How much is too much exercise?

shellyburger

Because of a long history of eating disorders in my family (myself included) I think I've become hyper sensitive to people over exercising. Just wondering how much is too much exercise for someone who is just looking to lose weight? Not someone training for any type of sport or event, but just doing it purely for weight loss.

BigT555

weight is lost in the kitchen, not the gym. exercise isnt necessary to lose weight. lifting weights is good for building muscle in a surplus/maintaining muscle in a deficit, and cardio is good for increased cardiovascular endurance. both help create a bigger deficit but if you run 10 k a day and still eat too much you'll gain weight

that being said, there is no set amount that is too much. if it doesnt interfere with your life and youre not totally drained throughout the day exercise as much as you want

BrianSharpe

It's a very subjective question and I don't think there's a straightforward answer to it.

What may seem excessive to you may be perfectly normal for someone else; when I'm not in a training cycle for a specific race I'll still run 4 times a week (around 40km or so) ride my bike 80 - 100km, lift weights 2 or 3 times per week etc. Normal for me, probably not so much for some folks (and not recommended for someone just starting a fitness program)

I like BigT555's comment about interfering with your life......I'd say that's a pretty good yardstick.

cwolfman13

weight is lost in the kitchen, not the gym. exercise isnt necessary to lose weight.

QFT...

Also, exercise volume and over-train is going to be pretty relative to the individual. It's not going to take much exercise at all for an under-trained individual to over-train and essentially exercise "too much".

Conversely, someone who is pretty fit is going to be able to incur a heavier workout load...and in fact will need a heavier workout load to further their fitness regardless of whether they're activity training for an activity or sport.

The other issue is understanding and knowing how to properly fuel your body...where a lot of people go wrong, and in particular those people who cannot distinguish weight loss aspirations from fitness aspirations, is that they think they need to do a gazillion hours of exercise and eat nothing. This is completely wrong...the more you exercise, the more fuel your body needs regardless of your weight control goals. The more you workout and harder you workout, the more important properly fueling your body becomes...those calories and nutrition and timing of that energy and nutrition becomes crucial to overall performance and recovery...a fact that is definitely missed by many people who train simply for weight control purposes.

Diet for weight control; exercise for fitness. When you keep those two things separate, necessities become much more clear. I'm not trying to lose weight at all and I cycle around 80 - 100 miles per week and lift 2-3 days per week and throw in some swimming to boot...for a lot of people that would be too much...for me, it's just right and I know and understand how to fuel that activity which is a very important part of the greater equation.

jassnip

There is also the effect of low-level movement to consider. You know...parking at the far end of the parking lot and walking in to the store/office/whatever. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Squating to clean out your lower cupboards. Housework or yard work of all types. The more you move during the day the better. But it doesn't necessarily have to translate into formal exercise.

Actually, now that I think on it...too much exercise could be detrimental to weight loss efforts because you can overstimulate your cortisol production (because too much exercise could be perceived as stress) and it would preferentially burn muscle over fat. At least that's how I understand it. Your research may vary.

I think I will keep the "exercise" to 3-4x /week. With some strength training some Metcon training and lots of stretching. the whole shebang about an hour. YMMV. For the rest, I will try and rely on increasing my LLM.

Good luck.

EllaIsNotEnchanted

weight is lost in the kitchen, not the gym. exercise isnt necessary to lose weight.

QFT...

Also, exercise volume and over-train is going to be pretty relative to the individual. It's not going to take much exercise at all for an under-trained individual to over-train and essentially exercise "too much".

Conversely, someone who is pretty fit is going to be able to incur a heavier workout load...and in fact will need a heavier workout load to further their fitness regardless of whether they're activity training for an activity or sport.

The other issue is understanding and knowing how to properly fuel your body...where a lot of people go wrong, and in particular those people who cannot distinguish weight loss aspirations from fitness aspirations, is that they think they need to do a gazillion hours of exercise and eat nothing. This is completely wrong...the more you exercise, the more fuel your body needs regardless of your weight control goals. The more you workout and harder you workout, the more important properly fueling your body becomes...those calories and nutrition and timing of that energy and nutrition becomes crucial to overall performance and recovery...a fact that is definitely missed by many people who train simply for weight control purposes.

Diet for weight control; exercise for fitness. When you keep those two things separate, necessities become much more clear. I'm not trying to lose weight at all and I cycle around 80 - 100 miles per week and lift 2-3 days per week and throw in some swimming to boot...for a lot of people that would be too much...for me, it's just right and I know and understand how to fuel that activity which is a very important part of the greater equation.

aka, if you are over training can be lead by the following
Overuse of negative (eccentric movements) training, forced reps or cheating movements.
Ignoring a pain and trying to work through the pain to work out the injury.
Failure to follow the general conditioning program long.

If your body cannot handle what you are attempting and you have bad form- you are injured after- you are constantly fatigue- you could be over training.

Over training can lead to muscle tear or tendon aggravation.

Trainers like to say, "listen to your body" because as cwolfman13 mentioned over training depends on different people.

jimmmer

Enough exercise is what allows you to achieve your goals.

Too much exercise is when the activity is detrimental to your goals (i.e. can't recover properly, immune system crashes, sleep goes to s#it, you get weaker/slower/etc rather than stronger/faster/etc)

Not enough training/incorrect training is when the activity doesn't move you towards your goals.

deksgrl

Because of a long history of eating disorders in my family (myself included) I think I've become hyper sensitive to people over exercising. Just wondering how much is too much exercise for someone who is just looking to lose weight? Not someone training for any type of sport or event, but just doing it purely for weight loss.

When they are burning more than what is a reasonable amount. What is "reasonable" is going to depend on the person. How much of a calorie deficit are they running at to lose weight, and how much more are they burning in exercise, and do they have proper fuel for the exercise? If they are not properly fueling for exercise, then negative effects mentioned above will be the result.

ninerbuff

Enough exercise is what allows you to achieve your goals.

Too much exercise is when the activity is detrimental to your goals (i.e. can't recover properly, immune system crashes, sleep goes to s#it, you get weaker/slower/etc rather than stronger/faster/etc)

Not enough training/incorrect training is when the activity doesn't move you towards your goals.

This would probably be the best definition of it.

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

JoRocka

Enough exercise is what allows you to achieve your goals.

Too much exercise is when the activity is detrimental to your goals (i.e. can't recover properly, immune system crashes, sleep goes to s#it, you get weaker/slower/etc rather than stronger/faster/etc)

Not enough training/incorrect training is when the activity doesn't move you towards your goals.

this post wins MFP and the internet for clarity and appropriateness.

spicegeek

I feel you are looking for a pretty simple answer - I think 1 hour a day 5 or 6 days a week is more than enough for general health / weight loss.

Split that between 3 cardio and 3 weights days and you have a reasonable plan. I tend to find my lifting days take an hour sometimes a little more - cardio can be as little as 30 mins - rarely over 45 mins.

The only reason I do more than that is when I am actively training for an event and I`ll add specific competition training work outs to my routine

I think many people work out more so they can eat more - not an unreasonable plan - but it is so time consuming