Is it possible to workout to much? burn to many calories?

MrsMRo220
MrsMRo220 Posts: 62 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm just curious, is there like a "maximum" to this?

Replies

  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Other than what you can fit into your schedule and your personal fitness level, no, there's no limit (but if you were training like an Olympic athlete you'd also be eating 5,000 cal or more per day and not be putting weight on)

    It is possible to overtrain and it is possible, even likely (if one jumps right into the deep end before learning to swim (metaphorically) to develop an overuse injury.

    Any fitness program should follow a natural and sustainable progression. If you're just starting to run the key is short & slow and build on that; same with weights, start lighter & focus on form and build.
  • LouSmorals
    LouSmorals Posts: 93 Member
    Sorta depends on how you define maximum. In the endurance sports (running, cycling, etc.) it is possible to deplete your glycogen stores so much that you have a serious lack of energy, this is termed bonking. However, to really bonk you have to be in awesome shape, so I suppose few of us need worry about that. More important is keeping hydrated, you can get in serious problems if you don't properly hydrate during long workout sessions.
  • MrsMRo220
    MrsMRo220 Posts: 62 Member
    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I'm just curious, is there like a "maximum" to this?

    This is a lifestyle change thing for me too.....not just diet. If you love exercise & see yourself exercising hours a day in the distant future......go for it.

    OR .....are you trying to speed up weight loss by exercising a lot? Losing weight quickly (exercise or not) has consequences. Moderate weight loss gives your body enough calories to hang onto what's important (muscle).
  • MrsMRo220
    MrsMRo220 Posts: 62 Member
    Other than what you can fit into your schedule and your personal fitness level, no, there's no limit (but if you were training like an Olympic athlete you'd also be eating 5,000 cal or more per day and not be putting weight on)

    It is possible to overtrain and it is possible, even likely (if one jumps right into the deep end before learning to swim (metaphorically) to develop an overuse injury.

    Any fitness program should follow a natural and sustainable progression. If you're just starting to run they key is short & slow and build on that; same with weights, start lighter & focus on form and build.

    Okay then I should be okay. I've worked out (a lot actually) in the past, in between pregnancies, but usually got pregnant and just stopped. I've started everything off slow, I was working out last summer a lot, but then, just stopped. This time there will not be any stopping :) so I started out very slow with everything. I'm still using very light weights only because I have like no muscle and after a bit even my little weights start to feel very heavy! Lol I am doing a lot of cardio though, which I don't struggle with to bad. I just really love it.
  • MrsMRo220
    MrsMRo220 Posts: 62 Member
    I'm just curious, is there like a "maximum" to this?

    This is a lifestyle change thing for me too.....not just diet. If you love exercise & see yourself exercising hours a day in the distant future......go for it.

    OR .....are you trying to speed up weight loss by exercising a lot? Losing weight quickly (exercise or not) has consequences. Moderate weight loss gives your body enough calories to hang onto what's important (muscle).
    . No I just really love cardio...like a lot. Strength training and walking, and jogging, I love them too..however I'm snowed in basically right now lol. Really though, idk I just really enjoy cardio, I love that feeling after finishing a workout.
  • MrsMRo220
    MrsMRo220 Posts: 62 Member
    Sorta depends on how you define maximum. In the endurance sports (running, cycling, etc.) it is possible to deplete your glycogen stores so much that you have a serious lack of energy, this is termed bonking. However, to really bonk you have to be in awesome shape, so I suppose few of us need worry about that. More important is keeping hydrated, you can get in serious problems if you don't properly hydrate during long workout sessions.

    Bonk..lol. Well I mostly right now am doing cardio. I'm drinking a lot of water, around 120 oz a day. Apis no where near awesome shape so I don't think I will "bonk" :)
  • GBrady43068
    GBrady43068 Posts: 1,256 Member
    I'm just curious, is there like a "maximum" to this?

    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.
    I don't see anything "rude" about this person's response. You didn't include enough information for anyone to determine that what you were really asking was "Is there a point of physical activity at which it is either no longer achieving my weight loss and body recomposition goals or possibly could be causing me harm?" Your response to the person above seems much more ungracious to me than their answer to your query.
  • tyrsnbdr
    tyrsnbdr Posts: 234 Member
    Other than what you can fit into your schedule and your personal fitness level, no, there's no limit (but if you were training like an Olympic athlete you'd also be eating 5,000 cal or more per day and not be putting weight on)

    It is possible to overtrain and it is possible, even likely (if one jumps right into the deep end before learning to swim (metaphorically) to develop an overuse injury.

    Any fitness program should follow a natural and sustainable progression. If you're just starting to run the key is short & slow and build on that; same with weights, start lighter & focus on form and build.

    Pretty much only Olympians and Galley Slaves have this problem.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.

    I wasn't being rude. I was telling you yes and giving you an example that had a cool story of the start of a famous race for your entertainment. However, your response to it is extremely rude. I think you need to grow up.
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  • MrsMRo220
    MrsMRo220 Posts: 62 Member
    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.

    I wasn't being rude. I was telling you yes and giving you an example that had a cool story of the start of a famous race for your entertainment. However, your response to it is extremely rude. I think you need to grow up.


    You were most likely being sarcastic and now trying to save face. Do what you gotta do kid!
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.

    I wasn't being rude. I was telling you yes and giving you an example that had a cool story of the start of a famous race for your entertainment. However, your response to it is extremely rude. I think you need to grow up.


    You were most likely being sarcastic and now trying to save face. Do what you gotta do kid!

    Grow up.
  • kjfisher1835
    kjfisher1835 Posts: 2
    When you workout, the soreness that you feel is minor muscle damage (a good thing) as muscle then rebuilds. That's why protein is important as you workout more. I work different muscle groups daily in order to give the previous days muscles time to repair. If I am really sore all over it's a good day to perhaps do just cardio. If your muscles hurt to much, you're likely not getting as much good out of your workout and perhaps stressing your muscles and joints to much. Keep up the good work, you appear to be on the right path.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Just to add, you can do a fair bit of exercise before it becomes 'too much' as long as you are fuelling it properly. More people burn out from under eating rather than over training.
  • ThriceBlessed
    ThriceBlessed Posts: 499 Member
    I'm just curious, is there like a "maximum" to this?

    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.
    I don't see anything "rude" about this person's response. You didn't include enough information for anyone to determine that what you were really asking was "Is there a point of physical activity at which it is either no longer achieving my weight loss and body recomposition goals or possibly could be causing me harm?" Your response to the person above seems much more ungracious to me than their answer to your query.

    I thought the same thing. What was rude about that? I think its easy on an online forum to imagine whatever voice inflections and tones you think are implied... and you may be right or wrong. I try, very hard, to not do this. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and assume their answer is sincere and that they are trying to be helpful, unless their words are very clearly rude beyond a doubt.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    There comes a point of diminishing returns. Your body can only oxidize so much fat and your glycogen stores are limited. Eventually, you do start to just burn muscle. A lot of endurance athletes actually burn through a lot of muscle training for their events for this very reason.

    Personally, I would suggest sitting down and exploring some actual fitness goals that go beyond burning calories. Burning calories is just a bi-product of your activity...there is so much more to exercise than just burning calories. It would also be a very good idea to incorporate strength/resistance work into your fitness regimen if you are not already doing so. It is very important and it is important to take a balanced approach to your fitness.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    As long as you are eating appropriately to support your exercise then you have to go to pretty extreme levels before "too many calories" becomes an issue. You are much more likely to be hitting limits of recovery or getting over-use injuries.

    You might find this article interesting to see how Tour de France riders have to eat to fuel themselves (up to 5,000 or 6,000 calories a day).....
    http://www.bicycling.com/garmin-insider/featured-stories/eating-tour-de-france
  • Schtroumpfkin
    Schtroumpfkin Posts: 123 Member
    I read in "Red" magazine for January 2014 an article about happiness/wellbeing which said that "Mood result have been shown from just 10 minutes (more is better for health and mind, of course), with the biggest boost between 30 and 35 minutes (you may be pleased to know, more than 75 minutes caused decreased wellbeing).

    Unfortunately, this particular finding is not backed up in the article, but otherwise, the rest of the article seems to be based on research by the University of Warwick and Otago (for what they're worth).

    I realise that this isn't concentrating on "working out for fitness/weight loss" and rather vaguely concentrates on "time" exercising as opposed to "intensity". Even "wellbeing" is a bit vague - granted. However, as somebody who has started to see exercise as a means of feeling better (and then hopefully, things like weight loss and a good looking body will naturally follow), I thought this was interesting.

    *edited to clarify that it is talking about 10 minutes OF EXERCISE. I leave to your imagination what else you could do for between 10 and 35 minutes to make you feel better and more than 75 minutes could have detrimental effect!!!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,224 Member
    If your primary exercises are cardio in conjunction with low body fat, insufficient protein intake, a deep deficit you could be using a more than normal amount of lean muscle to fuel those workouts, so yes it's possible if you burn too many calories from exercise.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    It's very possible to workout too much. There are problems with overtraining.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/are-you-overtraining?page=single
    http://www.acefitness.org/updateable/update_display.aspx?pageID=634

    There is a form of bulimia that is over-exercising.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_bulimia

    There is evidence that really excessive cardio can damage the heart.

    http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/08/04/can-too-much-exercise-harm-heart-and-shorten-your-life/VLlkXGBN9f1t6raYmUSuPJ/story.html

    Though those are pretty easy to avoid and it sounds like you're just doing it for the endorphins. I like that article from Red saying 30-35 minutes is about the peak.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.
    Wow, OP. You are the one who is being extremely rude. Someone tries to help you and you spit in his face.
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
    Dr.Oz says no more than 6500 calories a week ;)

    There is the idea of wear and tear on your body. There is also the idea of metabolic adaptation.
    If you go full bore it makes it harder to add more if needed.
  • daniicaliforniaa93
    daniicaliforniaa93 Posts: 34
    Yes, it is called exhaustion. You can die from it. For example, research the history of one of the most well known running events called the marathon.

    Do you NEED to be rude? Seriously?! This is a website for support of each other. For people to have questions answered...not for rudeness. I'm not an idiot, not need to speak to me that way, I was curious, because I am working out a lot and I don't want to hinder my weight loss any.

    I wasn't being rude. I was telling you yes and giving you an example that had a cool story of the start of a famous race for your entertainment. However, your response to it is extremely rude. I think you need to grow up.


    You were most likely being sarcastic and now trying to save face. Do what you gotta do kid!

    Grow up.

    Uhm...both of you maybe consider knocking it off? This is MFP not Facebook. Take it somewhere else you two.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    I think it's a matter of finding a balance and getting into a routine you can keep up for life rather than just for a short period until you reach your goal - or more likely get bored. Fitness can easily take over your life if you let it. You've got to fit in a life alongside.

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