How Much Exercise is Too Much Exercise???

angeleyes2u78

Hello everyone, I just started really being faithful to MFP within the last week or so. I had gotten a free membership for 2 weeks to a gym here in town and used it up and joined it today for the month. I love working out, I used to hate it.... I normally will do 30 minutes of cardio and 2-10 minutes of general circuit training and then I will do about 5 sets of strength training rotating upper and lower body day to day. My question is this, if I want to come home in the evening before bed and do a kettlebell workout for 30 minutes, would that be way to much for me or would it be something to consider. I dont want to be unhealthy with this, I want to do what is right, but not sure what that is yet...... On average at the gym mon - fri I will burn around 450-550 calories per day and sometimes more than that if I push myself hard.... .so would it not be helpful to do more than that? THanks for any input you have.... will check back here later...=-)

busyPK

I think it is a good idea to take at least 1-2 days off of exercise per week. It gives your body time to heal those muscles you are working. Plus, I tend to drop weight on the scale the morning after a rest day. If I were you I'd only add the kettleball workout in the evenings 2 days a week or so.

lordbyron46

Hi Angeleyes.

You should aim to do 1 hour of cardio when in the gym and 30 mins of weights, the first 30 minutes of your workout your only burning stored carbs, the second 30 your body will be burning fat, which if weight loss is the required result is what you need to do, easy exercise is to walk at a steady pace uphill on the running machine, this burns pure fat and wont tire you out to quickly.

Aim for 4 nights a week at 700-900 calories as it takes 3500 burnt calories to lose a pound of fat......

Good luck x

Jennloella

I think just do what you can. If you are lifting heavy or running long distances probably not a bad idea to take a rest day, but if you feel good then don't. I personally work out 7 days a week, a mix of weights, running, pole dancing, krav maga, and spin bike. I don't go balls to the wall everyday but if I have the time and the energy, why not.

lwoods34

My advice would be to see how you feel. If you are just getting started with an exercise program I would definitely recommend that you wean yourself into it and try not to push yourself too hard, too fast because you will be burn out OR get injured. There is nothing wrong with doing part of your workout in the morning and the other part at night but you really have to listen to your body and do what is right for your body.

Scarlett_S

I've spent the last several weeks doing two-a-day workouts and only taking a day off a week. It hasn't resulted in extra weight loss. Probably extra muscle gain as I've lost inches, but truthfully, I think its taking a toll on my body. I believe you need rest in between the muscle groups you work out. In other words, if you work arms/chest at the gym in the morning, do kettlebell in the evening, you need a good 24-36 hours before you work those specific groups again. Some people say you need 48 hours.

I find that I lose stamina and strength during my workouts when I am doing the two per day. I am finishing out this week with the trainer then going back to my five days a week cardio and MWF strength training the following week.

Srdking

I have workout out none stop most of my life. I had a baby last year and gained 55 pounds. I have lost a lot of it, and I am back to exercising often. What is to much exercise? No such thing! As long as you are eating right and have enough fuel in your body and have the energy to do it, then go ahead and do it. I work out twice in the morning, and then once more in the evening before bed. Instead of sitting on the sofa when I'm bored or the computer, I will get up and move. So as long as your taking care of yourself and year health is good, why not? I work out 7 days a week, no days off! But here is the thing I do trade off my exercises all week long. So certain parts of my body get a rest. Like for me I will do 2-3 days straight of weight lifting "small weights", and then take the next day off from weights and just do my normal exercises. The days where I do pure cardio, I will work on my abs. So it helps the body to switch everything up so it works harder. Taking more time off does not give your muscles you are working more time to heal. You just don't want to work those same muscles over and over again, they do need to rest but not for 2 days. If that were true I would be a walking hurting mess.

My opinion, because I do workout again right before bed. Go ahead and do your kettlebell workout. Try it and see if it works for you. You don't have to do it every night, but I know for me I wake up feeling good knowing I had a quick workout in right before bed.

CynthiaWinnie

I workout everyday. I do about the same. Do about 20 mins at least for cardio, get your heart rate up. While lifting, do a full body workout every time. Keep your heart rate up. Get a monitor if you can. To figure your target heart rate take your age and subtract 220. Do supersets, or jumping jacks between sets to keep it up. Stretch, abs and squats at the end of the night before you go to bed. Put your scale in your basement for a month so it doesnt de-focus you. I know all of this because I hired a trainer. Do it if you can afford to. They push you out of your comfort zone and change up the routine for muscle confusion. It works! Good luck in your pursuit of your goals.

Helloitsdan

Hi Angeleyes.

You should aim to do 1 hour of cardio when in the gym and 30 mins of weights, the first 30 minutes of your workout your only burning stored carbs, the second 30 your body will be burning fat, which if weight loss is the required result is what you need to do, easy exercise is to walk at a steady pace uphill on the running machine, this burns pure fat and wont tire you out to quickly.

Aim for 4 nights a week at 700-900 calories as it takes 3500 burnt calories to lose a pound of fat......

Good luck x

somewhat.....

If only it was truly a numbers game.

Too much training is when you go over an hour and have to deal with any type of extra stress.
Cortisol is a hormone that is in our bodies all day but we have lower levels of it at night!
Unless we are stressed.
If you put extra stress on the body, generally after training for an hour or more, cortisol levels have been known to go up.
Cortisol is a catabolic hormone and is known as the "fight or flight" hormone.
It is known to damage or even consume lean mass for energy.

In my opinion you can get excellent results weight lifting with a proper program like Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength for 3 days a week.

If you must do cardio, stick to 20-45 mins for optimal results.
If you fall within the Obese II or Obese III range, you possess enough ATP in your system to build lean mass while on a deficit!
Take advantage of this but please for the love of god take at least 2 days full rest to recover.
You will go nowhere fast if you dont sleep and get proper recovery.

As for the above statement it really depends on the time of the workouts when it comes to stored glycogen in the system.
If you run/walk first thing in the AM chances are youll get about 5-10 mins of stored glyco before turning to fat.
If you bracket bigger carb meals around weight lifting youll see amazing strength gains...as long as you are efficient.

At least 2 days rest!

amagus

With a new gym memebership or free offer like you have, there is sometimes a free or low cost consultation with t personal trainner. If there is, take advantage of it. If not, and you cannot afford it, try talking to your doctor or going to acefitness.org which it the American Council of Exercise site. They have a link called Get Fit with lots of great advice. A.C.E. is the organization that does nation cerification of personal trainers and is very reputable. (FYI - talking to your doctor is always a good idea when starting a new exercise routine.)

Glad you are so motivated, don't lose that spark!!!!

jamiesadler

Hello everyone, I just started really being faithful to MFP within the last week or so. I had gotten a free membership for 2 weeks to a gym here in town and used it up and joined it today for the month. I love working out, I used to hate it.... I normally will do 30 minutes of cardio and 2-10 minutes of general circuit training and then I will do about 5 sets of strength training rotating upper and lower body day to day. My question is this, if I want to come home in the evening before bed and do a kettlebell workout for 30 minutes, would that be way to much for me or would it be something to consider. I dont want to be unhealthy with this, I want to do what is right, but not sure what that is yet...... On average at the gym mon - fri I will burn around 450-550 calories per day and sometimes more than that if I push myself hard.... .so would it not be helpful to do more than that? THanks for any input you have.... will check back here later...=-)

You should rest at least 224 hours if not 48 in between strength training to allow your muscles to heal themselves. Otherwise sounds goo to me. I try to go at least 5 times a week for cardio or if noting else every other day.

Misiaxcore

I had a slight addiction to working out from Sept-December. Would do swimming 4x/week, running 1-3x/week, plus workout DVDs every day. On my rest days I would do Yoga Meltdown. Some days I would end up working out for around 3 hours =/ Then I got burned out and messed up my weight loss. My suggestion would be to take it easy. It's great you like to workout so much! Maybe going "crazy" with the workouts for 3 weeks then taking a week off (or doing light workouts like walking and yoga) would be of benefit. 1 day rest a week also works, but I know I had trouble doing that.

Just some ideas.

stef827

My advice would be to see how you feel. If you are just getting started with an exercise program I would definitely recommend that you wean yourself into it and try not to push yourself too hard, too fast because you will be burn out OR get injured. There is nothing wrong with doing part of your workout in the morning and the other part at night but you really have to listen to your body and do what is right for your body.

Agree with this, just listen to your body but don't push yourself to hard to fast. Good for you for being committed

angeleyes2u78

@ Lordbyron46 ...wow... i didn't realize that.... my dr and my trainer recommended only 30-45 minutes of cardio b/c of how severe my heel spurs and rheumatoid arthritis is..... I think i could go longer but dont want to go against dr care..... i will ask her about that though..... i dont think it would be unreasonable.... thanks for the advice.....

angeleyes2u78

@ Srdking....thanks so much about the advice on doing the kettlebell just before bed... I think I will try that....

angeleyes2u78

@Cynthiawinnie - Thanks for the info... The gym I signed up with is at Siskins fitness center, and they offer free personal training if you join... soooo I am going to ask them if they wouldn't mind helping me out...... I am doing the best I can with what I know, but i could use more help... I will try some of the things you suggested... thanks so much.....

angeleyes2u78

@Helloitsdan - for strength training I try to do 4 days but I alternate arms and legs each day and take fridays off of strength. My cardio is staying between 20-40 minutes usually but it is on a higher level..... My schedule is kinda crazy.... I go to bed at 730-8 at night... and wake up at 200 am for work... I work between 2am and 6am, and then hit the gym from 630-830 or 9.... that time at the gym includes warmup with 2 laps around the track and then 5-10 minutes of circuit training. THen I move to cardio.... I do 20 minutes for sure on the sci fit machine, (a seated machine that has pedals that you push, not like a bike, more like a elliptical but sitting down), then I move to the elliptical for 10-20 minutes (I about die if I do 20 minutes on that), after my cardio, i go to strength like i said alternating days for upper and lower. after strength training I go dip in the pool and relax for a few minutes and then get in the whirpool hot tub to soothe my muscles...... my meals are pretty low carb, high protien, lower fat..... as far as the rest...... are you talking 2 COMPLETE days of rest or could I do like 15 - 30 minutes of kettlebell on the weekends....???? (I KNOW I AM PUSHING IT LOL, Just over zealous for a change, I got the motivation and I dont wanna lose it)