These Are the Best Exercises to Do on Your Much-Deserved Rest Day

If you're a natural when it comes to HIIT training, all the power to you — it's a great workout that gets your heart rate up and your muscles stronger. Still, no matter how much you love doing box jumps and burpees, you need to give your muscles and joints some downtime to rest and recover.

If you don't, you could increase your chances of an injury or chronic fatigue, which means you might be sidelined from those rigorous activities you love. (And that injury could lead to a workout rut where it's challenging to get back that motivation.)

But here's the thing — rest day doesn't need to be sedentary. There are a few activities that don't put pressure on the joints but still offer a good calorie burn, according to Rebecca Gahan, certified personal trainer and owner and founder of Kick@55 Fitness in Chicago. So you'll still get a workout, but protect your body and encourage muscle repair and growth at the same time.

If you are looking to exercise without major impact on the joints, try the following exercises.

Cycling
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Cycling

If it's a nice day outside, you can always get some fresh air and hit the trails on your bicycle. Not only will the nature make your workout enjoyable, but it also gives you flexibility to go about your day by cycle (which burns more calories than simply walking).

But if you're looking for an indoor rest day workout, you should try hopping on a Spin bike, says Gahan.

Here's why. "This is the perfect add-on if you spend three to five days strength training and doing plyometric high-impact exercises, often found in HIIT or boot-camp style classes," she told POPSUGAR.

What's more, even beyond the average gym rat, those who have knee or hip issues can especially benefit from cycling, due to the lack of impact, she explains. "It's low impact on the joints, but high impact on the calorie burn," she said. In fact, you might expect to burn an average of 500 to 800 calories an hour, she said, depending on body size, weight, and output, of course.

Swimming
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Swimming

Great for those in need of a low-impact exercise that doesn't aggravate sore joints, swimming — doing either laps or aerobic exercises — in the pool can be a terrific option for recovery day, Gahan said.

It's especially beneficial for those who are recovering from injuries, too. It'll help you still get a workout in and heal simultaneously. Also, if it's an especially hot day, it'll make for a fun, refreshing workout.

"Swimming offers cardiovascular benefits with no joint impact or stress," said Gahan, so you might want to swim in between heavy-lifting days when your body and muscles are stressed and fatigued, she explains.

If you're really sprinting and doing intervals in the laps, the average caloric burn could be 360 per hour, though it'll change based on body measurements, she said.

Hiking
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Hiking

Stash your trail mix in your backpack and hit the trails. Hiking can be a great workout on rest days that can burn some serious calories, according to Gahan.

When creating a hiking interval workout, "Try to walk up hills with big steps and lunges, then briskly walk on straight paths. The change in incline and speed will create natural intervals, which will torch fat and help burn approximately 350 calories per hour," she said.

The lack of jumping and running will give your joints a little break from the weights and jump squats they're used to.

Yoga
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Yoga

While yoga is not generally a calorie-torcher (though there are some cardio yoga sculpt classes with weights), Gahan said it can be a good exercise for recovery day, even for maintenance of health, mindfulness, and repair. As there's a lot of posing, stability work, flexibility work, and stretching in yoga, it really opens up the body and helps loosen tension.

Once that tension is released, you'll feel less sore and feel more agile in your more intense, calorie-boosting workouts, she said.

This can be especially beneficial for those who leave those group fitness classes without a stretch and who don't stretch at home, either. Yoga can be an excuse to do some pigeon poses and other opening exercises to help repair muscle damage.

Also, the same applies for Pilates, said Gahan, which can also focus on activating muscles and burning calories, without being a high-intensity workout.