Long Workouts

lj5109

Is exercising for long periods of time a negative thing? I workout for 3 hours, sometimes up to 4 days a week.
Lately I've been feeling symptoms of overreaching and I did slow down last week.
Let me know your thoughts and experiences.
Thank you!

Capt_Apollo

yeah, it seems like a lot. what are you doing that you are working out for three hours?

GertrudeHorse

Overtraining is definitely possible, and it's also awful to recover from. How come you are working out for so long? Is there any reason you couldn't do one hour six days a week instead?

sarahg148

I can play tennis or do hiking for that long...but NOT be in a gym for that long. I like to be efficient...get in, get done, get out. I used to spend a couple hours/workout back in college and maybe ten years after when I had time to kill. Now just trying to be smarter about what works for me. :bigsmile:

linkirving

Congrats on your stamina! I would say it depends on what you're doing while you're there. But even if you're taking it pretty easy, 3 hours seems like too much. Your body agrees with me. You should listen to it!

heybales

While in a diet, your recovery from exercise is already impaired, no way around that.

Is the purpose of all that exercise for weight loss?

If so, it's counter-productive, long term and many times short term.

Diet is for weight loss, done right just fat loss, done wrong encourages muscle mass loss.
Exercise is for heart health and body improvements, if done right can support only fat loss, done wrong can cause muscle mass loss.

Exercise if done right tears the body down.
It's the rest for recovery and repair that actually allows it to to be built back up, stronger if diet allows.

Where is your rest?

I'd wager for that amount of time, your exercise is not having near the impact it could have with something shorter and smarter done.
It's basically just spinning your wheels, burning calories. Which if 5 ft or under and light, that could be the only way to eat a decent amount of food that you desire.

Please don't say you have a 2 lb a week weight loss goal, and you exercise that much and don't eat back any exercise calories at all to keep even that potentially too large of a deficit.

rosebette

I guess I have the same type of question as OP. I feel as if I have a lot to make up for if I don't work out or if I eat off plan. I wear a pedometer and have a goal of 5 miles a day, and I'm always "behind", especially since it's been brutally cold and I'm not able to walk as much as I used to. So, I try to do 5 miles on a stationary bike (I fell of a treadmill once) or do a heavy duty aerobics class if I can find one that meets my schedule (which doesn't happen often). Then, I also need to get some stretching and strength in. Saturday, I spent about 3 hours in the gym, 1 hour power yoga, one half hour insanity, and about 45 minutes on the bike, then I walked 30 minutes because the weather was finally decent. Sunday -- 1 hour yoga, 30 minute walk. Today, 1 1/4 hour yoga, 45 minutes bike, 20 minute walk (all I could stand). Tomorrow, I'll probably do a 1/2 hour on the bike, 1/2 hour strength, and 1/2 hour walk. But some days, I am very busy teaching and meeting students, or have other commitments at night, and end up not going to the gym at all, so I feel I have to make up for those days, too. I'm also feeling that on my gym days, I'm spending so much time when I do have other things to do, too, a house to clean, papers to correct, etc. I didn't call my mom for 2 weeks because I was spending so much time at the gym.

My other question is whether a brisk walk in cold weather burns more calories than walking in temperate weather. MFP says I'm only burning between 60 and 90 calories, which doesn't seem worth it when my fingers are blue under two pairs of gloves.

lj5109

I usually go in and do a half hour of intense cardio on an elliptical. Then free weights and machines for 2 hours and then another half hour or 45 minutes of cardio. I noticed the signs of overreaching last week and then I got sick at the gym last Monday after only being there a little over an hour. I took 2 days off and came back to a moderate workout that was only 90 minutes. I felt sick and tired after that workout so I took another day off. I went back Saturday and was able to get a good 2 hours in but felt exhausted afterwards. I took Sunday and Monday off and I won't be able to get back into the gym until Wednesday or Thursday. Usually I take mon/tues/wed off and go thurs/fri/sat/sun. That's just the best for me because of my class scheduling since I'm still in college.

Since I experienced overreaching, I have lost 7 pounds.

heybales

I usually go in and do a half hour of intense cardio on an elliptical. Then free weights and machines for 2 hours and then another half hour or 45 minutes of cardio. I noticed the signs of overreaching last week and then I got sick at the gym last Monday after only being there a little over an hour. I took 2 days off and came back to a moderate workout that was only 90 minutes. I felt sick and tired after that workout so I took another day off. I went back Saturday and was able to get a good 2 hours in but felt exhausted afterwards. I took Sunday and Monday off and I won't be able to get back into the gym until Wednesday or Thursday. Usually I take mon/tues/wed off and go thurs/fri/sat/sun. That's just the best for me because of my class scheduling since I'm still in college.

Since I experienced overreaching, I have lost 7 pounds.

7 lbs of what?
Water, fat, muscle, a combo - does it even matter to you?
Or do you realize why it might matter what it is?

So in 7 days you lost 7 lbs?

Was that fat?

7 lbs of fat x 3500 calories/lb = 24500 calorie deficit to cause that loss / 7 days / 3500 calories deficit daily.

So do you think you burned, beyond what you ate daily, an average of 3500 calories daily for that week?

In other words, if you ate 1500 calories, and your maintenance is 2000 without exercise, did you burn 3000 calories in exercise daily?

Now, throw the fact that muscle, if needed for fuel because of way under-eating, only provides 600 calories per pound. Much easier to lose a lb of muscle than a lb of fat.

And are you following MFP correctly, by eating back best estimate of exercise calories?

Or you think a bigger deficit is better? In which case why are you eating, shouldn't you just stop eating, and lose it faster?

lj5109

I have a body fat % scale and most of what I lost was body fat while my water % stayed the same.

rosebette

When you say you feel sick "OP," do you mean like throwing up sick or just fatigued?

I did feel a bit fatigued today, but my workout was late in the day after being up since 5:30 AM.

I'm small so my workouts don't burn very many calories. I'm on 1200 calories a day, so if I work out, maybe I get around 1600. It's still not a huge amount of food.

lj5109

When you say you feel sick "OP," do you mean like throwing up sick or just fatigued?

I did feel a bit fatigued today, but my workout was late in the day after being up since 5:30 AM.

I'm small so my workouts don't burn very many calories. I'm on 1200 calories a day, so if I work out, maybe I get around 1600. It's still not a huge amount of food.

I threw up. I never throw up at the gym so it was a surprise to me. I ate before and allowed myself enough time to digest before I went to the gym. My routine was as usual, I just ended up getting sick an hour through it. I took a few minutes to relax, changed my clothes, and ended up going to a dining court for dinner. I tried eating and it took me a while to finish because my stomach was still uneasy. That only happened once and it hasn't happened again thankfully.
I am only 5'3, but I am heavier. So I am able to burn 300-350 calories on an elliptical in a half hour. My heart rate is usually between 187 and 210 while I am on an elliptical.

heybales

I have a body fat % scale and most of what I lost was body fat while my water % stayed the same.

Do the math - no you did not. Sorry to say. If you were correct with 7 lbs in 7 days comments.

You ever jumped on that scale within 1/2 hr of prior measurements? Try it sometime.

Besides accuracy being upwards of 10-15%, consistency has only been found good in a few models.

You seem to be picking out 1 comment from many of the postings that you want to expand on - I think you may be missing more focusing on 1 thing.

And your high intensity workout is exactly fitting in with what I stated.

Do you have any idea if that is a high or low HR in the scheme of things?

I mean, some people can hear an engine and say that sounds really good and powerful, and not be aware that there is a spark plug misfiring causing that noise that sounds good to them.

lj5109

It was 7 pounds in almost 11 days. I had plateaued for several weeks and this was my first loss since.

My heart rate is high, I know. But it is consistently that high. I have been working out with that level heart rate for months. I am not sure what I should do about it. I have done my research and some people just have a higher hr during exercises. I have considered seeing a doctor about it but I am not sure.

RhineDHP

Is exercising for long periods of time a negative thing? I workout for 3 hours, sometimes up to 4 days a week.
Lately I've been feeling symptoms of overreaching and I did slow down last week. Let me know your thoughts and experiences.
Thank you!

I got sick at the gym last Monday after only being there a little over an hour. I took 2 days off and came back to a moderate workout that was only 90 minutes. I felt sick and tired after that workout so I took another day off. I went back Saturday and was able to get a good 2 hours in but felt exhausted afterwards.

I think you already have your answer. Work out 45min-1 hour at the most. Span out what you do: cardio one day, a set of muscle groups the other day, a different muscle group the next day, cardio the next day....something like that.

astronomicals

far more than necessary to lose weight and it'll most likely have adverse effects. Be patient and stop hazing yourself.. If you must do that much exercise do some restorative yoga and light walking to replace a lot of it. Get on a better lifting regimen as well. To me it sounds more like 3 hours of cardio. Either that or you're doing far more volume than you should be.

MicheleWE

If there is any voice to listen to and trust, it is definitely Haybales! I encourage you take really consider what he is saying. (I am not even one of his friends, but if I've learned anything around here, it's that he knows his stuff!)
So, in my opinion, yes, three hours is to much. First that level of exercise in a gym is not leaving much life left to live, and the when that activity starts intersecting with living a real lifestyle it causes those healthy habits to start slipping. You want to adopt a routine that can be done for life so that you will be healthy for life. What good is three hours of exercise a day doing you if it has to go by the wayside because life ends up having more demands? Consistency is key for weight loss, and for health.
It's important to remember that the weight didn't come on all at once and it won't come off all at once either. People get in a hurry and want to make the change "right now" and get discouraged and give up when it doesn't happen right away. This process does produce change all along the way that is helpful in readjusting the mind as your body changes.
One thing to look at is the efficiency of your workouts. Is there a lot of rest time between exercises waiting to get on machines? A lot of the weight lifting programs that I've seen tend to have 6-8 exercises that are done as sets of 2-4 with 8-12 reps each with 30 seconds to 2 minutes rest in between sets depending on if it's compound moves or not. At the max that is 288 reps! That is a good workout.
We have the idea that if we do more then it must be better but all that it does is stress the body and then cause it to start breaking down and become injury prone. Some of those injuries are awful hard to recover from.
I rather enjoy working out myself, and it becomes a hobby at times but I've learned I have to be a little easier on myself. Overtraining is not good! I now limit my weight workouts to 45-60 minutes four times per week and have two days of cardio.
Instead of spending 12 hours a week exercising at the gym, what if you took it easier on yourself and just spent 6 hours at the gym and 6 hours just enjoying a more active lifestyle with friends? That NEAT burn usually accounts for a much bigger burn than workout calorie burns. An active lifestyle gives you the benefit of a social life, a healthy heart and a lot of calories burned.

heybales

It was 7 pounds in almost 11 days. I had plateaued for several weeks and this was my first loss since.

My heart rate is high, I know. But it is consistently that high. I have been working out with that level heart rate for months. I am not sure what I should do about it. I have done my research and some people just have a higher hr during exercises. I have considered seeing a doctor about it but I am not sure.

Some people have a high HR during exercise because they push themselves so intensely right up next to anaerobic HR zone, totally training their carb burning system.

And the body is trained to go straight up there too.
That type of intense workout is a huge stress on the body.
Perhaps you consistently have a falsely-elevated HR because of being dehydrated, or body being under so much stress (that sounds very likely), so the workout wasn't really as intense as the HR might otherwise indicate.

You slow down, that's what you do about it. Perhaps you are of the thought the harder you go, the better.
Incorrect, except for smart training programs.

The other question I and at least one other asked - are you eating back those exercise calories - or creating a ridiculous deficit?
Which would also be the cause for sickness very easily.

7 lbs lost in 11 days. Did you do the math given if you think this is all fat?

7 x 3500 = 24500 / 11 = 2227

So you think you caused each and every of those 11 days a deficit of 2227 calories between what you ate, and what you burned in total?
And mind you, your daily life outside exercise may have burned 2000.
If you indeed ate 1500 and that is it in total, that's 500 of the deficit there.

So that leaves creating extra deficit by exercise of 1727 calories each and every day of those 11 days - if you think that was all fat weight.

Did you do that?

Now I can do that during summer training easy enough with long bike rides and runs and swims, but I am sure going to benefit from all that exercise by eating correctly for that level of training. Otherwise just a big waste of time and energy, with negative effects.

lj5109

far more than necessary to lose weight and it'll most likely have adverse effects. Be patient and stop hazing yourself.. If you must do that much exercise do some restorative yoga and light walking to replace a lot of it. Get on a better lifting regimen as well. To me it sounds more like 3 hours of cardio. Either that or you're doing far more volume than you should be.

You're right. I do turn my weights into cardio which might not be the best way to go about things.

Ulfgard

I have a body fat % scale and most of what I lost was body fat while my water % stayed the same.

http://www.bodpod.com/en/products/body-composition/adult-children-bod-pod-gs/bod-pod

The most accurate way to measure body fat. I doubt your scale is as accurate as you think.

lj5109

It was 7 pounds in almost 11 days. I had plateaued for several weeks and this was my first loss since.

My heart rate is high, I know. But it is consistently that high. I have been working out with that level heart rate for months. I am not sure what I should do about it. I have done my research and some people just have a higher hr during exercises. I have considered seeing a doctor about it but I am not sure.

Some people have a high HR during exercise because they push themselves so intensely right up next to anaerobic HR zone, totally training their carb burning system.

And the body is trained to go straight up there too.
That type of intense workout is a huge stress on the body.
Perhaps you consistently have a falsely-elevated HR because of being dehydrated, or body being under so much stress (that sounds very likely), so the workout wasn't really as intense as the HR might otherwise indicate.

You slow down, that's what you do about it. Perhaps you are of the thought the harder you go, the better.
Incorrect, except for smart training programs.

The other question I and at least one other asked - are you eating back those exercise calories - or creating a ridiculous deficit?
Which would also be the cause for sickness very easily.

7 lbs lost in 11 days. Did you do the math given if you think this is all fat?

7 x 3500 = 24500 / 11 = 2227

So you think you caused each and every of those 11 days a deficit of 2227 calories between what you ate, and what you burned in total?
And mind you, your daily life outside exercise may have burned 2000.
If you indeed ate 1500 and that is it in total, that's 500 of the deficit there.

So that leaves creating extra deficit by exercise of 1727 calories each and every day of those 11 days - if you think that was all fat weight.

Did you do that?

Now I can do that during summer training easy enough with long bike rides and runs and swims, but I am sure going to benefit from all that exercise by eating correctly for that level of training. Otherwise just a big waste of time and energy, with negative effects.

I understand that not all the weight loss was fat. I need to change my diet because I know I am not getting enough protein and it has been affecting me. My heart tends to race while I'm just sitting on and off the past couple days and it's pretty unsettling. I've never had that happen before. I'm not really sure why or what's going on

scoutli

It was 7 pounds in almost 11 days. I had plateaued for several weeks and this was my first loss since.

My heart rate is high, I know. But it is consistently that high. I have been working out with that level heart rate for months. I am not sure what I should do about it. I have done my research and some people just have a higher hr during exercises. I have considered seeing a doctor about it but I am not sure.

Some people have a high HR during exercise because they push themselves so intensely right up next to anaerobic HR zone, totally training their carb burning system.

And the body is trained to go straight up there too.
That type of intense workout is a huge stress on the body.
Perhaps you consistently have a falsely-elevated HR because of being dehydrated, or body being under so much stress (that sounds very likely), so the workout wasn't really as intense as the HR might otherwise indicate.

You slow down, that's what you do about it. Perhaps you are of the thought the harder you go, the better.
Incorrect, except for smart training programs.

The other question I and at least one other asked - are you eating back those exercise calories - or creating a ridiculous deficit?
Which would also be the cause for sickness very easily.

7 lbs lost in 11 days. Did you do the math given if you think this is all fat?

7 x 3500 = 24500 / 11 = 2227

So you think you caused each and every of those 11 days a deficit of 2227 calories between what you ate, and what you burned in total?
And mind you, your daily life outside exercise may have burned 2000.
If you indeed ate 1500 and that is it in total, that's 500 of the deficit there.

So that leaves creating extra deficit by exercise of 1727 calories each and every day of those 11 days - if you think that was all fat weight.

Did you do that?

Now I can do that during summer training easy enough with long bike rides and runs and swims, but I am sure going to benefit from all that exercise by eating correctly for that level of training. Otherwise just a big waste of time and energy, with negative effects.

I understand that not all the weight loss was fat. I need to change my diet because I know I am not getting enough protein and it has been affecting me. My heart tends to race while I'm just sitting on and off the past couple days and it's pretty unsettling. I've never had that happen before. I'm not really sure why or what's going on

It might be time to tell a physician about your heart racing while at rest. Have you had a thyroid workup? Too much or too little hormone could cause heart palpitations. (It happened to me, (Hashimoto's)and it is indeed terrifying. Mine would skip, then race, then flutter, then pound--all while sitting on the couch.) Don't mess around with stuff like that. It could be an easy fix, but serious if ignored.

tcatcarson

There are some people at my gym who might <claim> to be there for 3 hours also, but if you took away the time they spent chatting, drifting, looking at themselves or staring at their phones, they are actually doing about 15 minutes of exercise...!

You're not one of..."them"...are you?

GertrudeHorse

Based on subsequent comments it seems almost certain that you are over-training and putting extreme stress on your heart in the process. I suggest getting a moderate exercise routine given to you by a PT, but only after you've seen a doctor about the tachycardia. Unless you're a professional athlete there is no need to be so spending three hours at the gym. You can spend 45-60 minutes there and achieve amazing things in that time. Train smarter not longer.

uconnwinsnc

You're young, so your body can PROBABLY handle the extreme stress you are putting on it for the time being...although there really is no reason to do it. Sooner or later, probably very soon, you're going to burn out. Slow down, there is no real benefit of pushing yourself as hard as you are and you'll probably see better results with a bit more recover time and shorter (but still intense) workouts.

kelly_e_montana

I work out 12 hours per week often, because I enjoy it. During the summer, it's even more, as one of my hikes alone can be 5-6 hours.

I don't have signs of overtraining and I take one full rest day and one active rest day per week (just moderate walking). Several of those hours are usually for flexibility and mobility, several are CrossFit/weight lifting, and I also walk and swim.

I feel great. To the posters who are saying you have no life balance, to them I ask: Do you watch television? Well, I don't. That gives me at least 2 more hours to work out each day than most who watch TV. I garden, camp, and fish but it's winter right now. I don't go to clubs because I have a very social job and exercise is my outlet away that. I don't have kids. I already volunteer and read. I'm not really sure what else I should be doing in my spare time except maybe taking up crafting. Snore. I'm physically active because it's what I like to do and how I get high on life, not for calorie burning.

If you feel good, keep it up. However, if you have a racing heart when you awake or you're tired or have nagging injuries, take a break. If you have low energy, step back. Listen to your body. Back off and see if your heart rate issue goes away!

kelly_e_montana

Also, I would try to break up your rest days a little more if you are doing that much intensity four days in a row!

Railr0aderTony

If there is any voice to listen to and trust, it is definitely Haybales! I encourage you take really consider what he is saying. (I am not even one of his friends, but if I've learned anything around here, it's that he knows his stuff!)

QFT,

rosebette

I agree, I think OP may be overtraining. Her heart rate seems to be extremely high, even though she's quite young. Also 7 lbs. in 11 days is a lot of weight, so she may be stressing her system. Of course, this is from someone who spent 2 hours in the gym last night, but 1 1/2 hours was yoga.

Ninkyou

OP, you still haven't anwerered the main question, which is:

Are you eating your exercise calories back?

If not, you should be. If you're not eating those calories, you're not doing your body any favors.

Heybales has given you alot of good information and maths. Slow it down (don't go balls to the wall), eat right.


As for the original question, The most I've 'worked out' is about 2 1/2 hours, but that's from hiking. Some days I do have high days, like doing treadmill walking + Zumba, BUT my exercise is accounted for in my calories. If you continue to overtrain your body, not only are you going to make yourself sick again, you're leaving yourself open to injury.

wilsoje74

It seems like too much, I would go for 60-90 min