can you exercise too much?

I also LOVE to exercise and don't want a day off. I really enjoy classes and running so I do them when I can. There is the possibility of overtraining so listen to your body. If you are feeling well, I say keep it up!

Common Warning Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome

Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
Pain in muscles and joints
Sudden drop in performance
Insomnia
Headaches
Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
Decrease in training capacity / intensity
Moodiness and irritability
Depression
Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
Decreased appetite
Increased incidence of injuries.
A compulsive need to exercise
from http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/overtraining/a/aa062499a.htm

Simply, yes. Your body needs time to recover and rebuild muscle. Make sure that you plan 1 or possibly 2 days off a week, especially if you are doing high-intensity work outs.

This is actually one aspect where listening to your body may not be a good thing. Your body could be feeling great and before you know it, you've done 10 days in a row of pretty high intensity work (been there, done that). And then you begin to feel the affects of over working out. So yes, you do need to listen to your body and rest if it is showing signs of over-training. But you also need to use your mind and make sure that you don't get to the point where you have over-trained.

As long as you aren't overworking yourself...

On the other hand, I lost about 40 lbs a few months back by logging calories and exercising. I really, really got into it. I broke my ankle rollerblading, slowed down on the exercise, but still managed to lose a few more pounds. Eventually I stopped logging calories and exercising like I did.

I'm really getting into it again; however, my concern is that diet an exercise almost becomes an addiction. I like the idea of sticking to the challenge, visiting these types of forums, breaking a sweat and seeing results. It's not inherently bad, but if things change or we stop, I find that we have to have a plan to continue some form of exercise that is spread out.

It's as if I have to exercise 5 to 6 days a week or it ends up sliding away from me. Exercising every day keeps me at it. I find that I really get big time into it and do it all the time, but being that active isn't always feasible, and it's easy to fall off the wagon when things change. So, it's okay to do it all the time, but we have to have a plan for maintenance or life changes.

This time, I'm going to try practicing doing three days a week for health once I reach a reasonable maintenance weight, or else I'll just stop all together. It's like, all or nothing.

im not doing anything super strenuous. somethings i may push myself. or just have fun walking at my own pace on a treadmill. since ive been doing this, lot of my problems in the past have gone away. i sleep better now! i am busy instead of sitting on my butt at home and eating. and even in my spin class, i was not the show off. i did what i could and knew when to back off. i am not waking up in pain at all from anything.

If you're not doing anything super strenuous, then you probably won't get into a situation where your body gets overworked. However, if you do start to up the intensity of your workouts - if you start running, cycling, or lifting weights, then you'll have to have an off day. However, an off day doesn't mean that you are laying on the couch eating potato chips - an off day could include a nice casual walk.