Most farmers I knew tried really really hard to take a day off.
God himself recommended and practiced the day off.
I am pretty sure it was farmers that most appreciated (or created) this facet of God.

Genesis 2:2
By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

I workout 7 days a week, typically twice in a day. weekends are for going longer because I have more time. I typically get 12-18hrs a week right now. i do 70.3s mainly and will be doing an ironman in oct. its all about intensity with recovery workouts, moderate and hard workouts. do you need a day off?, as a beginner and just starting the sport yes. as someone whos been doing it awhile, probably not. i do take a day off ever 4th week in my training regimen to give myself a break mentally. I feel it does help.

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Instagram or twitter me softly @xatefrogg

It seems that it is the completitors that could most easily sustain the 7 days a week model.

Once they have completed their Ironman, they can move on to coral singing, (or the next item on their bucket list).
No need to develop other interests, run errands, relax, take a day off- they will have plenty of time for that stuff.

It is the lifetime athletes that need the regular breaks.

The farmer not the gardener.

Dont get me wrong. An easy day might work better for some than a day off.
And Gardening IS much MUCH more fun than farming.

I highly doubt that 7 is better than 6 over the long run, however.
But training and recovery is a highly personal thing.

agreed that recovery is very personal. Im 27, no kids, very flexible job and build my plan week too week based on how I am feeling from the previous week. I even change workouts during the week if i need to and take a rest day if needed. no one knows their body better then you. as you get older rest is very important. it is very personal do to time, recovery and what you want out of the sport.

my 2 cents
I prefer 7 days for my 10-12 hours/week. During my 2 IM builds I went more hours. I simply don't feel right without a workout, which is its own little thing. I do vary the emphasis during the year, currently I'm running lots in prep for an april marathon. In the fall after race season I swam lots and then switched to big bike block. I need recovery most after hard or long runs or heavy wt sessions, but not so much after a swim or bike session.

Typical week now is
Mon : run am, swim pm
T: swim am, bike pm (trainer)
Wed: run
Thursday swim and lift
Friday: run
sat run
sun ride

thats 4 runs, 2 bikes and 3 swims, other parts of the year may look differently

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Brian
“Eat and Drink, spin the legs and you’re going to effin push (today).” A Howe

I've got two kids below school age, the boy is 6 months and wants feeding every 2-3 hours at night. And I've got a job! This is all I can manage...

Mon - Run at lunch, circa 9 miles. Swim am before work if I've had any sleep the night before.
Tues - Swim at lunch (40 mins), Bike pm (turbo 60-90 mins)
Weds - Run at lunch, circa 9 miles.
Thurs - Swim at lunch (40 mins), Bike pm (turbo 60-90 mins)
Fri - Run at lunch. Beer pm.
Sat - Family day, no training. Occasionally in the summer months when the OW swim is on at our club venue, we will all go and I'll swim an hour in the lake and we all get some breakfast and go for a walk.
Sun - 6am bike ride, 2-3 hrs. Depends on how the boy behaved night before.

3 runs, upto 27 miles. 3 bikes if I'm lucky, upto 6 hrs. Occasionally 3 swims. I can go sub 10 on this, which is ok for me, but I'll not be flying to Hawaii anytime soon.

ETA: if I'm going to race IM, leading up to the race I'll use a small amount of leave to get some more sessions in. I have a deal with my boss that I can book a day off and spread the hours across some of my Friday runs, so I can do a 2 - 2.5 hr run each week for a month or so. I might use a day off in lieu (I don't get paid overtime) now and again for a long ride.

3 nights a week are for my woman. I never train when my kids are awake and I am at home, exception being my early morning Sun ride when I'm back home 9-10am and we can still have a full day. All goes to shit anyway when my little boy keeps us awake all night or I have to travel with work, but I do my best.

I couldn't believe that guy on page 1 who had 3 sessions most days! Wow! If only I had discovered triathlon when I was a bachelor..

6 for me, with 4 of them being double days. In the same boat (wife/kid/career) so for my longer sessions I get up very early. The past few years my "long" ride has been on Saturdays so I wake up as early as 2am to knock it out by 8am. Our kiddo is 3 though so he's likely just about done with naps (which is where I try to make up for some of that 2am wake up time) so we'll see how it works this year.

I dont tend to get sore but I do get very fatigued. I'm no sports physiologist but I do believe in the benefits of a rest day both for recovery and long term health (which is why I'm into triathlon and other silly sports). I do like the idea of just a swim on the rest day though but for me it's likely partially psychological as it's nice just knowing I have one day where I don't have to get up to train, head to the gym, etc.

A 20 minute run in the morning is usually very easy to fit in. Especially if you own a treadmill. I'm one of the "plan for 7 days" but at least one of them is a 20 minute run. Not really dedication. Just exercise.

In the offseason I plan for 6 days (Mon-Sat), I'm fortunate with my job that I can get my long workouts in during the week. Saturday workout is done early in the morning, before wife/kids are up. This is something new I tried this winter and it's greatly improved the quality of my weekends, there's no workouts hanging over my head so I can focus on having a great time with my family.

So much truth.

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7 days a week with one day an easy non leg day. Usually do this for three weeks followed by one week of recovery

Kayak, mountain bike, trail run, kayak, mountain bike, trail run, trail run. No need for a rest day, expect to get plenty of them when I am dead.

Ok I guess when the question was how many days a week do you train I thought they meant specifically triathlon training.

To me mountain biking and kayaking is not "training" per say. I love to mix it up and do different activities such as this but I don't necessarily consider it "training."

I'm also in the "7 days a week" crew, but only about 5-6 of the days would I consider my training to be optimal of quality, and I'm doing specific and targeted workouts. 1 one the days may be considered active recovery, but I notice that if I don't go a day without getting my heart rate around 120 for 10 or so minutes, I feel off the next day.

I'm in an easier boat than you guys, since my new focus is Cyclocross so all I really need to focus on is cycling with a bit of running. I get out and cycle every day, and try to run 2 days as well or double up some cycling if I was pressed for time.


Mon: A.M Bike, P.M run
Tues:A.M Weights, P.M Bike,
Weds: A.M Bike, P.M Run
Thurs: A.M Bike, P.M Bike
Fri: A.M Bike, P.M weights
Sat: A.M Bike, usually my long bike, so may do a quick run afterwards but nothing more than 20 minutes
Sun: A.M Bike, Usually another long bike

So everything is subject to change, and while I can usually get a quality workout 7 days, I usually take 1-2 days completely off after a week and then start up another 7 days into it. I also follow a regimented schedule and undulate my training, so for the month of Jan after my cross season I haven't done much of anything past Zone 2-3 with my training, which allows me to do the high volumes that one may think is associated with this. Come Feb 1, I'll probably have a week of volume followed by 3-4 weeks of higher intensity training to get ready for a bike race. But, after the race I'll have a week off not doing anything, and the process will repeat itself except I probably won't race until May, and then afterwards it'll be a build up for cross.

I am a former (long time ago in HS and college) runner now purely a cyclist. Up until this year I was doing 4 days each week for a total of 7.5 hours plus one day a week lifting for 30 minutes. But I found that I was burning the candle at both ends trying to manage 9 hour work days, family life, and taking care of the house. So this year I decided to ride only every other day (i.e. 3 days one week and 4 the next). I have found it much more relaxing that I don't have to ride for 90 minutes after work on consecutive evenings anymore. However, most of my riding is at sweet spot or above. And for credibility purposes I've gone under 53 minutes for a 40K ITT at age 47.

I am amazed at all of the 7 day a week trainers though I guess that's what I did when I was in college. Maybe I'll go to 4-6 days a week when my kids are grown up and I am retired.

Sorry if I wasn't supposed to post because I am not a traditional tri guy.
I do 3 sports and train hard for all 3 so thought I was relevent to the thread.
My paddle last night was on the lake with winds at 50 plus km per hour and a 1 to 1.5 metre chop, last thursday I paddled a fast flowing river, the fast and breezy 20 min downstream was balanced by a brutal 70 mins upstream , I promise both of those sessions constitute "training". I have not had a road or tri bike for maybe 17 years. My 800 buck mtb still manages to keep me fit. In my early 40s off pure mtb work I was still able to break the hour for 40 km on a borrowed rusty old road bike. I also rode 250 km on the road a few years back (in my 50s) on my knobbies and dropped the tri club crew I had started with so yeah I reckon it still constitutes training. Most of my runs average 6m 30s per km and have a few 8 to 10 min kms because of the terrain but at 55 I can still drop a 19m 5k. So yeah even those slow grinding runs and rides on my beloved Rocky Horror Show trails constitute training.
I work shift work either 7am to 4, 1pm to 10 or 9pm to 8am and have a 100 km roundtrip commute. I am renovating and landscaping our historic old property. I also walk about 40 to 50 kms per week in the forests (photography and flora /fauna monitoring). I usually paddle 1 to 1.5 hrs mon,thu. Bike 1.5 to 2 hours tue, fri and run 1.5 to 2 hrs. wed, sat, sun.

7. Training is not just the swimming, biking, and running you do. It's your diet, your nap, your sleep, your choice to not join the local dodgeball league.

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KyleKranz.com
Win a pair of SKORA Running Shoes!

Well of course you are suppose to post and give your opinion. . . I didn't mean to offend. And I don't just train for tris. I am heavy into hiking, backpacking, and a bit of climbing here and there. And I train hard for those. I guess anything we do can be considered "training." I suppose I misunderstood the question.