Am I working out too much
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SuperSaiyanGoddess86
Posts: 84 Member
Hello guys I was trying to see if I am working out to much. I go to the Y for 2 hrs in the morning and 2 at night 4-5 days a week. I do body pump, cycling, dance fusion, and HIIT each a hour class and sometimes I will get on the elliptical for a hour.
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In my opinion, that is too much for me. Is that too much for you? I don't know. I would be worried that you risk injury or burn-out. It seems excessive and it certainly isn't necessary. Eating at a calorie deficit causes weight loss, not exercise.
I work out four to five days a week, approximately an hour each workout. Three of those days are weight lifting, Stronglifts 5X5, the other one to two days are cardio. I eat 1930 calories per day. I'm 41 years old, 5'9" and currently 177 lbs. I'm losing slowly, but steadily.2 -
4 hours of exercise a day? I sure hope you're eating enough to fuel that amount of activity. Pretty sure I would throw in the towel after about a week, but what's too much for one person may not be too much for another.4
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4 hours a day, 4-5 times a week, does seem like a lot . . . especially if you aren't training for something specific. Is it crowding out other valuable activities (like work, other hobbies, socializing)? Are you doing it because you enjoy it?0
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You're doing more exercise in terms of hours per week than I did in training for various imperial century rides, Olympic distance duathlons and half marathons...0
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Well, the questions I would ask are, "How long have you been able to sustain this amount of activity?" and, "How do you feel?"3
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Seems like you could risk injury or burnout, like above poster said, especially if this is new to you.0
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cmriverside wrote: »Well, the questions I would ask are, "How long have you been able to sustain this amount of activity?" and, "How do you feel?"
These really are the important questions.
I might add, is this your long term plan or a weight loss plan?0 -
I think its too much but I don't think we have all the info in which to form an opinion. Are you in training for something like a marathon? Or are you trying to lose weight quickly? Are you eating enough? Or do you feel tired, drained, lightheaded? Are you allowing your muscles a chance to rest and recover or are you doing this every day? I have been able to lose weight with 30 minutes per day of walking. I do another 30 minutes a day three times a week when I'm lifting. Any more is not enjoyable to me. Are you enjoying this workout schedule or is it interfering with your life, family, work, rest and responsibilities? I think its too much but ultimately, you know your goals and your body the best.0
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Too much. Half of that would be a lot IMHO.
For ref I do about 3hrs 45 of serious gym work and about 1 hour of messing about (playing with the kids, running, walking etc) per week.0 -
Doesn't seem sustainable to me. You're also risking injury from working out so much.
Can I ask why you're working out so much? How long have you been doing this for? Are you planning to keep this up forever? Are you eating enough to properly fuel these workouts?
4 hours at the gym.... is alot of time.0 -
I want to be fit and healthy, but I also don't want to spend my whole life at the gym. When you spend that much time working out, you miss out on so much. You can still accomplish great results with less time. I know, because I have done it. To each his own though. It may work for you, but it sure as hell wouldn't work for me.0
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I'm training for a competition and find myself doing 3-4 hours a day, about 3/4 days of the week, but this is with a sports-specific goal in mind; as such, I eat A LOT to fuel performance! If you're exercising for weight loss, I'd say cool it on the excessive cardio - focus on high intensity circuit training (for 30 mins or so) and strength training / body pump classes. Training twice in a day is good because you can break up strength and cardio, but an hour of each would be more than sufficient. Two hours a day is plenty!0
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cmriverside wrote: »Well, the questions I would ask are, "How long have you been able to sustain this amount of activity?" and, "How do you feel?"
These are excellent questions and we need to know more about the OP's training history certainly.
However while she may feel terrific now that does not of course mean she will necessarily feel that way in the future as overuse injuries have a way of sneaking up on a person...
I just hope this is not some Biggest Loser inspired nonsense which promotes the false idea that excessive volume of exercise is necessary or even productive for weight loss. Exercise is great. Too much, not so much.0 -
dang honestly.. i started at the gym going only 45 mins then leaving. after a week or 2 i went to an hour. now im at almost 2 hours. i was going everyday for about a month. Sunday-Monday sometimes twice a day maybe hour in morning and hour or a lil more after work at night. recently went had dizzy spells and fatigue while on the treadmill. i drank lots of water still pushed myself and did abs and elliptical for a mile. after that day i promised myself id take a day off. sometimes 2. so i now go monday,tuesday. take Wednesday off. go thursday. take friday off. and go Saturday and sunday. i feel way refreshed having those days off. but good luck to u. dont wreck your body. u may feel good now but ur body will shut down when its exhausted.0
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heavy_heavy_lowlow wrote: »dang honestly.. i started at the gym going only 45 mins then leaving. after a week or 2 i went to an hour. now im at almost 2 hours. i was going everyday for about a month. 7 days a week sometimes twice a day maybe hour in morning and hour or a lil more after work at night. recently went had dizzy spells and fatigue while on the treadmill. i drank lots of water still pushed myself and did abs and elliptical for a mile. after that day i promised myself id take a day off. sometimes 2. so i now go monday,tuesday. take Wednesday off. go thursday. take friday off. and go Saturday and sunday. i feel way refreshed having those days off. but good luck to u. dont wreck your body. u may feel good now but ur body will shut down when its exhausted.
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cmriverside wrote: »Well, the questions I would ask are, "How long have you been able to sustain this amount of activity?" and, "How do you feel?"
These are excellent questions and we need to know more about the OP's training history certainly.
However while she may feel terrific now that does not of course mean she will necessarily feel that way in the future as overuse injuries have a way of sneaking up on a person...
I just hope this is not some Biggest Loser inspired nonsense which promotes the false idea that excessive volume of exercise is necessary or even productive for weight loss. Exercise is great. Too much, not so much.
Agreed. For me, 16-20 hours a week is too much. I do about 3-5 hours of working out a week, depending on what my schedule can accommodate. This week, I can only do 3 hours, next week I may be able to get to the 4-5 hours. I really hope you're eating enough to sustain this level of activity.
Other questions to ask yourself, do you think you can sustain this long term? How does your body feel over all? How do you feel mentally? Are you getting dizzy or lightheaded? Are you constantly sore? How are your joints and muscles feeling?
I'm worried you're going to burn yourself out or injure yourself.0 -
cmriverside wrote: »Well, the questions I would ask are, "How long have you been able to sustain this amount of activity?" and, "How do you feel?"
These are excellent questions and we need to know more about the OP's training history certainly.
However while she may feel terrific now that does not of course mean she will necessarily feel that way in the future as overuse injuries have a way of sneaking up on a person...
I just hope this is not some Biggest Loser inspired nonsense which promotes the false idea that excessive volume of exercise is necessary or even productive for weight loss. Exercise is great. Too much, not so much.
Agreed. For me, 16-20 hours a week is too much. I do about 3-5 hours of working out a week, depending on what my schedule can accommodate. This week, I can only do 3 hours, next week I may be able to get to the 4-5 hours. I really hope you're eating enough to sustain this level of activity.
Other questions to ask yourself, do you think you can sustain this long term? How does your body feel over all? How do you feel mentally? Are you getting dizzy or lightheaded? Are you constantly sore? How are your joints and muscles feeling?
I'm worried you're going to burn yourself out or injure yourself.
Hey I have been doing this for almost a month now and I feel perfectly fine. I rest on thursdays and sundays. To answer your other questions. Yes I think I can do it for a long time. I do not get dizzy or lightheaded I stay hydrated. My legs and joints feel good except for my but I just started cycling so getting use to the seat.1 -
cmriverside wrote: »Well, the questions I would ask are, "How long have you been able to sustain this amount of activity?" and, "How do you feel?"
These are excellent questions and we need to know more about the OP's training history certainly.
However while she may feel terrific now that does not of course mean she will necessarily feel that way in the future as overuse injuries have a way of sneaking up on a person...
I just hope this is not some Biggest Loser inspired nonsense which promotes the false idea that excessive volume of exercise is necessary or even productive for weight loss. Exercise is great. Too much, not so much.
NO I do not watch biggest loser dont know what they do on that show I just like working out.0 -
slsanderson wrote: »I'm training for a competition and find myself doing 3-4 hours a day, about 3/4 days of the week, but this is with a sports-specific goal in mind; as such, I eat A LOT to fuel performance! If you're exercising for weight loss, I'd say cool it on the excessive cardio - focus on high intensity circuit training (for 30 mins or so) and strength training / body pump classes. Training twice in a day is good because you can break up strength and cardio, but an hour of each would be more than sufficient. Two hours a day is plenty!
Thanks I do HIIt 4 times a week and body pump 3 times a week and cardio about 4 times a week.0 -
AmberSpamber wrote: »I want to be fit and healthy, but I also don't want to spend my whole life at the gym. When you spend that much time working out, you miss out on so much. You can still accomplish great results with less time. I know, because I have done it. To each his own though. It may work for you, but it sure as hell wouldn't work for me.
Thanks Amber Yeah I have time to spend with my fiance and kids and I am off work for the remainder of school year plus summer so I have nothing else to do.1
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