Is It Possible to Work Out Too Much?

rjd9266

Hi guys,

This fall I am signed up for a Zumba class at school twice a week. My friend who is currently in a Marine training program and will be joining the Marines after graduation also wants to help me work out, since he knows what he's doing and I don't. He works out every day and will probably expect me to do likewise.

Is it possible to work out too much if I'm eating back all those calories? Is it counter-productive? I might end up working out twice on some days, and every day with the possible exception of Sundays I would be working out at least once. Zumba burns a lot of calories, and I expect his training will also not be gentle. Is this too much for my never-before-in-shape body??

Any advice would be helpful, I look forward to reading your responses!

jamiesillimandunn

Yes , I think you can over train ...just know your limits and pace yourself in the beginning ...so nice of your friend to be willing to help out ...y'all should be working on your form and effectiveness for the first little while , then work from their heart rate monitors help a ton too...since you can find your safe heart rate for working out without killing yourself ! It is normal to be sore after workouts but you need to listen to your body and notice signals it's giving and when to take a break , you will most likey need to keep toe calories up as well in order to maintain energy for your workouts , two workouts a day isn't impossible , just fuel your body STRETCH often !! Warmup before intense workouts that will keep you from injury ...soon you'll be knocking those workouts out ...my opinion on the calories is not to eat them ALL back , you will see others say you should . If your trying to lose weight leave a deficit , but remember you will be working your body harder so you will find you need to eat some of them back lots of proteins , good fats, and some carbs ( OMG) yes I believe in good carbs good luck !! DEFINATELY give yourself a rest day if your working out the whole week ...your muscles need time to recover

201rainbow

Every other day i burn 1600+ calories (just started doing that two weeks ago) and I love the sore feeling! It feels nice over working and weighing myself the next morning always makes me smile!

I love overdoing it when it comes to exercising!

KiltFuPanda

Agreed - work up to it nice and easy. If you can handle one-a-day, start working in one or two doubles a week.

Keep hydrated and eat properly, and you should have no problems working out twice a day. Listen to your body - don't fight through excessive muscle pain. Going into the gym exhausted is a great way to injure yourself.

csuhar

Hi guys,

This fall I am signed up for a Zumba class at school twice a week. My friend who is currently in a Marine training program and will be joining the Marines after graduation also wants to help me work out, since he knows what he's doing and I don't. He works out every day and will probably expect me to do likewise.

Is it possible to work out too much if I'm eating back all those calories? Is it counter-productive? I might end up working out twice on some days, and every day with the possible exception of Sundays I would be working out at least once. Zumba burns a lot of calories, and I expect his training will also not be gentle. Is this too much for my never-before-in-shape body??

Any advice would be helpful, I look forward to reading your responses!

As far as CALORIES go, you probably won't have an issue with working out too much, especially if you eat them back and maintain your intended defecit.

In my experience, working out too much is a matter of pushing your body too hard too fast. You simply need to be aware that your abilities might not be the same as other people. Listen to your body. Learn to tell the difference between aches and outright pain. Be willing to err on the side of safety, because it's better to start out too light and ramp up your workouts than to push too hard, hurt yourself, and be forced to stop, completely.

Pinkranger626

To answer your question: yes it is possible to overtrain. And when you do it is not something to be ignored, it can have big consequences. That being said, what you describe can be ok. You do want to give yourself at least one day of rest, if you're going to be doing doubles then you want at LEAST one day of full rest. The important thing to do is listen to your body, if you start to notice changes such as constant fatigue (if your sleeping and eating habits havent changed), mood changes, weight gain, irritability, prolonged soreness (typical soreness can be 2-5 days depending on the person and the exercises) what's not normal is being sore for longer than that and the pain is more intense than you typically feel.

Remember there's a difference between pushing yourself past your comfort zone and pushing yourself too hard. Pay attention to what your body is telling you and it can be totally fine. Hope this helps and good luck!!