps deliver mood-boosting chemicals to your brain.

Gentle Cycling

Low-impact cycling is great for your active rest days. It’s a non-weight-bearing exercise that helps your muscles and joints move freely and fluidly without the harsh impact of running or jumping, as the bike holds most of your weight.

Swimming

Another activity where a force other than you supports your body weight (in this case, the buoyancy of water), swimming allows you to engage in low-impact movement, reducing muscle soreness and joint stress.

Final Thoughts from Our Experts…

It’s easy to get caught up in the mindset of constantly pushing harder in the gym. But rest is arguably the most important part of your workout routine - taking rest days and time to recover are non-negotiables. Stretching, mobility work and low-impact days keep injuries at bay, support the restoration of body and mind, and ultimately enable you to perform at your best.

If you’re someone who likes to stay active, incorporating active rest days where you actively dial down the intensity can be a smart alternative to training every day. They allow you to keep moving through gentle, low-impact activity, while still giving your body the recovery it truly deserves.

Your fitness goals deserve the right gear. Whether you’re looking for a weight lifting outfit or women’s rest day leggings, check out our wide range of UK gymwear. We’ve got a variety of fits to suit every body, so find pieces that move with you.

Active Rest Day FAQs

Can You Train Every Day With Active Rest Days?

Yes, you can train every day with active rest days. But it’s important to ensure the movement you’re undertaking is gentle and low intensity, otherwise you run the risk of injury. With gentle movement on an active rest day you can continue to boost blood flow, aid recovery, and prevent muscle stiffness. Plus, gentle movement brings a wealth of benefits to your wellbeing, from boosting endorphins to getting out in the fresh air. For more information on how often you should go to the gym, check out our blog.

Are Active Rest Days Suitable for Beginners?

Yes, active rest days are suitable for beginners because they don’t require intense activity; simple exercises such as walking and cycling count as active rest. But if you feel like your body needs some time to recover after an intense workout, don’t be afraid to spend the day in complete rest so you can avoid injury and fatigue.

Do Active Rest Days Improve Recovery?

Yes! Active rest days increase blood flow to your muscles, delivering much needed oxygen and nutrients. As a result, active rest days reduce muscle soreness and minimise stiffness, while preventing the risks associated with complete inactivity.