How much exercise is too much exercise?

shellyrulz

I know that Healthy People 2010 says that to sustain weight loss you need to exercises 60 - 90 minutes a day for most days. But what is most days. I have worked out for 7 straight days and wonder if I should be taking a break more often. Can anyone tell me if they know?

mgreen10

It depends what kind of excercise you are doing, really. Your body needs to be shocked to produce results. So switch it up, dry different things. If you keep doing the same thing...like walking everyday, your body will get used to it and not have that much effect. I think that working out 3-4 days a week to maintain weightloss is excellent.

darvil

Much less if you are maintaining....more if you are losing. At least always take Sunday off. It's a day of "Rest."

sprinkies

i only workout about 45 mins to 1 hour 4x a week and have been since aug 2010. i've lost and maintained my results. seems ok to me. i have no plans to workout more.

dilansmom

IMO:
you always want to wait 48 hours after strength training to do it again - to let your muscles recover
you can do moderate cardio pretty much every day as long as you're stretching and getting enough water and rest

Atlantique

It depends what kind of excercise you are doing, really. Your body needs to be shocked to produce results. So switch it up, dry different things. If you keep doing the same thing...like walking everyday, your body will get used to it and not have that much effect. I think that working out 3-4 days a week to maintain weightloss is excellent.

There's definitely some truth to the idea that you want to perform different types of exercise on different days, especially so that you aren't overworking any one thing (which leads to injury, exhaustion and tearing down what you were tyring to build). Also to the idea that your body gets more accomplished at anything you do regularly, so you have to either change the intensity or find a different way to work those muscles.

If you were previously inactive, working out every day is just going to make you injured, tired, and eventually ill.

Every other day is fine, 30-45 minutes. Or do a hard day followed by an easy day. Your body needs rest to repair.

A lot of people jump into exercising too hard, too fast and then find themselves injured at worst and losing muscle instead of fat at best. It's OK to have off days! Beneficial even!

buddazmami

If you want to just maintain your weight then 3-4 days a week 45 min to an hour should be sufficient. And even when you are trying to lose weight 7 days a week is too much. Your body needs rest. To much exercise can cause injury depending on what it is you do so never push it too far. Also try changing things up sometimes. This helps alot for both maintaining and weight loss as well.

traceyrbb

I was wondering the same thing. I walk every day and have recently boosted from once a day to twice a day and 30-45 minutes each time at a 3.5 mph average. I'm afraid if I skip a day that I will cave. I'm all or nothing I guess and that's hard to break! Is it really that bad to walk every day?

serenademechris

My brother's wife is a personal trainer and life/health coach. She told me to take a break one day a week. She also told me to mix it up. She said to do as much cardio as I want, but to do different kinds. She also said that if I do strength training to not do two days in a row of the same type (i.e. don't do arm strengthening/arm weights 2 days in a row, maybe only do every other day). Six days a week when you are trying to lose weight is okay as long as you get plenty of rest, fuel (food-you need good carbs, so cut back on refined sugar, but eat whole grains, fruits, and veggies), and drink plenty of fluids. Good luck on your continued journey.

shellyrulz

Thanks for all your comments. I have been doing different activities such as boxing, step aerobics, and my latin cardio dance dvd produced by Dancing with the Stars. I have been working out regularly for about a month now but just recently started the everyday workout. I will keep all your comments in my thoughts and will change up my activities. I just feel awesome when I work out and I just want to keep on going. I will make sure I am getting some rest.

TrainingWithTonya

It depends on the person and what they are doing. Elite athletes tend to be able to handle more intense exercise then the average population, but even they can over train. If you are doing high intensity exercise or heavy weight lifting, you need to add at least one day of rest per week, but if you are just doing light workouts then a rest day isn't always necessary. Boxing, step aerobics, and Latin dance are more moderate activities. You can probably get away with doing a light walk one day a week instead of a total rest day. If you were to add weight training or plyometrics to your workouts, though, I would suggest a day of rest. For those people doing two-a-days with weights and cardio, I'd actually recommend 2 rest days per week. Our athletes at school do a 2 day rest because they are doing very intense workouts twice a day 5 days a week.

Also, if you notice any of the following signs, you might be overtraining and need some rest time:

Decreased desire to workout (if you have gotten to love your workouts--This isn't a great indicator for people who don't like exercise.)
Excessive fatigue from workouts
Increased resting heart rate
Increased resting blood pressure
Mood disturbances
Decreased coordination
Decreased force production (inability to lift as much)
Sickness or infection
Emotional or sleep disturbances

ninpiggy

This is a great thread, so thank you to the OP. I can definitely relate.

valeriebpdx

I was wondering the same thing. I walk every day and have recently boosted from once a day to twice a day and 30-45 minutes each time at a 3.5 mph average. I'm afraid if I skip a day that I will cave. I'm all or nothing I guess and that's hard to break! Is it really that bad to walk every day?

There is no reason NOT to walk every day. It's gentle on the body and a healthy habit. People who say you need rest are talking about really hard exercise like lifting weights (muscles rebuild during the rest) or hard running. Great job getting out there every single day!

hellen72

I was wondering the same thing. I walk every day and have recently boosted from once a day to twice a day and 30-45 minutes each time at a 3.5 mph average. I'm afraid if I skip a day that I will cave. I'm all or nothing I guess and that's hard to break! Is it really that bad to walk every day?

There is no reason NOT to walk every day. It's gentle on the body and a healthy habit. People who say you need rest are talking about really hard exercise like lifting weights (muscles rebuild during the rest) or hard running. Great job getting out there every single day!

I run every day sometimes twice a day or run + gym. Only have a rest day when forced to eg no time ( rare) or day before marathon/ ultra marathon and sometimes day after

I don't go hard every day though and if I did feel exhausted I would rest or do a token gym session

traceyrbb

I was wondering the same thing. I walk every day and have recently boosted from once a day to twice a day and 30-45 minutes each time at a 3.5 mph average. I'm afraid if I skip a day that I will cave. I'm all or nothing I guess and that's hard to break! Is it really that bad to walk every day?

There is no reason NOT to walk every day. It's gentle on the body and a healthy habit. People who say you need rest are talking about really hard exercise like lifting weights (muscles rebuild during the rest) or hard running. Great job getting out there every single day!

Thanks everyone for responding to my question too. it's helpful to have this site and people to talk to.