Can you get to much exercise?

yellowsun101

This is my exercise schedule a the moment, is this too much?

Monday - Zumba 60mins
Tuesday - Spinning 30mins followed by circuit training 60mins
Wednesday - Body Balance 60mins
Thursday - Yoga 60mins
Friday - Metafit 30mins
Saturday - Circuit Training 45mins
Sunday - Rest Day

I also walk my dog over an hour a day and sometimes do a Jillian Michael's DVD in the mornings. I love going to classes at the gym and would rather do that than sit on my bum watching tv while stuffing my face but some people have said I'm doing to much and should take more rest days, should I?

iplayoutside19

To answer the original question, you can get too much exercise. You'll feel run down, or you'll get injured and your body will make you take a rest.

However, I think your schedule looks fine. You have a rest day, and you have Yoga on Wed which is less impact than the others, so there's your other rest day if you want it.

meshashesha2012

i personally dont think there is such a thing as over training but there is under recovery. recovery includes proper rest and nutrition.

looking at your schedule no i dont think this is too much especially since most of the things you are doing are low impact.

for the record, i dont take fitness advice from people i know to be lazy or people whose idea of a workout is the same 30 minute elliptical routine they've been doing for the past 2 years while being able to read a magazine :laugh: i find usually the people who tell me i work out too much are those who see nothing wrong with sitting in front of the tv for hours at a time.

tomcornhole

Good to Go. Tired is not overtrained. Sore is not overtrained. Consistently decreasing performance over time is overtraining.

I have tried to overtrain and got there once with weightlifting. I did an entire month of 5/3/1 in 10 days (no rest days, no reload days). That's a lot of lifting and I was dead at the end. And then all my lifts went to heck. Took three weeks to get back on track. So that was just a little overtrained.

I am currently exercising 6 days / week like you. Cardio every day. Lifting every other day. I am in a cut and I would rather exercise more than eat less. Am I overtraining? I doubt it. I am however not optimized to progress on either the cardio nor strength. But that is not my current training goal. My current training goal is fat loss, maintain strength and improve VO2 max. At the end of the cut, the cardio will go away.

So let me ask you what your goal is? You should always have a goal to train to. Exercise sucks. Training rocks.

Tom

AllOutof_Bubblegum

That's an awful lot of cardio. Where is the strength training/weightlifting? Too much cardio can start burning muscle along with fat and make you weak and flabby. Incorporate weights into your routine to preserve that lean muscle!

Mikel423

From what I've read, which can be left for interpretation, after 45 minutes of medium / high intensity cardio, your body actually resorts to burning muscle tissue for fuel instead of fat or carbs...

like anything, balance is key

meshashesha2012

That's an awful lot of cardio. Where is the strength training/weightlifting? Too much cardio can start burning muscle along with fat and make you weak and flabby. Incorporate weights into your routine to preserve that lean muscle!

the OP has yoga (body weight) and circuit training which i assume to be something involving strength training.

what's body balance?

yellowsun101

Thanks, I don't feel like I'm doing to much not tierd but very energized.

To answer the questions the circuit training includes lifting so does the Jillian Michael's videos.

Body balance is a great class its a mix of yoga, pilates and tai chi to music its one of my fav classes at the mo.

Goal is to loss weight and become strong, toned and healthy.

365andstillalive

Your schedule looks great to me, unless you went from 0 to 60 and two weeks ago weren't working out at all and suddenly want to workout 6 days a week.

You've got some lower impact days, and a rest day, so just listen to your body. If you hit a week where you're experiencing a lot of soreness, are tired/run down, or are noticing losses in your ability to do those workouts, slow down and take an extra rest day.

And make sure you're eating enough to off-set your high activity level!

yellowsun101

Thanks for all the replies I'm going to continue with my workout plan and enjoy it.

abadvat

in my opinion too much exercise does not exist, there is wrong / not enough nutrition and / or not enough / adequate rest.
Exercise just like any type of activity you undertake needs to be fuelled in adequate amounts and enough rest needs provided.
Feeling run down, constantly tired, not capable of ending a work out, can't get out of bed, get constantly sick / not well means you have not been fuelling or resting properly and need to re-consider what you are doing to maximise output.

mikeyrp

To the topic question - Yes - you can do too much exercise. I know a few pro athletes and they push themselves to the edge - and on years where they get it wrong they burn out - which means either serious injuries or getting dangerously ill.

However - to get to that point you need to be training flat out twice a day, every day, for hours at a time in each session. A recovery day consists of 'only' doing an hour or so at a gentle pace.... I mean these people live and breath their sports.


Your program looks like a perfectly healthy balance to me. The amount you are doing you don't need to worry about burning all your muscle either... Seriously, you're fine - just make sure you eat properly as you will find recovery increasingly hard if you don't get enough protein & calories to support your workouts.

GreenEyedTrailMonster

i personally dont think there is such a thing as over training but there is under recovery. recovery includes proper rest and nutrition.

Absolutely!!!!

Because you are just doing classes, they are short period of exercise and low impact, so long as you are basically well and eat properly then there is no way that this level of exercise is too much. Ignore nay sayers...it is usually motivated by...well not jealousy so much but somehow people infer some kind of criticism about the way that they live, from you choosing to be more active than them. Ignore negativity.

Enjoy!!!!

Velum_cado

Your body will let you know if you're overdoing it. Pay attention and give yourself rest days when you need them.

GreenEyedTrailMonster

A recovery day consists of 'only' doing an hour or so at a gentle pace.... I mean these people live and breath their sports.

Oi!!!!! Not so disparaging you

If you have got to a certain level of fitness through years of consistency then a total day off does for the main just becomes completely unnecessary and actually turning your legs over (if it is a leg based activity) is better than a day off unless you have overcooked it. A gentle trot, cycle can help to mobilise accumulated lactic buildup and allow it to be reabsorbed by the body, leaving you in a better state.

You don't have to be a competitive nut or obsessed. I am neither but I have run every day that I can (occasionally work stuff interrupts) because I run trail/off road/hilly from home in one of the most beautiful, incredible places in the UK and it makes my heart soar every day. The running is almost irrelevant, it is about engaging with my planet and flooding my brain with happy chemistry every day!!

I don't train as such. I go out and do what I feel like. I choose my route on the hoof as it were. Some of my weeks are over 100 miles some end up being just 50 or 60....whatever really.

In the friendliest possible way I just wanted to defend those who choose not to "rest" if they don't feel like it. There are a whole community of people who just enjoy going out and doing what they do and because they have been doing that for years, the human body adapts and recovers more and more quickly and you just become pretty bullet proof. I have never had a "runners injury" and don't ever expect to. Some of us just are connected to our bodies in a way that we don't feel the need to rest because we are not 'making' ourselves 'exercise'!!

Big love Em :flowerforyou:

randomtai

Holy cardio! :noway:

MinimalistShoeAddict

This is my exercise schedule a the moment, is this too much?

The answer to this question really depends on your fitness level. For someone who has been sedentary and not worked out at all for several years, this schedule is probably too much.

Some people who have been exercising for quite a while may exercise a lot more than this without trouble.

As long as your are continually making progress (in terms of strength, endurance, speed or whichever metric you are tracking) and not experiencing any injuries I see no problem.

If your progress stalls or you get hurt then you should reevaluate.

Hell_Flower

Eh, tell them to pipe down.

There's 168 hours in a week. If you actively work out for 6 hours hours a week, that's less than 5% of your time.

IMHO, that's not excessive and heaps better than sitting in front of the TV for 20% of the week like most lazy folks will do!

You go on with your bad self. How much you exercise does not affect anyone else's happiness, other than to remind them that they are lazy :laugh:

cdoesthehula

Rather than what your friend is saying, what is your body saying? Are you feeling OK?

Years ago, when I was doing "serious" cycling, I had a day where I did hillclimbing practice when I was feeling overtired and a bit run down to begin with.

Something happened. I got very weak, rode home as gently as I could, and went to bed and spent the whole night crying and shivering. I didn't ride for about a month afterwards, and it took a while to get back to normal.

So yes, as a general amount of excercise, what you're doing isn't excessive. But don't be too rigid. Eat and sleep appropriately. If you don't feel well, don't train. And all will be well.

Zekela

That's an awful lot of cardio. Where is the strength training/weightlifting? Too much cardio can start burning muscle along with fat and make you weak and flabby. Incorporate weights into your routine to preserve that lean muscle!

Lol at this... I do zero weight lifting... Im also guilty of 'too much cardio' with running over 80 miles a week sometimes 100 mpw. Well, probably just as much as a month a year I do weights and I'm very lean and have awesome muscle definition. You don't need to lift weights to be ripped dear. All you need is resistance in your workout.

randomtai

That's an awful lot of cardio. Where is the strength training/weightlifting? Too much cardio can start burning muscle along with fat and make you weak and flabby. Incorporate weights into your routine to preserve that lean muscle!

Lol at this... I do zero weight lifting... Im also guilty of 'too much cardio' with running over 80 miles a week sometimes 100 mpw. Well, probably just as much as a month a year I do weights and I'm very lean and have awesome muscle definition. You don't need to lift weights to be ripped dear. All you need is resistance in your workout.

Ripped only means you have a low BF%. That has nothing to do with your strength.

J72FIT

I love going to classes at the gym and would rather do that than sit on my bum watching tv while stuffing my face but some people have said I'm doing to much and should take more rest days, should I?

My questions to you are...

1. How do you feel?
2. How is your sleep?
3. Are you eating enough to support your activity?

If you feel good, are getting plenty of rest and eating enough to support your activity, then IMO you are good to go.

dbmata

That's a lot of cardio, but none of it is very high intensity or high volume, so go for it.

I'd add in a couple heavier cardio days, and some weightlifting. But... for a light schedule, that's good to go.

colors_fade

i personally dont think there is such a thing as over training but there is under recovery. recovery includes proper rest and nutrition.

I just want to second this.

This is what I've read and heard from several trainers and athletes, and if you think about it, it makes sense. As long as you are giving yourself enough time to recover - muscles recovering, proper sleep, adequate nutrition, you can train as hard as you want. Professional athletes train way more than we do. They do fine - but they allot time to recovery.

colors_fade

Ripped only means you have a low BF%. That has nothing to do with your strength.

I'd beg to differ on this count: Anorexics have low body fat, and they're not ripped.

You need some muscle to pull off the "ripped" look. It's subjective, of course. But it's not exclusively about body fat.

randomtai

Ripped only means you have a low BF%. That has nothing to do with your strength.

I'd beg to differ on this count: Anorexics have low body fat, and they're not ripped.

You need some muscle to pull off the "ripped" look. It's subjective, of course. But it's not exclusively about body fat.

Low BF% compared to your weight.... Always someone who needs to point out the obvious which has nothing to do with the subject. :huh:

MKEgal

To answer the original question, you can get too much exercise. You'll feel run down, or you'll get injured and your body will make you take a rest.
However, I think your schedule looks fine. You have a rest day, and you have Yoga on Wed which is less impact than the others, so there's your other rest day if you want it.

What s/he said. Looks fine to me.

"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake. However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity.
To maintain your weight: work your way up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or an equivalent mix of the two each week."
(The page explains moderate & vigorous.)
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html

So you're in the "lose weight" amount of cardio exercise, which is fine.
When you get to your goal, think about reducing it a bit.

Zekela

My point is: you do not need to hit the weights room to get the body you want. So stop scaring people about losing muscle mass and becoming flabby if they do not hit the weights room. Totally not true. There are other ways to skin a cat (sorry cat lovers, I also love cats too), lifting weights isn't the ONLY means to the desired end.

randomtai

My point is: you do not need to hit the weights room to get the body you want. So stop scaring people about losing muscle mass and becoming flabby if they do not hit the weights room. Totally not true. There are other ways to skin a cat (sorry cat lovers, I also love cats too), lifting weights isn't the ONLY means to the desired end.

No one said that. :laugh: :huh:

Zekela

That's an awful lot of cardio. Where is the strength training/weightlifting? Too much cardio can start burning muscle along with fat and make you weak and flabby. Incorporate weights into your routine to preserve that lean muscle!

Yes it was said! Please read! :-p

bigsistruck

YES. If you are feeling worn down with this routine then I'd cut the times down. I have NEVER worked out for more than 45 minutes a day and usually it's only 30 minutes. I have always been successful at losing weight to my goal. I have tried doing almost an hour a day and found that my weight loss slowed. Never again. As long as you make your 30 minutes count, then it works just fine.