How many rest days should I take a week?

Nikkiey's own week shows what this looks like. On Ep. 88 she explains that she strength trains four days, spends one or two days out on a walk or a hike, and takes one or two days of complete rest. She wants you to schedule rest days ahead of time, not wait until you're exhausted. On Ep. 237 she sets the floor at two days off a week and says one of them can be active recovery.

Rest matters because of when muscle actually gets built. As Nikkiey says on Ep. 10, you break muscle down in the gym and build it in the 24 to 48 hours afterward, with proper nutrition, rest and recovery. On Ep. 88 she adds that a rest day lets your glycogen stores refill, your muscles repair and your central nervous system recover. That protects you from both physical and mental burnout. If you never recover, she says, building muscle becomes almost impossible.

The no-days-off mindset is often what holds women back. On Ep. 111 Nikkiey says it misses a crucial piece of the puzzle. On Ep. 237 she points out that constant soreness and tiredness are signs you're overdoing it. On those days a lighter workout or extra sleep will do more for you than pushing through. Taking a rest day doesn't mean you aren't consistent. It means you're building a plan you can keep following.

Recovery can matter even more as you get older. On Ep. 315 Nikkiey says rest days aren't about doing less. They're about giving your muscles and nervous system the recovery they need so your workouts can work. A guest on that episode who is in perimenopause says that when she shortens her rest days, her symptoms get worse and her gym performance drops. She'll sometimes stack two rest days together. If you're noticing changes like that, mention them to your doctor, and let your body's signals shape how much rest you schedule.