Is there such a thing as "too intense"?

He says I'm burning calories but they're coming from carbs and not fat. Is that a bad thing??

Not if your goal is fat loss, since either one can put you in a calorie deficit. Google "fat loss zone myth" for articles on that.

I met with a nutrition student on my campus for nutrition counseling, and he said my workouts may be "too intense." Is there such a thing? My workouts are an hour a day, 3-6 days a week and typically include some sort of combination of:

30 min. circuit
30-45 min. jogging @ 5.0
15 min stairmaster
15-45 elliptical

He says I'm burning calories but they're coming from carbs and not fat. Is that a bad thing?? Thanks!

Dude doesn't know what he is talking about. Though that's a a lot of cardio for my taste, it's not too much. Two hours a day is a lot, but you probably aren't overtraining.

Also, I wish I knew about these magical exercises that burn calories from fat! Must be like targeted fat loss, a totally real thing that people who totally aren't scam artists try and sell you.

I think that sounds like a good routine, if you're doing different parts of it every day! I don't know what your circuit is, but if there's some strength training in there, I think you'd be good to go. There was one summer that I was doing a Jillian Michael's DVD and then running/biking for 30-60 minutes afterwards, and I thought that was a really good, whole-body, diverse burn. So this looks like a great workout plan to me, as long as you're eating enough, eating right and feeling good!

Don't meet with students for advice, especially medical advice. It's a terrible idea and you will end up with wrong advice. Pay for a certified nutritionist if your insurance doesn't cover it already.

Yes there is such a thing as too intense. No, you aren't anywhere near it.

Don't meet with students for advice, especially medical advice. It's a terrible idea and you will end up with wrong advice. Pay for a certified nutritionist if your insurance doesn't cover it already.

Exactly. And I would add that a dietician has actual qualifications and licensing requirements. I'm sad that people rely on random online strangers and blogs and books of unknown origin for advice. And no, I'm not a dietician nor am i selling anything.

Does not sound too intense to me. I regularly do 2 hour bike rides, with a lot of hills, and on other days, 2 hour sessions at the gym, involving an hour of elliptical/running and an hour of weights. Outside that I do a lot of walking. And soon will be doing boxing again too.

He says I'm burning calories but they're coming from carbs and not fat. Is that a bad thing?? Thanks!

You'll burn a lower percentage of calories from fat at a higher intensity (heart rate) and a higher percentage of your calories from carbs (glycogen). Your main concern for fat or weight loss should be the overall calorie burn and, a higher intensity workout will always burn more total calories in the same time than a lower one.

Your body will tell you if its too intense. If its too intense, its unsustainable and you are pushing your limits. if you don't listen to your body and blow a heart valve, lung, vessel, etc, then that's not good. if you are uncertain, then consult with your physician prior to starting a new program.

It completely depends on what your intake is. There is no way he (or anyone) can determine where the calories are coming from, unless he knows what you're eating. That being said, there exists something called calorie partitioning (Google it), and that may determine how much energy is being utilized from carbs, fats or protein. One of the biggest problems however (especially for females), is too much energy expenditure (aka LISS or moderate cardio) and not enough intake. If you are doing that kind of VOLUME (which is what I think he meant- not intensity BTW), and eating 1200 cals/day; yes that may be a problem.

I would (as others have) recommend focusing more on resistance training and diet, while keeping the low to moderate cardio (jogging, walking, biking) limited to 2-3 sessions per week with 2 -3 interval training (HIIT) sessions added.

He looked at my MyFitnessPal diary. I adjusted my settings to "lightly active" to give myself a few extra calories per day.

I am able to put 30-60 minutes into working out per day. Does anyone have any recommendations on how that should be split between strength training and cardio? Thanks!

A typical beginner weight program is a full-body workout (45-60 minutes), at least two and preferably three non-consecutive days per week. You can fit cardio in on the alternate days. People often do something like this...
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Weights
Tuesday, Thursday: Moderate cardio
Saturday: HIIT cardio
Sunday: Total rest day

My own schedule is a bit more schizophrenic than that, but you probably get the idea.

1. the question of too intense depends on what your goals are and what your current level of fitness is. If you enjoy your workouts and you're fit enough to do them, then it's not too intense. If you need a workout to be challenging or you won't enjoy it, then decreasing the intensity would be a bad idea. If you're training for a particular goal, e.g. winning races or whatever, then you definitely need high intensity to achieve that (although the kind of exercise you do needs to match the goal... running won't help you win powerlifting tournaments)

That said: if you don't like the exercise you're doing, then don't do it. Do something else that you like instead. High intensity exercise isn't necessary for fat loss (although strength training/weight lifting helps to ensure you maintain your lean mass while losing fat, and that needs to be intense, but doesn't take all day because it's not cardio, i.e. 45 mins whole body workout 2-3x week is enough for most people) - long term maintenance of healthy body composition should be the goal, that's much more achievable with exercise you enjoy. Many people think they have to run until they puke to get the benefit of exercise... you don't. You just need to get out there and actually get moving. The only think i'd say is to include some kind of intense enough strength training, but like I said that doesn't have to last all day and it doesn't have to make you puke either.

2. the thing about burning from carbs not fat is BS. The body can only burn so much fat in one go, so the more intense the exercise, the higher the *percentage* of the fuel your body uses comes from carbs.... but the more intense you exercise, the greater the total amount of fuel you burn. As in you burn the same amount of fat either way (so long as the intensity isn't so low that your body's not maxed out in terms of fat burning), but burn more carbs if you exercise more intensely, i.e. because you're maxed out on fat burning your body will get the extra energy needed from carbs. - additionally, what you want for fat loss is a calorie deficit, it doesn't matter whether it's fat or carbs being burned, if you're eating in deficit then regardless of what percentage of the calories burned come from fat or carbs, the fact you're eating at a deficit means you'll be burning fat later in the day to make up the energy shortfall. So the fat v carbs argument of exercise is irrelevent.... more intense exercise burns more calories and makes it easier to create a deficit through eating less than you burn off. (no calorie deficit = no weight loss, regardless of whatever else you do, which is why they say "abs are made in the kitchen")

I personally don't think what you are doing is too intense, I am 36, so a little bit older than you I am assuming and my usual week is as follows:

Monday: 1hr 10 in the gym (20 mins cardio (warm-up) followed by 50 mins weights session. Then 1.5 hrs of Tang soo do training
Tuesday: 2.5hrs of Kenpo karate, technically my rest day, as I instruct, it isn't exactly hard exercise in the slightest
Wednesday: 1hr 10 in the gym (as Monday) followed by a 60 minutes circuit (normally trx suspension training with some boxing)
Thursdays: 1hr 10 in the gym (as Monday) followed by 45 mins of body combat and then 1hr of kick boxing training.
Fridays: 1hr 10 in the gym (as Monday)
Saturday: 1hr 10 in the gym (as Monday)
Sunday: 1hr 10 in the gym (as Monday) followed by 1hr of body combat

I follow a push/pull/shoulders& legs split for the weight training sessions, so 3 sessions 2x a week and my only real intense day is Thursdays as it is pretty much non-stop, but I know alot of guys and gals who do much more than I do.

So, to cut down my waffle, do what you feel is comfortable for you, but I think you would benefit from some strength training and as has been suggested by alot of guys here, there are alot of beginner style workouts you can start with available from a variety of sources online. Good luck!