Over-exercising?

HowzItGoinEh

I have a crazy amount of extra time on my hands, but it isn't going to last past summer. I want to use this time to shed as many unneeded pounds as I can. I am super motivated and love exercising. I need to drop 100 - 120 lbs.

I was wondering if any of you knew from a scientific, fact-based perspective, if I would be hurting anything by doing 1 hour of strength training and 1 hour of cardio 6 days a week? I have read in some places that the body needs a day's break in between strength training in order to repair and build muscle. Can any of you confirm or deny this backed up with some good scientific data?

I just really want to get the most out of this extra time I have on my hands.

ChessRonin

You do need a day or so of rest between strength training sessions for a given muscle group, and for obvious scientific reasons. The purpose of strength training is to cause stress and trauma to a muscle so that the body will respond by repairing the muscle and strengthening the muscle fiber and/or creating new muscle fibers to be able to handle the stress and trauma the next time it happens. In order to rejuvenate and repair the muscles, the body needs time.

Now, you can alternate muscles every day, and you'll probably be fine. I would try something like arms/chest/upper back on one day, lower body on the next, and core on the last, then rest for an entire day. Also, you should probably limit the strength training to 30 minutes per day (you wont need much more than that for this sort of routine anyway).

Also, keep in mind that while weight lifting is good for weight loss simply because it builds more muscle (which burns more calories) its calorie burning properties as exercise are not that great. Try working in more interval training and sports and keep the weight lifting down to 3 days a week.

jenneyd

l was told to let muscles recover for 2 days. however you can still work out 6 days a week. Work legs ( quads, hams, calves, and butt) Monday. Tuesday work your shoulders triceps and biceps. Wednesday work abs. Thursday work chest and back etc

nmoreland

I have heard, I think through Jillian Michaels, that our body's can only last for a certain amount of time in a workout. I think that if you were to push yourself with difficult cardio then difficult weight lifting back to back, then at some point it is not beneficial to you. Sorry I can't give more details or where I got it froom, but maybe others know more about this.

i think the key thing is to listen to your body, and give yourself a break if your body is protesting too much.

Wakx

Well, this is not a science forum. I'm sure you can find the necessary literature on Elsevier or the likes, but you'd need to pay for those articles. Some body building blogs provide sections that focus on (interpreting) scientific news (usually news from popular magazines and newspapers, rather than the actual papers, I noticed).

I took a sabbatical last year and decided to fix myself up after not having done much physical activity for 20 years. I assure you, it didn't require an academic study for me to find out that it was physically impossible to work out more often than once every 2 days. The muscle strain is bad and most of my body was extremely sensitive to sprain and pain. That's what it was like in the first 3 months. I worked out pretty hard and also had a PT taking me apart every week. Eventually, after the worst suffering, my body was getting used to the new kind of abuse. But it wasn't until after half a year that I had lost enough weight to run risk free for 5-7k.

It is really quite simple. Doing 1hr cardio and 1hr ST six times a week, with 100-120lbs overweight, is quite certainly overdoing it. And if you overdo it, you are likely to find yourself with a messed up knee or shoulder and then be unable to work out for weeks.

I'd be safer to go to the gym 3 times weekly, and do something else the other days. Swimming, a brisk walk, bicycling.

missy1970eb

day in between for rest is best, i found too much when started running so alternated exercise so was running one day and on rest days just light walking

HowzItGoinEh

Thank you all for your replies thus far. A little bit more background on myself - I have been exercising regularly for a few months now. I just did not have the diet portion down so I didn't see a lot of physical changes. I recently tweaked the diet to less than 100 carbs and under 2100 calories per day. I have gained a lot of strength and stamina.

I wasn't planning on doing 2 hours back to back or anything. I was thinking more like cardio in the morning and strength in the afternoon - arms / back one day, chest / shoulders the next, legs / abs the next, and so on.

I base my workouts on my perceived intensity and do not lift more than I can handle. I stop at the first sign of distress and am generally careful when it comes to working out.