How much is too much?
Replies
-
My first question is: for what purpose are you doing all of this training? Are you training for marathons or just doing it for giggles? It sounds like you're doing up to 5 hours a day of workouts. Do you take any rest days at all? How long have you been doing this? What is your ultimate goal?
Seems to me that you'd need to be eating a whole lot to sustain this level of activity. If you say your goal is 1700, and then factor in a MODERATE 500 calories per hour of cardio (could easily be a lot higher depending on your intensity), you're looking at well over 4000 calories a day you need to be eating. If you're actually only eating 1700 then you're dangerously low, you're looking at serious health problems and/or injuries very soon. The body just can't survive on that kind of deficit with that kind of intense work. Hard to say because you don't have your diary open and you didn't mention what specific workouts you're doing.
Given the very limited info you've provided I'd say at a minimum you'd need to add some rest days and up your food intake by a lot. Perhaps dial back on all the cardio if you're not training for anything specific. An hour a day is plenty.
^^^
If you are not training for something specific you would be better off weight training 3x a week with no cardio that day, and doing cardio on the other days
and eat...way more0 -
My first question is: for what purpose are you doing all of this training? Are you training for marathons or just doing it for giggles? It sounds like you're doing up to 5 hours a day of workouts. Do you take any rest days at all? How long have you been doing this? What is your ultimate goal?
Seems to me that you'd need to be eating a whole lot to sustain this level of activity. If you say your goal is 1700, and then factor in a MODERATE 500 calories per hour of cardio (could easily be a lot higher depending on your intensity), you're looking at well over 4000 calories a day you need to be eating. If you're actually only eating 1700 then you're dangerously low, you're looking at serious health problems and/or injuries very soon. The body just can't survive on that kind of deficit with that kind of intense work. Hard to say because you don't have your diary open and you didn't mention what specific workouts you're doing.
Given the very limited info you've provided I'd say at a minimum you'd need to add some rest days and up your food intake by a lot. Perhaps dial back on all the cardio if you're not training for anything specific. An hour a day is plenty.
Just for fun. I am having fun at the gym and really always have until well I got married and kinda fell out of it.. It's making me feel good when I do it. And Ive always had a problem with moderation. Go big or go home is kinda how ive always lived. but it looks like i should slow down here0 -
How long have you been doing this?
You are eating too little and doing far to much cardio. It is counter productive and may well lead to loss of more LBM than you would otherwise have with a moderate deficit and a moderate amount of cardio.0 -
wow, you are 6' tall and eating 1700 cals a day.. and working out that much.
I'm 5'3" .. working out 3-5 x a week eating 2000 calories -
You might want to re-evaluate your caloric intake.0 -
I think its alright to do that much cardio if your body isn't responding negatively. You should input it into MFP, and eat back some of those calories... because you must be burning at least 1200 from all that cardio (which means your only getting 500 calories from food/day)...
Just my take
But your body will respond negatively - both in a manner that will not be obvious at first when you lose LBM and with hormones getting out of whack.0 -
My first question is: for what purpose are you doing all of this training? Are you training for marathons or just doing it for giggles? It sounds like you're doing up to 5 hours a day of workouts. Do you take any rest days at all? How long have you been doing this? What is your ultimate goal?
Seems to me that you'd need to be eating a whole lot to sustain this level of activity. If you say your goal is 1700, and then factor in a MODERATE 500 calories per hour of cardio (could easily be a lot higher depending on your intensity), you're looking at well over 4000 calories a day you need to be eating. If you're actually only eating 1700 then you're dangerously low, you're looking at serious health problems and/or injuries very soon. The body just can't survive on that kind of deficit with that kind of intense work. Hard to say because you don't have your diary open and you didn't mention what specific workouts you're doing.
Given the very limited info you've provided I'd say at a minimum you'd need to add some rest days and up your food intake by a lot. Perhaps dial back on all the cardio if you're not training for anything specific. An hour a day is plenty.
Just for fun. I am having fun at the gym and really always have until well I got married and kinda fell out of it.. It's making me feel good when I do it. And Ive always had a problem with moderation. Go big or go home is kinda how ive always lived. but it looks like i should slow down here
and SQUAT!!!!0 -
My first question is: for what purpose are you doing all of this training? Are you training for marathons or just doing it for giggles? It sounds like you're doing up to 5 hours a day of workouts. Do you take any rest days at all? How long have you been doing this? What is your ultimate goal?
Seems to me that you'd need to be eating a whole lot to sustain this level of activity. If you say your goal is 1700, and then factor in a MODERATE 500 calories per hour of cardio (could easily be a lot higher depending on your intensity), you're looking at well over 4000 calories a day you need to be eating. If you're actually only eating 1700 then you're dangerously low, you're looking at serious health problems and/or injuries very soon. The body just can't survive on that kind of deficit with that kind of intense work. Hard to say because you don't have your diary open and you didn't mention what specific workouts you're doing.
Given the very limited info you've provided I'd say at a minimum you'd need to add some rest days and up your food intake by a lot. Perhaps dial back on all the cardio if you're not training for anything specific. An hour a day is plenty.
^^^
If you are not training for something specific you would be better off weight training 3x a week with no cardio that day, and doing cardio on the other days
and eat...way more
yes...slow down, and eat more. Before you get sick and/or hurt.0 -
I think i need to look more into what are acceptable calories and eat more of those. In the past I have tended to eat very poorly and eating less was the only way to keep my weight in check. Need to do a lot more research it looks like.0
-
Maybe you're gaining muscle. Scales add up everything, not just fat.
It's not good for your body to always be active. Try implementing rest days (since you work out a lot) to let your body completely relax and recover.
Having energy after a workout doesn't necessarily mean that you are ready for more, it could be that your endorphin kicked in to help you out during your workout or for the rest of your day.
If you do intense workouts, you don't need to be working out a lot. Less intense workouts are not bad either, it gets your body working without necessarily pushing it. Pushing your body all the time is the fastest way to breaking yourself.
If you are not eating well, your body could be maintaining the fats that it already has.
Find your balance.0 -
I'm going to go out on a limb and make a few guesses.
With 4-5 hours of intense cardio you are burning 2000-2400 calories on that alone. If I assume that a normal metabolism would have a daily need of 2000 to 3000. Which means that you would be fine somewhere doubling your calorie intake.
That is some significant gap in nutrition which will create issues in short order.
If in the past you ate very little, guess what - looks like you've screwed up your metabolism. This will take time to rebuild.
Reduce some cardio, make sure you get rest days in there. Keep the strength training.
Increase calories by 10-15% and hold for a few weeks before any adjustment. It's likely you can do that a couple of times. expect a small initial gain in weight.
It is also likely that you have water retention due to the high volume exercise. So ... Drink lots of water to reduce retention.0 -
I think i need to look more into what are acceptable calories and eat more of those. In the past I have tended to eat very poorly and eating less was the only way to keep my weight in check. Need to do a lot more research it looks like.
Acceptable calories are any food, preferably nutrient dense ones, that allow you to hit your macros which should pretty much be any food if you plan appropriately.0 -
I would start off with PopTarts.I think i need to look more into what are acceptable calories and eat more of those. In the past I have tended to eat very poorly and eating less was the only way to keep my weight in check. Need to do a lot more research it looks like.
Acceptable calories are any food, preferably nutrient dense ones, that allow you to hit your macros which should pretty much be any food if you plan appropriately.0 -
That was me five years ago. It got me no where, except injured.
I"ve learned cardio is overated. 30 minutes 5-6 days a week works for me. Some days I do HIIT. I'm dripping wet everytime I get off the bike or stairmaster. I also aim for 20-30 minutes of weightlifting 4 days a week. Eat clean 80% of the time. This has been working for me. Everyone's different, but I do think you are wayyyy overdoing the cardio.
I'm a 48 year old female, 5' tall and eat around 1600 cals a day.0 -
To answer your thread title...
...what you're doing is too much.
Definitely dial back the cardio, add a rest day or two, and do some resistance training. Personally, I would drop all/nearly all of the cardio and instead do resistance training, (but I know that some people enjoy the cardio...and there's nothing wrong with doing some cardio). I would also consider bumping your calories up from 1700 and, if you decide to continue doing a lot of cardio, definitely eat back at least some of those calories.
As a fellow "all or none" kind of guy, I understand the compulsion...but you and I both know how this ends for you if you continue at your current pace. (Yeah, none.)
ETA: Whoops...I missed the point that you are already doing an hour of strength training. So yeah, just dial back the cardio, add those rest days, and eat more.0 -
I agree with all the other commenters and don't want to belabor their points, but in the words of my dad, "You're cruisin' for a bruisin'. "
I just want to point out one more issue. What is going to happen if/when you do get hurt and can't maintain this intensity anymore? You're looking at fast weight gain upon injury (or if some other life circumstance gets in the way). Your body is currently getting normalized to expect this much activity, and if you stop all of a sudden you're going to pack on lbs. I think you probably need to be realistic about the possibility that you won't be able to sustain this forever, and taper off the volume.
You might want to consider re-working what you do during that time to be more efficient in a shorter time. I bet if you don't have to conserve energy to go for 2 hours, you will be able to do some really bada$$ stuff in 45 minutes. I can tell you from experience, if you switch from long runs to shorter, higher intensity runs, it is most certainly NOT slacking off, even if it burns less overall calories.0 -
I think we can answer the question 50 more times. KEEP THEM COMING!!!
^this
(heh heh....)0 -
So I just calculated my TDEE and it was 8200 and my BMR was 2270. So yea of course what everyone said is correct0
-
*Eat more calories....
*Lift no more than 5 days a week
*DONT DO THAT MUCH CARDIO!!! (unless your eating like 3,000 calories a day)
*Just do an hour at most on non lifting days or on the same day...whaatever.
Good luck! But you really should eat more..When i first started this i was under eating and doing way to much cardio..it was fine at first, then my energy just went waaay downnnnn...It was terrible.0 -
Ohh! And for some cardio, try HIIT! It burns fat better than indurance.0
-
I would start off with PopTarts.I think i need to look more into what are acceptable calories and eat more of those. In the past I have tended to eat very poorly and eating less was the only way to keep my weight in check. Need to do a lot more research it looks like.
Acceptable calories are any food, preferably nutrient dense ones, that allow you to hit your macros which should pretty much be any food if you plan appropriately.
No, ice cream inside of a poptart sandwich.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.7K Getting Started
- 260.1K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.8K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 415 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.9K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.6K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.5K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions