Are rest days from exercise necessary?

Not many people would argue that rest isn’t important, but how would you define a rest day?

For an elite athlete a rest day could be going for a long walk. For your average person it could mean sitting on the couch.

Norman and Tegan ask – why is rest important, and do you need it to make progress in the gym?

References:

'No pain, no gain' debunked: Why post-exercise soreness is not essential for building muscle

Skeletal muscle and resistance exercise training; the role of protein synthesis in recovery and remodeling

Effects of Different Between Test Rest Intervals in Reproducibility of the 10-Repetition Maximum Load Test: A Pilot Study with Recreationally Resistance Trained Men

The time course for elevated muscle protein synthesis following heavy resistance exercise

Recovery and Performance in Sport: Consensus Statement

Effects of Consecutive Versus Non-consecutive Days of Resistance Training on Strength, Body Composition, and Red Blood Cells

Nonconsecutive versus consecutive-day resistance training in recreationally trained subjects

Fatigue, pain, and the recovery of neuromuscular function after consecutive days of full-body resistance exercise in trained men