How much exercise is too much?

grandpoobah12
grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
in Fitness and Exercise
I like cardio. I like strength training. I like NEAT.( chopping wood, making the bed) How much is too much. Lately I love walking. If I walk every day for an hour or two is this too much cardio? On weekends I usually snowboard or hike with the family.

I really don`t have a rest day. because of food.(ha ha) I am overweight.

People say, don`t lift every day. don`t do too much cardio. How much is too much? Any links to a good easy to follow, simple plan for normal, (not hardcore) People will be appreciated.

Replies

  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    For proper strength training, you do need rest days (from strength training the same muscles).

    For the rest, just listen to your body. 2 hrs of walking is definitely not too much, but it would be too much for me because my tendons rebel ;) Two hours of jogging would have a lot of folks having body parts rebel. Others, not so much.

    If you enjoy it, fuel your workouts properly, and notice no ill effects, go for it. Don't do anything too intensive with the same muscles you worked strength on the day before. That's about the only one you won't notice symptoms with that I can think of. Otherwise, you'll start to know if it's too much, imho.
  • kspark658
    kspark658 Posts: 15 Member
    check out this site http://www.marksdailyapple.com/overtraining/#axzz2ltR85Rps. Every one is different, but there are some guidelines :)
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    Since I have other people relying on me - a husband and kids - I try and keep my workouts to an average of 1hr daily at most. I take at least 1 full day off each week and sometimes run for 2 hours on another day. Some workouts are 30 or 45 minutes but some are 60-75... overall I like to keep the average to 7 hours in a week.

    If your time is your own I'd say you're free to do whatever as long as you're paying your own bills and being a productive member of society. I do other active things, but not necessarily alone - they serve others in my family the rest of the time.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    if i'm understanding the question correctly, it's "is it okay to walk for an hour every day?"

    I'm going to go out on limb here and say yes, it's okay.
  • Hauntinglyfit
    Hauntinglyfit Posts: 5,537 Member
    if i'm understanding the question correctly, it's "is it okay to walk for an hour every day?"

    I'm going to go out on limb here and say yes, it's okay.

    But don't my feet need recovery time?

    Should I keep them elevated on a soft pillowy pillow for 2-3 hour after my walk?
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
    if i'm understanding the question correctly, it's "is it okay to walk for an hour every day?"

    I'm going to go out on limb here and say yes, it's okay.

    Sorry no, the question is how much exercise is too much? I walk, but others run 30 miles a week and strength train. Many MFPers are almost olympic class athletes. Some people say I am doing too much cardio.
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138


    But don't my feet need recovery time?

    Should I keep them elevated on a soft pillowy pillow for 2-3 hour after my walk?

    I love your sarcasm.
    Your point is.... any exercise is fine and no recovery time is ever needed? Or walking is not exercise?
    Cryptic=fun!
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    if i'm understanding the question correctly, it's "is it okay to walk for an hour every day?"

    I'm going to go out on limb here and say yes, it's okay.

    I don't know, judging by the response above yours, there is a tax return or credit check involved first! :D
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
    Since I have other people relying on me - a husband and kids - I try and keep my workouts to an average of 1hr daily at most. I take at least 1 full day off each week and sometimes run for 2 hours on another day. Some workouts are 30 or 45 minutes but some are 60-75... overall I like to keep the average to 7 hours in a week.

    If your time is your own I'd say you're free to do whatever as long as you're paying your own bills and being a productive member of society. I do other active things, but not necessarily alone - they serve others in my family the rest of the time.

    I get, do whatever exercise you want, keep doing it and eventually you will see if you need to do more or less. The waiting for the weight to be off gives me too much time to ask questions that no one knows the answers to.
  • Hauntinglyfit
    Hauntinglyfit Posts: 5,537 Member


    But don't my feet need recovery time?

    Should I keep them elevated on a soft pillowy pillow for 2-3 hour after my walk?

    I love your sarcasm.
    Your point is.... any exercise is fine and no recovery time is ever needed? Or walking is not exercise?
    Cryptic=fun!


    :flowerforyou:

    My point is, i don't really know what your routine is like, or how much you push yourself, so i can't give a definite answer.

    So.. If you lift full body every time, give it a day in between workouts. You can do cardio on your rest day if you'd like, that's fine and not too much in my opinion. I hope I don't offend anyone, but for someone who is in decent shape i don't think one hour walking should even count as exercise. For people who are extremely overweight, have a health issue or who are just starting working out it's great exercise to start with, don't get me wrong.


    So, if you're tired, take the day off. If you feel fine. can, and want, go ahead and exercise as much as you like.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    Nobody knows the answers to? Okey dokey.

    Edit: maybe I confused people by saying walking could be too much for me to do every day for an hour or more. I have EDS and weird birth-defect bone issues (legs different lengths, foot bone things), so just ignore that, lol. I didn't mean to confuse anybody :)
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    if i'm understanding the question correctly, it's "is it okay to walk for an hour every day?"

    I'm going to go out on limb here and say yes, it's okay.

    Sorry no, the question is how much exercise is too much? I walk, but others run 30 miles a week and strength train. Many MFPers are almost olympic class athletes. Some people say I am doing too much cardio.



    But don't my feet need recovery time?

    Should I keep them elevated on a soft pillowy pillow for 2-3 hour after my walk?

    I love your sarcasm.
    Your point is.... any exercise is fine and no recovery time is ever needed? Or walking is not exercise?
    Cryptic=fun!

    you're overthinking this. who are these people that are telling you that walking 1 hour a day is too much cardio for you and what are these people's qualifications? and sure, walking is exercise and you'll often find it logged in my diary. but it's not strenuous exercise for most people, and it's strenuous exercise that requires recovery. what if i told you the human body was designed to walk? what if i told you that the human body was better designed for walking than for sitting in chairs?

    if we required recovery time after 1 hour walks the lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) would have made our species extinct a looooong time ago.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Nobody knows the answers to? Okey dokey.

    huh? the answers to what? i think we've answered her question several times over.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    Nobody knows the answers to? Okey dokey.

    huh? the answers to what? i think we've answered her question several times over.

    Well, exactly. That was a quote from her post. I should've used the quote button. My bad.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    ah. i see it now
  • bulbadoof
    bulbadoof Posts: 1,058 Member
    Just listen to your body. If you're feeding it alright and you're not injuring yourself (a little soreness is a good sign, but it shouldn't hurt enough to stop you from doing things) I think you can keep up what you're doing. Your body will let you know when you've pushed it too hard.
  • jackielou867
    jackielou867 Posts: 422 Member
    I think it depends exactly what you do and what intensity. I do one hour weights, quite heavy, alternate days followed by 15-30 minutes low intensity cardio, usually walking the treadmill on a glute or fat burn, outdoors would be better, I just happen to be at the gym already. On the days inbetween I do HIIT for 30 -45 mins, so I alternate 1 minute running with 1 minute walking, or fast/slow row, or stepping. Whatever you have access to. You can walk as long as you like as long as you don't get sore and as long as you have the time. I could walk all day, if I had all day :-)
  • TigerBite
    TigerBite Posts: 611 Member
    As long as you are enjoying what you are doing, then there is no such thing as too much ... now, if it's an "obsessive" (like you aren't eating enough to sustain your activity level, or it's an exercise bulimia kind of situation, or it interferes with other aspects of your life) that's a whole different issue ...

    ETA: Pushing to hard can lead to a burnout, you need to work up to being able to do long workouts (higher intensity stuff, like long runs or rides, etc.) ....
  • dezb64
    dezb64 Posts: 109 Member
    I try to work out 6-7 days a week. I rotate which body part I weight/resistance train, and do some cardio each time. Most of the time cardio is running occasionally it's elliptical. Every so often I will do step or Kettlebells for my cardio.
    Monday Upper body 20 min cardio
    Tuesday Abs 20-30 min cardio
    Wednesday Legs 20 min cardio
    Thursday 30-40 min run
    Friday Upper body 20 min cardio
    Saturday Legs and abs 30 min run
    Sunday either just cardio 30 min or rest depending on how I feel

    If I am overly sore (DOMS) I will rest that area until it is recovered and rotate in a different body part or just cardio This usually happens after a session with my trainer which I schedule every 2 weeks.
  • grandpoobah12
    grandpoobah12 Posts: 138
    What I mean when I say nobody knows the answers is.

    Each person has a different idea of how much to exercise. One person says for a person who is reasonably fit walking for one hour isn`t enough.Leslie Sansone, ( of the walking vids) says it is. The government web sites say it is. The government has been wrong before eh??

    You have answered what I wanted to know. Everyone is different, everyone has their own opinion about how much to exercise. There is no definitive answer to how much one should do.

    I shouldn`t listen to the forums or other peoples opinions.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    it depends on where you start and your fitness level. too much is relative.

    i also think that there are a large group of people who are fairly lazy, so you have to take their advice with a grain of salt.

    for instance right now i aim for 1 hour of good exercise 5 day a week and 3 of those workouts have to be ones where my heart rate averages 150 or above. a friend of mine who's pretty sedentary and drives 2 blocks to the drug store just started working out and she thought i was nuts because of ALL the exercise i'm doing and advising me to be careful of overtraining :laugh: i also have another friend who does ultra marathons and swim competitions, so what i do now is pretty much her warmup ..


    but i guess in general my answer is too much exercise is when it starts to interfere with the rest of your life or if it starts to come between you and your friends and family.

Categories