What to eat on a rest day when you train hard
On a rest day, eat about the same protein, about half the carbohydrate, and roughly 600-1,000 kcal less than on a hard training day. For most athletes that means 3-5 g of carbs per kg of bodyweight, 1.2-2.0 g/kg of protein, and a total that stays above your resting metabolic rate. If the next day is a hard session or a race, eat more carbs.
Rest days are when adaptation happens. The goal is to feed the repair without paying for training you didn’t do.
Should you eat less on a rest day?
Yes, a little, and almost all of the cut should come from carbohydrate. You burn less energy on a day off, and carbohydrate is the fuel that tracks training most directly.
The ACSM, AND and Dietitians of Canada joint position (Thomas, Erdman and Burke, 2016) sets daily carbohydrate by training load:
| Training load | Carbs per kg per day |
|---|---|
| Light: low intensity or skill-based | 3-5 g |
| Moderate: about 1 h a day | 5-7 g |
| High: endurance, 1-3 h a day | 6-10 g |
| Very high: more than 4-5 h a day | 8-12 g |
A rest day sits at or below the light end. A hard training day sits two or three rows down. That gap in carbs is most of the gap in calories.
Do you need as much protein on a rest day?
Yes. Keep protein the same as on training days. The joint position notes that muscle protein synthesis stays elevated for at least 24 hours after a single session. The repair from yesterday’s work is still going on today.
The same position stand recommends 1.2-2.0 g/kg/day for athletes. The ISSN position stand on protein and exercise (Jäger et al., 2017) gives 1.4-2.0 g/kg/day, and more during a calorie deficit. Spread it across 3-5 meals of about 0.25-0.3 g/kg each.
What does a rest day look like in numbers?
Here’s the arithmetic for a 75 kg endurance athlete who trains 2 hours on a hard day.
| Hard training day | Rest day | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 150 g (2.0 g/kg) = 600 kcal | 150 g = 600 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 525 g (7 g/kg) = 2,100 kcal | 300 g (4 g/kg) = 1,200 kcal |
| Fat | 67 g = 600 kcal | 67 g = 600 kcal |
| Total | 3,300 kcal | 2,400 kcal |
Energy is counted with the Atwater factors of 4 kcal/g for protein and carbs and 9 kcal/g for fat. The rest day comes out at 50% carbs, 25% fat and 25% protein. All three fall inside the National Academies’ acceptable ranges.
Note what didn’t change: protein and fat. The rest day is simply the hard day with 225 g fewer carbs.
A rest day for this athlete could look like:
- Breakfast: Greek yoghurt, oats, berries.
- Lunch: a chicken and rice bowl with vegetables.
- Snack: a piece of fruit and a glass of milk.
- Dinner: salmon, potatoes, salad with olive oil.
When should a rest day have more carbs?
When it’s the day before a hard session or a race. Glycogen for tomorrow’s intervals is stored today. A rest day before a big effort should sit nearer the moderate row than the light one.
This is what Impey et al. (2018) call “fuel for the work required”. Carbohydrate is matched to the training that’s coming as well as the training that’s been done. A rest day after a race and a rest day before a key workout are not the same day.
Should a rest day be your biggest deficit if you’re cutting?
Yes, within limits. If you’re losing weight, a rest day is the cheapest place to take the deficit. Hard sessions stay fuelled and the weekly total still adds up.
Two limits apply:
- Never go below your resting metabolic rate. For our 75 kg, 180 cm, 35-year-old athlete, Mifflin-St Jeor gives about 1,705 kcal. That is the floor, whatever the goal.
- Don’t let deficits pile up across a hard week. The joint position links energy availability below about 30 kcal per kg of fat-free mass per day with impaired body function. The IOC’s 2023 consensus on REDs (Mountjoy et al.) treats low energy availability as a range of risk rather than one cut-off. Where any one athlete’s line sits is still uncertain, which is a reason for caution.
How Sweatmeal does this
Sweatmeal sizes each day’s target from that day’s training, read from Whoop, Oura, Strava, Ultrahuman, Apple Health or Health Connect. Protein stays steady, anchored to your fat-adjusted weight; carbs fall on rest days and rise before sessions and races on your calendar. In a cut, the deficit is larger on rest days and never takes the target below your RMR. The full calculation is on our methodology page.