How Much Exercise Is Too Much Exercise

COliver416

So, I'm 25 years old, I've dropped 20 pounds in the last month or so, I'm down to 254 pounds. My major question is, how much exercise is too much exercise. Right now, I work out between 50 minutes to an hour a day, usually 6 days a week, in roughly 30 minute intervals, 30 minutes in the morning before a protein meal, and 30 minutes at night two hours before sleeping and an hour to an hour and a half after my last meal.

For the first time in my young life, I am loving working out, I mean I wake up with an urge to see if I can push my intensity a little bit more, use a bit heavier weight when I'm weight training, do the cardio a bit faster. I went from a 15 minute mile and being completely exhausted, to 2.5 miles in 30 minutes and able to hop right over to a cycle for another 5 miles in 15 minutes (I keep my cardio always under 45 minutes, because of studies that show a bel curve and muscle depletion).

I've done a lot of study on working out and everything tells you to not overdo it, but nothing tells you what overdoing it is. I know excessive cardio can cause metabolic damage, so I keep my cardio High Intensity and short burst. I know not having recovery days for the body will never let the muscles really develop, so, I divide my workouts to work certain aspects of the body.

Would pumping my workouts to 2 hours a day 4 to 5 days a week be excessive do you think? Does anyone have any information on yes or no?

P.S.

This is not me trying to increase the rate of fat loss like some biggest loser thing. I've gotten quicker results in the past with Max Interval Training which are 16 minute workouts that really take you for a ride. But, in the past, I struggled with workouts, they were a chore, something I had to push myself to do day in and day out, and eventually I gave up. Now, with my priorities straight, it's actually fun.

daniellabella986

I don't see why it would be bad, but then again I'm not a trainer. I do 2 hour workouts usually 2 days a week, most other days I do an hour and just break it up. You don't want to burn yourself out and then hate working out, you know?

AlwaysInMotion

I'd check out this helpful article from Mark's Daily Apple (blog).
"8 Signs You Are Overtraining"
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/overtraining/#axzz2rC1NWzpO

And maybe these articles:
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/overtraining/a/aa062499a.htm
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/overtraining.html

Now, if you aren't exhibiting these signs, then by all means, CARRY ON, young man!!!

Edited to add more links... I'm helpful like that.

SaintGiff

I really think that everybody, and every body, is different. I am an old, and I work out a crazy amount for someone my age. The trick is to listen to your body. A normal week for me is working out five days. Each workout starts with 5 - 10 minutes on a rower as a warm up, followed by 60 - 90 minutes of serious weight training. I then finish with 20 - 30 minutes of intense cardio, either running intervals or back on the rower for a 20 minute balls out sprint. I'm good with this for somewhere between 3 to 6 weeks at a pop before I start to feel my body breaking down a little. When I get that feeling I finish out that week, but the next week is a recovery week. Recovery weeks are only 3 workouts, each one just one hour of cardio. You won't lose anything taking a recovery week. In fact, I have found that I almost always come back stronger.

_Zardoz_

I know excessive cardio can cause metabolic damage, so I keep my cardio High Intensity and short burst.

I'd love to know what you got this gem from. I'm sure it's news to all the marathon, ultramarathon and professional cyclists in the world

steve0820

Overtraining is individualized, so it's hard to tell someone if they are or aren't. You have to listen to your own body and know your recovery times. I personally train almost everyday some weeks, what differs is the intensity. With that said, some weeks, I can train only 3 days. For Ex:, my wife's routine is pretty much my warm up, and someone could see my routine and that might be half of there workout. So if you're recovery is good, and your still advancing towards your goals, you're fine. If you're stalling and seeing signs you might be overtraining, take a break. Like it was mentioned below, even a week break is beneficial once in while.

HappyStack

Nobody needs to spend 2 hours in the weight room, if I'm reading what you wrote correctly.

It's completely unnecessary.

shrewd1983

Amateurs such as the majority of the people on this forum (including myself) typically do not have to worry about over training as we do not spend 3-4 hours a day training. Professional athletes on the other hand there is definitely a fine balance between rest, nutrition and time spent training.

I usually do weights for 30 minutes, and at least 90 minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week, definitely not feeling fatigued, or overstrained.

I wouldn't worry about it, you definitely are not over training by increasing your cardio time to what you stated.

dbmata

I know excessive cardio can cause metabolic damage, so I keep my cardio High Intensity and short burst.

I'd love to know what you got this gem from. I'm sure it's news to all the marathon, ultramarathon and professional cyclists in the world

Even to weekend triathletes.

To the OP - sounds like you're doing well. Try training for a tri, it might help you figure out what you can do with that body of yours.

ninerbuff

When your performance keeps decreasing each workout, chances are you're over training.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

COliver416

I'm training for a Warrior Dash and Spartan Run and possibly Tough Mudder. Thank you all for contributing to my information.

A lot of people are wondering where I got my information on long distance cardio.

Marathon runners are in my opinion not in the greatest shape and the amount of later life injuries (joint damage, excessive aging, and the such, would suggest that--most endurance athletes have need for knee and other joint replacement) they also clearly sacrifice a great deal of muscle. Compare their bodies to sprinters and tell me which looks healthier, younger, and in better shape. I'm friends with marathon runners. They're thin and healthy, but, you'd think they were 10 or even 20 years older than they are. Long distance cardio workouts have been proven in study after study to cause people to lose muscle mass, store fat more readily, slow metabolic rates, age them aggressively, and damage joints and destroy muscles.

Skoluda, N., Dettenborn, L., et al. Elevated Hair Cortisol Concentrations in Endurance Athletes. Psychoneuroendocrinology. September 2011 (Showed Cortisol Levels--the stress hormone, and one of the leading causes of fat storage--higher in endurance athletes).

Applied Physiology, Eur J Appl Physiol. 2003 Jan; 88(4-5):480-4 Showed that High Levels of Endurance Exercise Showed Decrease in T3 Hormones.

In The Journal of Obesity, compensating eating increases for endurance workouts. Sonneville, K.R., et al. (2008) International Journal of Obesity. 32, S19-S27

In the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Cakir-Atabek, H., Demir, S., Pinarbassili, R., Bunduz, N. Effects of Different Resistance Training Intensity on Indices of Oxidative Stress. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. September 2010. 24(9), 2491-2498 Oxidation and Free Radicals were discovered through large amounts of cardio. This increases the aging process.

There was also an Australian study that put two groups of people, one group doing long, slow, endurance cardio, and another, doing HIIT cardio, and followed them for 15 weeks. The group doing HIIT lost six times the fat, where the median average of the cardio group was 1 pound gained over 15 weeks. This was published in the journal Metabolism. Tremblay A., et al. Metabolism (1994); 43(7):814-8.

And just a reference point, Patrick Makau Musyoki, top marathon runner in the world. Usain Bolt is the top Sprinter. The difference between these two people is very clear. The second fastest sprinter really makes it clear, American, Tyson Gay. Marathon runners are great examples of the effect of excessive cardio in my opinion.

Not to debate, but, just to point out where I got my facts.

WalkingAlong

I'd check out this helpful article from Mark's Daily Apple (blog).
"8 Signs You Are Overtraining"
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/overtraining/#axzz2rC1NWzpO

And maybe these articles:
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/overtraining/a/aa062499a.htm
http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/overtraining.html

Now, if you aren't exhibiting these signs, then by all means, CARRY ON, young man!!!

Edited to add more links... I'm helpful like that.

I agree with reading up on symptoms of overtraining. 1 hour a day isn't going to do it for most. 2 hours, maybe.

The articles above probably mention this, I didn't read them, but if you have a HRM, one sign is elevated resting HR. You should check it before even getting out of bed, if you decide to monitor this. The other signs of overtraining are probably plenty telling, though.