How much exercise is enough?

karenrich77

Hi,

5 weeks ago I started my MFP healthy lifestyle journey.

I suffer badly with Fibromyalgia and Vertigo, but have been managing to push through 30 mins a day 7 days a week of riding the stationary bike.

Some days I can manage to alternate from slow riding to fast riding and at different resistances.

I know that starting my journey at 370 pounds, I need to keep this up.

But in my mind I can't even let myself have a day off exercising, even when the pain is unbearable.

So my question is, if I do just do 30 mins 6 days a week, is this going to be enough to keep losing kilos and dropping fat?

Thanks

heybales

You need to separate things that aren't actually related.

Diet is for weight loss - done right just fat loss - done wrong muscle mass too (bummer getting that back).

Exercise is for heart health and body improvements - done right supports just fat loss, done wrong encourages muscle loss.

MFP already has a deficit in your daily eating goal based on your selected weekly loss goal.
So probably 2 lbs weekly.

So your daily goal with NO exercise already has 1000 calorie deficit in it.

You doing more exercise isn't going to help that. Actually, you do more and not following the MFP method will actually make that worst, dollars to donuts. (terrible phrase to use there).

I'm going to bet, someone else's money of course, that you do not eat back your exercise calories that you have logged.

And NO you should not be exercising through most pain. Soreness and a slow gentle workout is fine as it can aid healing.
But unless you just want to derail yourself by causing a serious injury and preventing any exercise, stop hurting yourself.

Now, perhaps the pain is exaggerated, what is it?

And no - you don't need to keep that up to lose weight. MFP is setup for weight loss with NO exercise. It's a fitness pal because if you do, you get to eat more.

I'd suggest unless you feel like continuing a life of yo-yo dieting, read some of the older forum members realizations when 50-60 about their life being wasted doing that with terrible relationship with food - and do it right this time.

Your compliance previous attempt was probably related to doing it wrong, not will-power.

snazzyjazzy21

You don't need to exercise to lose weight. Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, body healthy is what exercise will effect. Unfortunately I don't know much about Fibromyalgia, so I'd look at talking to your doctor for advice on whether on not pushing yourself through the pain is a good idea.

karenrich77

My Rheumatologist wants me to do 3 hours of exercise weekly......

However I haven't received great advise from him so far... so I am a bit dubious as to why he wants to make my pain worse lol

karenrich77

Fibromyalgia ...... there is no word I could use to describe the pain that this disorder causes and I do eat about 25% of these exercise calories back each day.

Thanks for the advice

jeremywm1977

My Rheumatologist wants me to do 3 hours of exercise weekly......

However I haven't received great advise from him so far... so I am a bit dubious as to why he wants to make my pain worse lol

If you're asking if 3 hours per week is too much, I would say No. That basically averages out to less than 30 minutes a day, which is definitely doable.
In a typical week, I put in 5 hours (1 hour or more per day, 5 days a week).

meritage4

It's best not to exercise every day. Your body needs at least one day of rest a week.
It's also best not to do the same thing every day.
Can you swim every other day and cycle in between?

heybales

My Rheumatologist wants me to do 3 hours of exercise weekly......

However I haven't received great advise from him so far... so I am a bit dubious as to why he wants to make my pain worse lol

Exercise if done right tears the body down.

It's the rest for recovery and repair that allows it to be built back up, stronger if diet allows.

You have no rest, and it appears your effort is pretty intense.

You'd probably do your body better to get closer to getting in 1 hr x 3 days weekly, and allowing a true recovery.

That may seem worse - but you could probably do more with a recovered body. Plus since that is more effort, it needs more repair.

Now - you aren't going to get that eating so little thinking that's better. Body doesn't make improvements that require more energy if it appears it's already not getting enough.
You may be able to still see progress for a bit though just starting out, just not as much as if you did it better.

Pick 3 days, start working your way up from 30 to 60 min on those days. Confirm good posture for the FM in the shoulders and neck area. For now just keep it steady.
You can add intervals of different intensity later after your have trained your body a bit.

Really take rest days the other days. Some slow walking for 15 min may be in order, as long as not a big effort. You need rest to recover.

Recovery from exercise is impaired in a diet anyway, and even more so with a disease. Which is also the reason a steep deficit isn't a good idea, your body is under enough stress already.

karenrich77

Thanks so much, I think I might take a few days off and then next week try this out. See if I feel better.

No fun feeling wiped out each and every day with pain.

I really appreciate your advice. Thanks

ashleysarvi

Why is exercising everyday bad for your body? I see this a lot. BUT think of before we had machines to simply our lives those farmers, butchers, steel workers and what not "worked-out" everyday all day, in a sense. There is nothing wrong with working out everyday if you get adequate sleep and don't work the SAME muscle groups everyday.

heybales

Why is exercising everyday bad for your body? I see this a lot. BUT think of before we had machines to simply our lives those farmers, butchers, steel workers and what not "worked-out" everyday all day, in a sense. There is nothing wrong with working out everyday if you get adequate sleep and don't work the SAME muscle groups everyday.

Very true.

And how much did they eat?

Enough, or more than enough. More than just sleep was involved, though good hard day made that easier.

Exercising more in a diet is counter-productive, you can easily get symptoms of over-training depending on how intense for you, and doing it daily.
Most wouldn't even notice it since they go by feeling of pushing hard, no comparison to a rested body pushing hard.

So just talking about context here. Even pro's recognize the benefit of different intensity days.

ninerbuff

Hi,

5 weeks ago I started my MFP healthy lifestyle journey.

I suffer badly with Fibromyalgia and Vertigo, but have been managing to push through 30 mins a day 7 days a week of riding the stationary bike.

Some days I can manage to alternate from slow riding to fast riding and at different resistances.

I know that starting my journey at 370 pounds, I need to keep this up.

But in my mind I can't even let myself have a day off exercising, even when the pain is unbearable.

So my question is, if I do just do 30 mins 6 days a week, is this going to be enough to keep losing kilos and dropping fat?

Thanks

As mentioned exercise is for fitness and health. If weight loss is your primary goal, that's done through calorie deficit with or without exercise.

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