What is the "right" amount of exercise?

stephakneeeee

Hi there, I'm not necessarily new to MFP, but this is something I've always struggled with.

I've gone anywhere from being totally sedentary, to working out every day, 3+ hours. I don't know what is a happy medium is. I want to lose weight; but I also want it to happen fast....I'm trying to find a routine that is sustainable.

Right now, I walk my dog for at least half hour each day, sometimes twice, and I also go the gym 4-5 times a week, doing around 20-30 minutes on the cross trainer and 25-30 minutes of strength training. I've lost 20lbs since the start of this year with this routine and cutting calories, but wonder if I should be doing more.....

janejellyroll

Current US guidelines: "For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Preferably, aerobic activity should be spread throughout the week."

"Additional health benefits are gained by engaging in physical activity beyond the equivalent of 300 minutes (5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity a week."

"Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits."

Source: https://www.hhs.gov/fitness/be-active/physical-activity-guidelines-for-americans/index.html

Beyond those recommendations for health, the "right" amount is the amount that supports your personal fitness goals. 3+ hours is a lot for fitness goals unless you're training for a specific event and it is beyond what many people would consider sustainable. But it sounds like some of that is lower intensity exercise that you'd be doing anyway (dog walking). If you're talking about about an hour 4-5 days a week, that's in the ballpark of what many of us here would consider reasonable and sustainable. Does it seem that way to you?

ElizabethKalmbach

The "right" amount is whatever is sustainable long term for your body and your lifestyle. If you do too much, you risk injury and then a recovery period where you may struggle to moderate your food because you've become sedentary. Ramping up slowly and making sure you can maintain what you're doing and eat sufficient nutrients to power recovery and training is usually the way to go.

I only lose about 2# a month, and I have 5# to go, but I'm not really in any rush, because I like the way I look and feel and I enjoy what I'm eating and how much I get to eat already.

I feel comfortable in the notion that I could live this way for the rest of my life and not feel overwhelmed or deprived, and that's the most important thing for me.

NovusDies

You should not be trying to lose weight fast. It can cause a large number of health problems but before that happens it often is not sustainable so it ends in failure.

The only exercise you should do to lose weight is exercising portion control. Physical exercise should be done primarily for fitness.

The "right" amount is the amount that fits in your life balance and does not cause you physical or mental harm. I would struggle to exercise 3+ hours on a normal day. On a weekend that might be possible but I could not fit it in to my normal schedule without it crowding out other activities and relationships. It would also burn me out. I would feel fatigued even if I ate enough calories to support it. I am not at a level of fitness to support that amount of exertion right now so it would also cause me physical pain.

stephakneeeee

I know I shouldn't be trying to lose weight fast! Old habits just die hard I lost over 110lbs in 8months years ago by over-exercising/under-eating, and I know it's not sustainable, because I gained it all back. Then went through periods of unmedicated anxiety and depression where I would not exercise at all. Thus, here I am today, 40 pounds below my heaviest, still trying to find a balance.

I'm working really hard on trying to have a healthy body image and a healthy relationship with food (I do see a therapist), but exercise seems trickier to me, for some reason. Sometimes I just feel like I haven't "done enough", always feel like I can do more, etc. I would often push myself to the point of absolute exhaustion (my normal routine would be 30 minutes elliptical, 90 mins jogging/HIIT running, an hour of strength training).

So now, when I'm doing this new routine of being in and out of the gym within an hour or so it feels a bit less satisfying. I know a lot of it is mental, but I just wasn't sure if I should be aiming for more cardio or what. I'm so used to the extremes so I wasn't really sure what is considered "normal". Sounds like I could ramp up the cardio a bit more?

janejellyroll

stephakneeeee wrote: »

I know I shouldn't be trying to lose weight fast! Old habits just die hard I lost over 110lbs in 8months years ago by over-exercising/under-eating, and I know it's not sustainable, because I gained it all back. Then went through periods of unmedicated anxiety and depression where I would not exercise at all. Thus, here I am today, 40 pounds below my heaviest, still trying to find a balance.

I'm working really hard on trying to have a healthy body image and a healthy relationship with food (I do see a therapist), but exercise seems trickier to me, for some reason. Sometimes I just feel like I haven't "done enough", always feel like I can do more, etc. I would often push myself to the point of absolute exhaustion (my normal routine would be 30 minutes elliptical, 90 mins jogging/HIIT running, an hour of strength training).

So now, when I'm doing this new routine of being in and out of the gym within an hour or so it feels a bit less satisfying. I know a lot of it is mental, but I just wasn't sure if I should be aiming for more cardio or what. I'm so used to the extremes so I wasn't really sure what is considered "normal". Sounds like I could ramp up the cardio a bit more?

What specific goal would ramping up the cardio meet?

DanyellMcGinnis

Two half-hour dog walks and a gym session as described don't add up to 3+ hours. Maybe 2.

I don't currently have a dog but when I did, I never counted walking her as exercise. She was stopping all the time to sniff things, or play with her doggie friends, or I'd have to plant my feet firmly when she saw a squirrel because she was 87 pounds, and I couldn't get any kind of sustained heart rate increase out of it. (It's better than sitting on the couch, yes.)

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with what OP is doing (other than the "lose it fast" mindset which has been dealt with by others in this thread). It spreads out activity over the day and involves a couple of rest days. I do more but I have time for it and I want to be able to eat more food than I am allotted by the MFP algorithm (I don't get many calories as a small-framed, 5'5", 40+ woman), but also because I spend 8 hours a day at a desk and moving makes me feel better in general, both physically and mentally.

stephakneeeee

Increased caloric deficit, increased endurance.. I don't mean ramp it up by an additional 30 minutes or anything, but would an additional 5-10 mins be a good place to start? I've been consistent with the gym for 2 months now and I've noticed a definite improvement in my stamina so I'd like to continue to build upon that

janejellyroll

stephakneeeee wrote: »

Increased caloric deficit, increased endurance.. I don't mean ramp it up by an additional 30 minutes or anything, but would an additional 5-10 mins be a good place to start? I've been consistent with the gym for 2 months now and I've noticed a definite improvement in my stamina so I'd like to continue to build upon that

Yeah, increasing your cardio for increased endurance is a reasonable goal, IMO.

stephakneeeee

DanyellMcGinnis wrote: »

Two half-hour dog walks and a gym session as described don't add up to 3+ hours. Maybe 2.

I don't currently have a dog but when I did, I never counted walking her as exercise. She was stopping all the time to sniff things, or play with her doggie friends, or I'd have to plant my feet firmly when she saw a squirrel because she was 87 pounds, and I couldn't get any kind of sustained heart rate increase out of it. (It's better than sitting on the couch, yes.)

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with what OP is doing (other than the "lose it fast" mindset which has been dealt with by others in this thread). It spreads out activity over the day and involves a couple of rest days. I do more but I have time for it and I want to be able to eat more food than I am allotted by the MFP algorithm (I don't get many calories as a small-framed, 5'5", 40+ woman), but also because I spend 8 hours a day at a desk and moving makes me feel better in general, both physically and mentally.

It's not my current routine, it was something I did in the past, I don't think I worded my original post very well. I'm aware I don't currently work out 3 hours a day, lol.

My dog is a 1 year spry pup and I do get a good brisk walk in, but not enough to break a sweat.

cwolfman13

There is no "right" amount other than meeting the AHA's minimum of 150 minutes of light to moderate exercise weekly.

I would urge you to start trying to change your mindset in regards to exercise and weight loss and start trying to think of exercise as it's own thing for fitness and overall health and well being. What you do should be sustainable not only while losing weight, but also going forward as regular exercise is really good for your health and overall well being.

The right amount really depends on what your fitness goals are. When I was racing bikes and doing a lot of endurance cycling events, I had to train a lot to get in those miles to be able to perform those events. It was often grueling and took up most of my available free time. It eventually became not that fun so I just ride for fun and fitness these days. The time I spend is variable and dependent on what I can do...I might go out for a quick 30-45 minute road ride or I might spend half a day or more in the mountains on the trails on my mountain bike, or I might just go to the gym and hit a spin class.

NovusDies

I count walking my dog as exercise. I use a fitness tracker. You do not need to break a sweat or have a target zone HR for something to be beneficial to you and it certainly burns calories. Continuous movement is not required either.

One of the reasons some of us need planned exercise is that we have sedentary lives. Walking a dog alleviates some of that. I count it as exercise for me and the dog.

leggup

I love to exercise. I do a balance of cardio (dance, treadmill, dog walkin'), Strength (weighted squats, rows, etc), Balance (balance board, stairs, dance), and stretching (light, because I'm hypermobile).

The way to figure out what's right for you is to look at why you stopped in the past. Was it too much? Too boring? Too many injuries? I personally overdid it on yoga and hurt myself. I also now keep it lower impact cardio when my weight creeps up because I know it means I'm putting more strain on my knees/back/hips. I easily burn 500-700 calories going out dancing. Is that too much? No, I'm having fun and it's a good night for me. Can I do it 2 nights in a row? Yes. Can I also walk the dogs on back-to-back dance days? No, I find I need at least 12 hr recovery window.

Also-- you might want to look into lifting heavy. On days I lift, I cannot do 30 min cardio. You can be more efficient in your workouts and spend fewer hours at the gym while getting the same or better results. Often when people fall off the fitness wagon it's because life ramped up and they can't keep to 1 hr a day of fitness.

Lietchi

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I would urge you to start trying to change your mindset in regards to exercise and weight loss and start trying to think of exercise as it's own thing for fitness and overall health and well being. What you do should be sustainable not only while losing weight, but also going forward as regular exercise is really good for your health and overall well being.

I will like to second this. I'm worried by something you said:

stephakneeeee wrote: »

Increased caloric deficit, increased endurance.

Exercise shouldn't be used to increase your deficit.
You should start by choosing an appropriate weight loss rate, which will determine the deficit you should be aiming for. You haven't mentioned how much you still have to lose and at what rate you are currently losing weight, but generally speaking, the less you have left to lose, the slower your weight loss should be.

Exercising is a separate matter. You can exercise for pleasure, to increase your fitness, to increase your lean muscle mass,... or even to be able to eat more, but whatever exercise you decide to do and however long you exercise, you need to eat back those calories burned to end up at that chosen, appropriate deficit.

Choosing how much you exercise is therefore a choice based on how much time you have, your goals, etc. as others have already explained.

I'm not trying to be mean or anything by being critical, I'm just concerned. A friend of mine was in a psychiatric hospital for 6 months after developing an eating disorder. She was barely more than skin and bones after exercising more and more and not fueling her exercise, eating less and less. Considering your previous experience with rapid weight loss and excessive exercise, I would recommend being very careful.

Maxxitt

I think a goal of increasing stamina can be quite motivating, but that doesn't mean you necessarily need to spend more hours. You could work on spending the same amount of time on the cross trainer, but increasing the resistance, and the same amount of time strength training, but increasing the weight. Now, the "mind-set" piece deserves some exploration. As others have noted, an obsessive focus on ever-increasing rate of weight loss is not healthy. Often, it serves as a tool to distract from or cope with thoughts and feelings that are troubling (and can turn into a "disorder"). It's good that you are working with a therapist to figure some of that out, and it might be helpful to also find some additional things to do that are not weight/body focused, and involve other people so that you can turn your thoughts to other things.

slbbw

I am going to respond to this from the depression anxiety angle. Do the amount of exercise that you can make a habit for life and becomes so ingrained it becomes difficult to skip. I have struggled with consistency over the years. Each time I do this I get a little bit better though. This time what has worked was daily exercise mon- fri. Weekends are rest but I sometimes will include a run one of the days. My exercise is the same time each day and is part of my routine. For me this is 60 min 5 days a week. I hit a depressive cycle over the summer/ fall and gained back 15 lbs of the 45 I lost. But I kept it there because I had a long term goal and consistent habits. And now I am trying to get those habits in my eating plan as well. So if a dog walk and a gym session everyday works for you then do that. When you do something every other day it’s easier to put it off.

Danp

For health goals, it's recommended that you get 150 mins a week exercise. This doesn't necessarily require any gym time or dedicated workouts and can easily be achieved for many people just be trying to be a bit more active during the 'normal life'. Taking the stairs, parking 5 mins further away or little changes through out the day can get you to that 150 mins. At most going for a 30 min walk most days and you're golden.

For fitness goals the right amount will depend on your fitness goal. Strength training and body building would have different 'right' amounts. Training for a half marathon and training just to keep a base level of aerobic fitness will also have very differing right amounts.

For weight loss goals the right amount is anywhere from zero to whatever your fitness/health goals require. Weight management happens primarily in the kitchen, not in the gym. I any many many other people here have lost significant amounts of weight while doing precisely no exercise at all. In fact it's often the case that starting to work out will have very little to no impact on the rate of weight loss as the additional activity results in a corresponding increase in calorie consumption to fuel those workouts and to satisfy the increased appetite that comes from burning those additional calories.

Besides you want to try and adopt an approach to weight loss that will work at the worst of times. If you're relying on exercise to maintain a calorie deficit then as soon as you can't (injury, busy schedule, illness) exercise your weight loss plan is shot. Far better to create your calorie deficit via your food intake then even if for whatever reason you can't workout it won't derail your progress. Then when you are hitting the gym you can increase your calories to properly fuel your activities and you'll still be in the required calorie deficit to continue losing weight.

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