How much is too much?

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estherdragonbat
estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
edited March 2017 in Fitness and Exercise
I've been using a Gazelle Edge fitness glider I got several years ago as a gift. In about 4 months, I've worked my way from 25-minute workouts to 50 and I'm using it 4 or 5 days a week.

How much cardio (with this machine) can/should I do before I need to worry about overdoing? So far, I'm not feeling any pain or strain after a workout. I've been reading some things online about too much cardio putting a strain on the heart and, well, I do still have about 79 lbs standing between me and a healthy weight, even if my heart is currently in great shape.

Thoughts?

Replies

  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    I'm not sure what you're asking.

    Too much for your heart? Not something that can be answered on the internet. I suggest asking your doctor.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    ... I've been reading some things online about too much cardio putting a strain on the heart...

    You probably need to read better material.

    If you're only doing 50 minutes you're fine.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    Thanks. I've got an appointment on Monday. I'll check it out. I was looking for an answer online and found this: https://www.muscleforlife.com/how-much-cardio/. And, being relatively new to regular exercise, I got a little worried and wondered if there was a general guideline a la "no more than x days/week; no more than x minutes/session".
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    ... I've been reading some things online about too much cardio putting a strain on the heart...

    You probably need to read better material.

    If you're only doing 50 minutes you're fine.

    Very probably. I'm well-informed enough on the diet side to detect most of the woo (though starvation mode being a myth was news to me). On the exercise side? I'm lurking and self-educating. Thanks!
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Human history is filled with people who worked hard from can to can't and survived it. You might improve your cardiovascular fitness but as long as you eat enough to fuel your work you'll be well.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    ... I've been reading some things online about too much cardio putting a strain on the heart...

    You probably need to read better material.

    If you're only doing 50 minutes you're fine.

    Very probably. I'm well-informed enough on the diet side to detect most of the woo (though starvation mode being a myth was news to me). On the exercise side? I'm lurking and self-educating. Thanks!

    There is a study of endurance runners that suggests potential CV damage in habitual marathoners. Occasionally people die in distance races.

    The study gets recycled on a regular basis and is the source of the single worst exercise articles that plague the click bait bar in syndication sites.
  • AmyOutOfControl
    AmyOutOfControl Posts: 1,425 Member
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    Please be careful where you get your information. That article references random abstracts of random medical studies. One study does not make something true - it must be studied over and over by many professional researches to ensure the results are consistent and accurate. This is ONE of the reasons why it takes so long for medical treatments to become available to the public.

    This is a much better place to answer that question: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/. Your doctor is also a good resource.
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
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    50 min 4-5 times per week is hardly excessive.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    pomegranatecloud wrote: »
    50 min 4-5 times per week is hardly excessive.

    Thanks. I didn't think so, but I wanted to check.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    amymoreorless wrote: »
    Please be careful where you get your information. That article references random abstracts of random medical studies. One study does not make something true - it must be studied over and over by many professional researches to ensure the results are consistent and accurate. This is ONE of the reasons why it takes so long for medical treatments to become available to the public.

    This is a much better place to answer that question: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/. Your doctor is also a good resource.

    I think that's probably why I came here. I know there's a lot of good stuff and a lot of garbage out there and Google doesn't discriminate. *bookmarks link*
  • AmyOutOfControl
    AmyOutOfControl Posts: 1,425 Member
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    @estherdragonbat This is a good site for information as well: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    Thanks!
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    I am by no means an expert on the matter, but here's some things to consider as well:

    1) Are you fueling your activity properly? This can be where what you eat may be more important...making sure you're hitting your protein/fat goals, getting enough fluids, etc.
    2) How do you feel after working out and on off days? Little bit sore or tired is OK, intense pain, not so much.
    3) Pay attention to how you feel as you work out. If you feel like what you're doing is too easy the entire time, up the intensity a little. If too hard, step it back - take the time to learn your limits and know when you're pushing too hard so you can stay behind that point of exertion. It will likely take weeks, months or longer to find those tipping points, and hopefully you never do go too hard to the point of serious injury!

    If it was me, I would stay with a maximum of 5 days and just work on increasing intensity/duration of activity, but that's just me liking my rest days, haha!

    ~Lyssa
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    edited March 2017
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    1) Generally. The more I exercise, the higher MFP raises my protein and while I don't have trouble hitting the base number, I tend to be a little under the revised number. (Just checked today and I came close; 97/98). I eat back about half my exercise calories, so I'm not overly concerned when I fall a bit short.
    2) Occasionally tired, but no pain.
    3) Yeah, that's more or less how I got up to 50 from 25. If, when I'm about halfway, I'm barely breaking a sweat, I add another 5 minutes and stay there for a couple of weeks.

    Thanks!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,868 Member
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    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    Thanks. I've got an appointment on Monday. I'll check it out. I was looking for an answer online and found this: https://www.muscleforlife.com/how-much-cardio/. And, being relatively new to regular exercise, I got a little worried and wondered if there was a general guideline a la "no more than x days/week; no more than x minutes/session".

    Well ... try to keep it under 7 days a week and 24 hours a day ...

  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
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    I think this is a perfectly sensible question to ask, especially as this is something fairly new to you. We've all gotten started doing something in life, only to learn we began wrong and held ourselves back inadvertently, so it's great to seek out answers.

    You do have to be careful of course, there is so much nonsense out there - you should try to validate what you learn.

    This man's opinion is that you are absolutely find with what you are doing. It doesn't matter that other people are running say, 15 miles a day every day, or cycling 2 hours every other day. Those people have built up their fitness level to be able to do such things without a negative affect, which is, I believe, what you are asking - "how much is counter productive, or even dangerous?"

    You will most certainly know when you are pushing too hard and need to rest more. Your performance will dip, your will wake up feeling exhausted despite a good sleep and you might feel generally run down. At least that is my experience.

    I am curious by your statement of "not feeling any strain after a workout". I don't want to suggest that every workout should leave you exhausted and unable to move the next day. But some of your workouts, in my opinion, should be of higher intensity so that you are stressing different elements of your muscular-skeletal and cardiovascular system
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    sjb74uk wrote: »
    I think this is a perfectly sensible question to ask, especially as this is something fairly new to you. We've all gotten started doing something in life, only to learn we began wrong and held ourselves back inadvertently, so it's great to seek out answers.

    You do have to be careful of course, there is so much nonsense out there - you should try to validate what you learn.

    This man's opinion is that you are absolutely find with what you are doing. It doesn't matter that other people are running say, 15 miles a day every day, or cycling 2 hours every other day. Those people have built up their fitness level to be able to do such things without a negative affect, which is, I believe, what you are asking - "how much is counter productive, or even dangerous?"

    You will most certainly know when you are pushing too hard and need to rest more. Your performance will dip, your will wake up feeling exhausted despite a good sleep and you might feel generally run down. At least that is my experience.

    I am curious by your statement of "not feeling any strain after a workout". I don't want to suggest that every workout should leave you exhausted and unable to move the next day. But some of your workouts, in my opinion, should be of higher intensity so that you are stressing different elements of your muscular-skeletal and cardiovascular system

    I definitely break a sweat and get my heartrate up while I'm working out. And I'm usually tired when I'm done. But the next day, I feel fine.

    Now, if we're talking about my work with resistance bands... my triceps are usually not happy with me after three sets.

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