How much is too much?

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RunDoozer
RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Currently I am doing 2 hours of cardio in the morning and and hour of strength training. And at night I am also doing another 1-2 hours of cardio. I keep upping the intensity on all these exercises and I always feel like I can do more when I'm done. How much is too much I am starting to get worried that I am on the track to hurting myself or not having a social life.

On a side note I have been doing this for about a month now and I have lost noticeable inches on my body. However, the scale is not moving at all. Literally not a pound. I am a 6'0 guy and im eating about 1700 cals a day. And no I havent binged a single time. Completely cut soda and fast food out of my life so not really sure whats going on. Maybe my scales broken :)
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Replies

  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
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    Damn dude, that is a helluva lot of cardio. I'd shoot for no more than an hour a day, so you can keep it up long term without getting burnt out.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
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    I personally don't think more than an hour a day is necessary, if you are doing it at the right intensity.

    Any more than that and you risk injury or getting burned out.

    I've gotten pretty ripped on 5 days a week for an hour; I think any more than that is kind of a waste of time.
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
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    You're burning tons of calories working out and only eating 1700? I think that's why the scale's not moving. As far as your workout frequency, it definitely sounds like you're heading towards an injury or burnout. Fitness isn't a race. You'll get to where you want to be, so give your poor body a break and slow down a bit.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
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    Sounds like too much. How many days a week are you doing this? Do you eat back your exercise calories?

    I'm 5'2" and eat almost 1,800 calories a day...
  • petersonabt
    petersonabt Posts: 518 Member
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    That's a lot but I think you may get burnt out quick...do you take rest days or anything?
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
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    I strive for 30 min a day unless I'm doing a class that incorporates strength training, like heavy bag or group power.... and even that I try to keep to 60 minutes.

    no need for that much cardio! :)
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
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    Current;y 7 days a week. I dont feel like I need rest days. I probably just need to make myself take them.
  • petersonabt
    petersonabt Posts: 518 Member
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    Current;y 7 days a week. I dont feel like I need rest days. I probably just need to make myself take them.

    I think you may be addicted to working out lol. your body needs time to rest even if you don't "feel the need"
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
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    Current;y 7 days a week. I dont feel like I need rest days. I probably just need to make myself take them.

    I think you may be addicted to working out lol. your body needs time to rest even if you don't "feel the need"


    I think youre right and I just need to back it off before I get hurt. Kinda plainly obvious from everyone posting. Thanks guys.
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
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    You're burning tons of calories working out and only eating 1700? I think that's why the scale's not moving. As far as your workout frequency, it definitely sounds like you're heading towards an injury or burnout. Fitness isn't a race. You'll get to where you want to be, so give your poor body a break and slow down a bit.

    This ^^^ I eat 1600 a day without exercising... your body needs more if you're going to be burning that much.
  • stanluoser
    stanluoser Posts: 82
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    Overtraining can hurt you in the long run. One guy that had like three heart surgeries told me not to overtrain or can end up like him, where he had multiple heart attacks.

    Do like 20-30 minutes after your workout, do a 10 minute warmup and you should be all set. Don't forget that you're also building muscle so that could also lead to you not losing any weight on the scale but your clothes are fitting better.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
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    I'd cut that in half, at least, and up your calories. I bet your body is in shock! Rest at least one day a week and only work out about an hour a day, please. When I was losing the fastest, I was working out 6 days a week, 45 minutes 4 days and 2 hours 2 days, and the 2 hour days were probably overdoing it. Oh, and at that time, I was eating 1850 and I'm 5'3" and 47 yrs. old. And a girl. Please take better care of yourself and see a professional if you can't make yourself either stop exercising so much or eat more, or both.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    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.
  • dunlunicor
    dunlunicor Posts: 189 Member
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    Current;y 7 days a week. I dont feel like I need rest days. I probably just need to make myself take them.

    Your muscles may not be repairing themselves properly because of this, which can lead to water retention. Really depends on how long you've been doing it. Short of that, the only other thing I can think that would cause it is that you are underestimating your intake. If you're certain that you're not, and taking a rest doesn't help, see a doc. There might be an underlying medical issue.

    I'm a dancer, and when I'm in the show season, I can dance upwards of 6-8 hours a day, but it's certainly not every day, and it's only for a few months out of the year. I'd slow down a bit. You don't need that much.
  • dexter888
    dexter888 Posts: 26
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    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
  • Ta2dchic20
    Ta2dchic20 Posts: 376 Member
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    Whew, I do 75 and have been contemplating dropping down to 60. This thread makes me feel better about that.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    Currently I am doing 2 hours of cardio in the morning and and hour of strength training. And at night I am also doing another 1-2 hours of cardio. I keep upping the intensity on all these exercises and I always feel like I can do more when I'm done. How much is too much I am starting to get worried that I am on the track to hurting myself or not having a social life.

    On a side note I have been doing this for about a month now and I have lost noticeable inches on my body. However, the scale is not moving at all. Literally not a pound. I am a 6'0 guy and im eating about 1700 cals a day. And no I havent binged a single time. Completely cut soda and fast food out of my life so not really sure whats going on. Maybe my scales broken :)

    So you're doing 5 hours of exercise a day and eating only 1700 calories? You're WAY overdoing it. Eat a MODEST calorie deficit and do maybe a half hour of cardio followed by an hour of strength training. As Pu 239 mentioned you're putting alot of strain on your endocrine system and eventually you'll lead to overtraining. Speaking as someone who has gone through that it's not a fun scenario.

    Find a sustainable approach that you can do your entire life. This isn't it.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Definitely more than you need. Figure about 3 hrs of strength training and 1-2 hrs of cardio per WEEK is PLENTY for strength and fitness.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    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

    He's only been doing this for a month. His body will respond negatively. It's just a matter of time.
  • Noor13
    Noor13 Posts: 964 Member
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    4 hours of Cardio a day on 1700 kcal for a guy?

    You need to cut down your Cardio and up your calories. Your TDEE must be sky high. You need to eat to support your burns. And you need to eat a lot. If you keep doing what you do you will burn out and injure yourself and the scale will not budge.

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