A proper rest week?

[Philyis]

I'm not sure if this is the correct category for this, but I was searching for some advice on a rest week. I've looked it up and I've seen to many ideas. I've been working out 5-7 days a week for the past 6 months with no rests at all, and I developed runners knee, which I still have. I've also developed shin splints in the past 2 weeks. I'm also stuck in many lifts, and I heard a rest week could help.

I started about 3 days ago, and I'm not sure what to do. Should I continue taking a protein supplement and getting calories, or treat this as a cut? I was also wondering if I should just stop working out completely, or still do some light training to keep in better shape. I was also wondering if It'd be okay to do many core workouts over the rests. Thanks for the help!.