Can you workout too much?

Tina270582
Tina270582 Posts: 34 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
I am trying to lose weight and I workout 6 times a week for 2 - 3 hours. Usually closer to 3 hours. I do Cardio (Spinning, Stairmaster, Elliptical...) and Weights (classes like total Body Barbell, Cardio Sculpt, Insanity...).
I don't feel really exhausted after working out. I usually have an average Heartrate of 130 (Max 170).
So am I working out too much and that is the reason I am not losing weight? Or am I just paranoid :)
Thanks
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Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited April 2015
    Assuming you've been at this for a while, if you're not losing weight, it's because you're eating too much for your activity level.

    People who under-eat and then hammer it on the exercise side lose lots of weight (if they don't crash out right away) - much of it badly, as burned up lean body mass.
  • Tina270582
    Tina270582 Posts: 34 Member
    I don't eat more that 1500 kcal a day
  • Walter__
    Walter__ Posts: 518 Member
    You're most likely eating too much if you're doing 3hrs of cardio 6x a week but not losing weight.
  • LovelyIvy466
    LovelyIvy466 Posts: 387 Member
    edited April 2015
    Are you weighing your food? It can be really easy to underestimate your intake if you are eyeballing it.

    That sounds like a LOT of exercise to me, but I would be worried about injury due to overtraining rather than focused on weight loss. If you are doing full body strength training classes every day that's too much. Your muscles do need time to recover.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Tina270582 wrote: »
    I don't eat more that 1500 kcal a day

    Open your diary, it's easy to make mistakes.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    You must not be weighing your food properly because if u r working out three hours a day and only eating that little, u should be losing
  • honkytonks85
    honkytonks85 Posts: 669 Member
    er.... 1500 calories a day and you're doing 3 hours of cardio? no.. no no no no no.. eat more!


  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    honkytonks85 wrote: »
    er.... 1500 calories a day and you're doing 3 hours of cardio? no.. no no no no no.. eat more!

    That will only cause weight gain.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    If you don't feel exhausted after all that then you're not working hard enough. Even if you were incredibly fit and strong you could push yourself hard in those classes. I personally don't think working out that much is necessary.
  • Tina270582
    Tina270582 Posts: 34 Member
    Thanks for all your posts.
    I lost 110 lbs in the last 2.5 years. I always worked out at least 3x a week. I have been on a 1200 kcal diet (high protein) since that time. I feel exhausted while I work out. But 10 minutes later I am fine... Well maybe my body doesn't want to lose anymore. I guess I will just keep doing what I am doing. I just thought I read somewhere that working out too much could actually cause gain (and I don't mean muscle gain)
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited April 2015
    Yes, you can... and your body will tell you when you're doing it, you just have to listen to it. As for your bigger question, if you're not losing weight, you're eating too much (assuming no extenuating circumstances). As you lose weight, you're maintenance cals generally drop. That means that if your maintenance is dropping while you're intake remains the same, your deficit slowly lessens.

    On a related note... most people experience far greater success losing weight when they focus on their diet rather than trying to exercise away the lbs.

    On another related note... make sure your workouts are purposeful. IMO, workouts that are simply for the sake of working out rarely benefit you much.
  • pinkakira1
    pinkakira1 Posts: 235 Member
    I think I have been having the same issue. I have weak moments tho. I get discouraged and say bump it I am eating bad. I would love to know what I am doing wrong. I lost 30lbs working out less and gained it all back so started doing the same thing and lost nothing so bumped it up... lost nothing... bumped it up then started to gain... then gain more... then gain more. I am frustrated daily with my gain. I keep going on and off the wagon because of no results from hard work. huh frustrating.
  • autumnblade75
    autumnblade75 Posts: 1,661 Member
    Is that 2-3 hours a day or 2-3 hours a week? How did you calculate an HRM of 170? That seems low...
  • ylysykh
    ylysykh Posts: 2 Member
    Try eat 1200kcal and exercise only 1 hour a day BUT do intense work out. See if you like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlQLHBkVbs0 . I have lost 8 solid pounds in 2 months. Not bad considering my age and I am not on any diet .I am logging in everything what I am consuming during the day though making sure I am not over eating. Good luck!
  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
    You can work out too much...your body needs time to repair itself...especially after strength training. I didn't listen to my body and pushed through the pain and now I have a hernia from all the ab work I've been doing.
  • r5d5
    r5d5 Posts: 219 Member
    Perhaps from eating so low and working out so much, you've significantly lowered the efficiency of your metabolism.
    (not starvation mode! But just making your body inefficient at what you want it to do.)
  • Tina270582
    Tina270582 Posts: 34 Member
    autumnblade75 wrote: »
    Is that 2-3 hours a day or 2-3 hours a week? How did you calculate an HRM of 170? That seems low...

    2-3 hours a day.

    I cannot go lower on my kcal intake!
    And I do intense workouts. I do HIIT, Insanity, Cycling...

    I wear a heartrate monitor. That's why I know that my pulse won't go over 170. tried max speed on the stairmaster. Was sweating really bad, but heartbeat was 169 ;( And it is not broken. Other people tested it....
  • BenjaminS_Fitness
    BenjaminS_Fitness Posts: 70 Member
    How long have you not been losing weight?
    If it is a week or two it might be because your body is holding more water weight which happens sometimes during longer diets. (basically your body is trying to hold on to as much weight as possible.

    If it is longer it is because you are not measuring your food accurately or cheating without even admitting it to yourself.

    Also: 2-3 hours? start on a solid, proven weight training program the workouts usually never take longer than 1.5 hours 3x a day. You will put on muscle which is good for fat loss (and yes it is possible in a deficit if you are at a higher body fat percentage) and you still got enough time for cardio or whatever.
    If your really train hard and focusing on progressing in your weight lifting you CAN NOT train for 2-3 hours.
  • amy8400
    amy8400 Posts: 478 Member
    6 days a week at 2-3 hours a day is 12-18 hours of exercise a week. And you're eating no more than 1500 calories a day? You need fuel to power those workouts, not just grind through them and expect your body to just take the abuse. I agree that you are putting way too much emphasis on gym time.

    Are you weighing and logging your foods? Without an open diary, it's hard for anyone to offer anything more than general advice.
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    I workout 10-11 hours a week bike 7 hours and weights 4 hours eat over 2000 closer to 2500 calories everyday and am losing weight
  • Tina270582
    Tina270582 Posts: 34 Member
    BenjaminS_Fitness wrote: »
    How long have you not been losing weight?
    If it is a week or two it might be because your body is holding more water weight which happens sometimes during longer diets. (basically your body is trying to hold on to as much weight as possible.
    I haven't lost any weight in 4 month!

    I don't log here on MFP. I log on another app. But starting from now on. I will log here as well. I will just come back here in 2 weeks and you can see what I am eating. :)

  • BenjaminS_Fitness
    BenjaminS_Fitness Posts: 70 Member
    amy8400 wrote: »
    6 days a week at 2-3 hours a day is 12-18 hours of exercise a week. And you're eating no more than 1500 calories a day? You need fuel to power those workouts, not just grind through them and expect your body to just take the abuse. I agree that you are putting way too much emphasis on gym time.

    Are you weighing and logging your foods? Without an open diary, it's hard for anyone to offer anything more than general advice.

    Even if she is logging and her log would say 1500 there is no way she is not losing fat on 1500 calories with that activity.
  • Tina270582
    Tina270582 Posts: 34 Member
    BenjaminS_Fitness wrote: »
    amy8400 wrote: »
    6 days a week at 2-3 hours a day is 12-18 hours of exercise a week. And you're eating no more than 1500 calories a day? You need fuel to power those workouts, not just grind through them and expect your body to just take the abuse. I agree that you are putting way too much emphasis on gym time.

    Are you weighing and logging your foods? Without an open diary, it's hard for anyone to offer anything more than general advice.

    Even if she is logging and her log would say 1500 there is no way she is not losing fat on 1500 calories with that activity.

    That is why I think my body is just done losing weight. I was 264 lbs and am now 155. I guess it had enough. Sadly I am not at my goal of 130 lbs..

  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    To answer your title: Yes, you can train too much, it's called over-training.

    Have a re-look at your diet and exercise, sometimes changing things up slightly can make a difference. (Training less, eating less or Training more, eating more) All dependent on what you feel may be too much.

  • CrabNebula
    CrabNebula Posts: 1,119 Member
    You are eating too much. Full stop. Unless you are maybe 4'2" and 50lbs...
  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,153 Member
    TyronnePanaino wrote: »
    To answer your title: Yes, you can train too much, it's called over-training.

    Have a re-look at your diet and exercise, sometimes changing things up slightly can make a difference. (Training less, eating less or Training more, eating more) All dependent on what you feel may be too much.



    It's possible, that's for sure. I am in great shape and train 4-5 days per week (weights) and cardio 5 days per week (30 min, sometimes more). I had been doing one hour cardio every day. Then, I added an extra weight day (glute focused) and tried to sneak in a 'light' shoulder day four days after my heavy one. I did this for exactly three months before I went in one day and just couldn't do any of it. I was beat. I could hardly get out of bed in the morning. Long story short - definitely possible, then you'll be forced to take time off later and won't be too thrilled about it (at least not if you love exercise/gym time). Still dealing with a little bit of dragging of the a**, but much better and now re-configured my sessions as well as nutritional areas.

    All I can say is I would occasionally wonder - am I overdoing it? Nah. Then, it hit. I knew.
  • Tina270582
    Tina270582 Posts: 34 Member
    I am 5'4'' and I weigh 155 lbs. I eat between 1200 and 1500 kcal a day. I don't think it is healthy to go even lower than that... Sorry.
    But if that would be the problem, I would be able to fix it, trust me!
  • BenjaminS_Fitness
    BenjaminS_Fitness Posts: 70 Member
    TyronnePanaino wrote: »
    To answer your title: Yes, you can train too much, it's called over-training.

    Have a re-look at your diet and exercise, sometimes changing things up slightly can make a difference. (Training less, eating less or Training more, eating more) All dependent on what you feel may be too much.
    Overtraining (scientific tearm) is actually a medical condition.
    what is labeled as overtraining by lifters is really short tearm overreaching.

    Real overtraining is possible but to be realistic most normal people will never ever reach it.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Tina270582 wrote: »
    I am 5'4'' and I weigh 155 lbs. I eat between 1200 and 1500 kcal a day.

    Is that 1200-1500 cals total, or 1200-1500 + exercise cals?

  • CrabNebula
    CrabNebula Posts: 1,119 Member
    I am 5'5", 132lbs and I lost weight without doing hardly any serious cardio on 1300-1500 a day at 155lbs.
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