Am i pushing it???

sakshik01
sakshik01 Posts: 21 Member
edited November 21 in Fitness and Exercise
So.... i practice power yoga 4-5 days a week for an hour, light cardio 1-2 days for about 30 minutes and 3 days of strength training.
Am i overdoing it ? Im not overtly tired at the end of the day but just wondering..

Replies

  • aeloine
    aeloine Posts: 2,163 Member
    What matters most is how you feel. Is it an uncomfortable amount of exercise?
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I'm not familiar with power yoga as opposed to regular, so I don't know how intense it is. My thoughts are that if you're able to handle what you're doing without feeling burned out, you're probably okay.

    Then again, this is sort an 'If you're not okay, I've got a problem too' situation, in that I regularly get in two hours of walking minimum per day and strength train with light dumbbells and body-weight exercises three days a week. I don't feel uncomfortable. Quite the opposite. Then I do the 24-hours of exercise for the month challenge... and realize that I'm sorta getting way more. But none of what I do is high-intensity and it sounds like you're in a similar situation.

    How long have you been at this activity level?

  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,185 Member
    Do you feel like you are over doing it? Or are people telling you you are over doing it? You don't want to burn out or injure yourself, but it doesn't really seem to me like that is too much. I do yoga but not power yoga so maybe it is a lot more than I think. I practice 5 mornings a week for about 30 - 40 minutes and I run 4 days a week. I have had family members tell me that that is intense and that I am over doing it, but I know that I am not. I would listen to your heart and if you feel like it is too much then maybe cut back some and see how you feel. But if you are feeling good then I wouldn't worry about what others think.
  • sakshik01
    sakshik01 Posts: 21 Member
    Esther- ive been doing this for over 1.5 months.. my workouts are really high intensity except for the cardio, those are oretty relaxed .
  • sakshik01
    sakshik01 Posts: 21 Member
    aeloine wrote: »
    What matters most is how you feel. Is it an uncomfortable amount of exercise?
    I have been comfortable so far.. ofcourse i have the regular aches when a new part is worked on
  • sakshik01
    sakshik01 Posts: 21 Member
    rybo wrote: »
    What makes you think that you might be?
    People telling they think im overdoing it.. so thats got me second guessing myself
  • sakshik01
    sakshik01 Posts: 21 Member
    kgirlhart wrote: »
    Do you feel like you are over doing it? Or are people telling you you are over doing it? You don't want to burn out or injure yourself, but it doesn't really seem to me like that is too much. I do yoga but not power yoga so maybe it is a lot more than I think. I practice 5 mornings a week for about 30 - 40 minutes and I run 4 days a week. I have had family members tell me that that is intense and that I am over doing it, but I know that I am not. I would listen to your heart and if you feel like it is too much then maybe cut back some and see how you feel. But if you are feeling good then I wouldn't worry about what others think.

    Spot on!!
    I had a few people telling me they think im pushing myself which is why I've ended up second guessing myself
  • bobshuckleberry
    bobshuckleberry Posts: 281 Member
    Go by how you are feeling, not what other people say.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    There is no such thing as over training so just go for it.

    Were you being serious about there being no such thing as over training? Over training is absolutely a real thing.

    OP it sounds like you have a good balance to me but only you know your body. If you feel good keep on doing what your doing but just make sure your paying attention to how your body performs. Some physical signs of over training to look out for include extended muscle soreness, loss of mental clarity (that foggy feeling), increased injuries, poor sleep, getting sick more frequently and a change in resting heart rate to name a few.

  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    There is no such thing as over training so just go for it.

    What's your basis for that assertion?
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    sakshik01 wrote: »
    Esther- ive been doing this for over 1.5 months.. my workouts are really high intensity except for the cardio, those are oretty relaxed .

    If your body feels like it can handle it and you're not experiencing the symptoms @Keladelphia mentions, you're probably okay. I'm not sure is six weeks is long enough to know for sure, but for now, do what you feel you can.
  • buffgrl
    buffgrl Posts: 32 Member
    If you're sleeping well, feeling good during the day, and have energy for your workouts as well as your daily life...then I'd say you're doing fine! Your body will let you know when you're going overboard. The types of activities you are doing for the most part don't overtax your adrenals or central nervous system, so I don't see a problem here if you're feeling good.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,748 Member
    Overtraining is real. Even the extreme endurance athletes can and do end up burnt out sometimes. Yes, they can do amazing feats, but not forever. At some point their body or mind will say, "Enough!" I've read about some of the ultra runners who were on top for a few years, but then gave up. For many people, there are physical limits to how far they can go before injury happens or they start showing symptoms of stress, like not sleeping, high resting heart rate, lack of resistance to illness, etc. I've known runners who can't go more than 60 mpw without getting injured. Others are good for 90 or 100, but even they will eventually start wearing down. As a long distance hiker, I've met some of the speed hikers who push their bodies regularly for 30+ miles each day. By the end of the trail, they are fragile, both physically and emotionally. Not all, but many just wear out.

    To the OP, I doubt that it is too much unless you feel worn out and stressed by it.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    There is no such thing as over training so just go for it.

    Were you being serious about there being no such thing as over training? Over training is absolutely a real thing.

    OP it sounds like you have a good balance to me but only you know your body. If you feel good keep on doing what your doing but just make sure your paying attention to how your body performs. Some physical signs of over training to look out for include extended muscle soreness, loss of mental clarity (that foggy feeling), increased injuries, poor sleep, getting sick more frequently and a change in resting heart rate to name a few.

    I am being serious. I have worked out with people training for Iron Man, 100 mile runs, 24 hours running events, 50 and 100 mile bike races. The amount they train is staggering and would blow away what most people consider a workout. I never once heard any of them complain about overtraining. I did a mountain bike workout with a guy that his workouts were in hours not reps. He said we are going as far as we can for 4 hours then we eat, turn around and go back. That was a 10 hour day on a mountain bike. You only limitation is your mind. Of course you will be sore as hell but after seeing what these guys could do I don't believe there is such a thing as over training. One persons insane workout could be someone else's warm up. Each person should find how far they can push their body because I think they would be amazed. I like to push way way past my typical fitness comfort zone a minimum of once a year.

    Just because your Iron Man friends didn't recognize they were over trained doesn't necessarily mean they weren't (not that I'm saying they were over trained because that workload could have fallen within their workload/recovery capacity). True overtraining isn't that frequent of an occurrence especially in the average gym goer.

    I'm a competitive Olympic weightlifter who lifts nearly 1.5x body weight three hours a day five days a week in addition to 2 five mile runs and 45 minutes of yoga everyday. There are days when I am so sore I can barely walk out of the gym, I push my body to the point of failure every single day. All of that just to say I'm not currently overtrained BUT I have been overtrained and doing many less hours of work at much lighter weight loads.



    Platueaing and decreased performance despite increased hours of training and intensity, poor sleep, slow to heal injuries, increased sickness and weakness, the inability to think clearly, the likelihood of getting more severely injured due to the things i just listed, that is what overtraining is about. It's not about not pushing yourself past what you think your capable of or pushing your body to extreme exhaustion.

    Level of soreness or time spent working out doesn't necessarily correlate to overtraining. What it all boils down to is a persons fitness capacity, the level of stress they're putting on their body and their capacity to recover which is different for everyone and will be different for you as an individual as your fitness level changes.
  • sakshik01
    sakshik01 Posts: 21 Member
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    There is no such thing as over training so just go for it.

    Were you being serious about there being no such thing as over training? Over training is absolutely a real thing.

    OP it sounds like you have a good balance to me but only you know your body. If you feel good keep on doing what your doing but just make sure your paying attention to how your body performs. Some physical signs of over training to look out for include extended muscle soreness, loss of mental clarity (that foggy feeling), increased injuries, poor sleep, getting sick more frequently and a change in resting heart rate to name a few.

    That makes complete sense to me! Thanks so much!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    There is no such thing as over training so just go for it.

    LOL!
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    @sakshik01 Also make sure you've done your calorie sums.
    We can't try and guess how intense your workouts are, but it might be worth trying to work out an estimation of calories burned during them - the MFP exercise database overstates things quite often, but it may be worth trying a reasonably accurate heart rate monitor set to your weight and height, to see what the burn is.

    Making sure you are fuelling yourself appropriately for your level of activity is really important to avoiding any overtraining issues. That's not to say you can't have a sensible deficit to help with your weight loss goals (whatever they may be), but if you are netting too few calories over a sustained period of time, that can stack up to bigger issues.

    Also do build some periodicity into your training, whether that's just a total rest day every couple of weeks, or something more structured with a programmed de-load in your weight training is up to you I guess. It's better to build in a bit more rest than you think you need, rather than waiting for your body to turn round and bite you on the backside, particularly if you're looking to make this a lifestyle rather than peaking for a certain event and then taking time off.

    (I've been involved in rowing for a long time, including the Oxford-Cambridge boat races and at international level, and now have MANY friends (mostly ex rowers) who have become avid cyclists, triathletes, marathon runners and all sorts of things. I've seen overtraining hit the most unexpected people at the most unexpected times, and range from just needing to take a few weeks off to absolutely career ending. Overtraining is 100% real, triggered by a whole range of things (in my experience most noticeably diet, non-exercise factors such as what job or studies you're trying to do alongside the training, and trying to push through early signals from your body that it needs just a little bit of a break) and can be horribly debilitating. At "recreational" level, it's pretty hard to get to the point of what I would class as true overtraining, but that doesn't mean that you should skip out on planning your training/fuel/rest strategy properly, or that you shouldn't listen to your body. Only the individual will know the difference between moderate post-exercise soreness and that absolutely leaden feeling like you can't get out of bed and that it isn't worth it anyway. The minute your workouts start feeling like a constant chore and come with a sense of dread may be a sensible point to revaluate.)
  • sakshik01
    sakshik01 Posts: 21 Member
    cs2thecox wrote: »
    @sakshik01 Also make sure you've done your calorie sums.
    We can't try and guess how intense your workouts are, but it might be worth trying to work out an estimation of calories burned during them - the MFP exercise database overstates things quite often, but it may be worth trying a reasonably accurate heart rate monitor set to your weight and height, to see what the burn is.

    Making sure you are fuelling yourself appropriately for your level of activity is really important to avoiding any overtraining issues. That's not to say you can't have a sensible deficit to help with your weight loss goals (whatever they may be), but if you are netting too few calories over a sustained period of time, that can stack up to bigger issues.

    Also do build some periodicity into your training, whether that's just a total rest day every couple of weeks, or something more structured with a programmed de-load in your weight training is up to you I guess. It's better to build in a bit more rest than you think you need, rather than waiting for your body to turn round and bite you on the backside, particularly if you're looking to make this a lifestyle rather than peaking for a certain event and then taking time off.

    (I've been involved in rowing for a long time, including the Oxford-Cambridge boat races and at international level, and now have MANY friends (mostly ex rowers) who have become avid cyclists, triathletes, marathon runners and all sorts of things. I've seen overtraining hit the most unexpected people at the most unexpected times, and range from just needing to take a few weeks off to absolutely career ending. Overtraining is 100% real, triggered by a whole range of things (in my experience most noticeably diet, non-exercise factors such as what job or studies you're trying to do alongside the training, and trying to push through early signals from your body that it needs just a little bit of a break) and can be horribly debilitating. At "recreational" level, it's pretty hard to get to the point of what I would class as true overtraining, but that doesn't mean that you should skip out on planning your training/fuel/rest strategy properly, or that you shouldn't listen to your body. Only the individual will know the difference between moderate post-exercise soreness and that absolutely leaden feeling like you can't get out of bed and that it isn't worth it anyway. The minute your workouts start feeling like a constant chore and come with a sense of dread may be a sensible point to revaluate.)


    This is all really very helpful!! Thank you so so much!
  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,445 Member
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    Overtraining is real. Even the extreme endurance athletes can and do end up burnt out sometimes. Yes, they can do amazing feats, but not forever. At some point their body or mind will say, "Enough!" I've read about some of the ultra runners who were on top for a few years, but then gave up. For many people, there are physical limits to how far they can go before injury happens or they start showing symptoms of stress, like not sleeping, high resting heart rate, lack of resistance to illness, etc. I've known runners who can't go more than 60 mpw without getting injured. Others are good for 90 or 100, but even they will eventually start wearing down. As a long distance hiker, I've met some of the speed hikers who push their bodies regularly for 30+ miles each day. By the end of the trail, they are fragile, both physically and emotionally. Not all, but many just wear out.

    To the OP, I doubt that it is too much unless you feel worn out and stressed by it.

    So the hikers or runners didn't over train they found their limitations. Pushing to complete exhaustion isn't overtraining it should be a goal from time time. I don't go to the gym anymore but when I did if my legs weren't wobbly or it wasn't a struggle to carry my gym back while walking to the car then I didn't train enough. If the reason for eating and working out is to be the strongest and fittest you then why not find out how strong and fit you truly are.

    You seem to be confused as to what is really happening here. Runners DO NOT train to exhaustion. In fact, almost all my runs are 'easy'. The only time I am completely spent is race day. Even my speed work is not 1000% (close, but not over the top). And all of this is a process that has to start every cycle. You prepare for the event and then shut things down for a few weeks to recover.

    There are reasons some folks are successful and other are not. Listening to your body is near the top of this list.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    sakshik01 wrote: »
    rybo wrote: »
    What makes you think that you might be?
    People telling they think im overdoing it.. so thats got me second guessing myself

    people who do no exercise by any chance?
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    There is no such thing as over training so just go for it.

    Were you being serious about there being no such thing as over training? Over training is absolutely a real thing.

    OP it sounds like you have a good balance to me but only you know your body. If you feel good keep on doing what your doing but just make sure your paying attention to how your body performs. Some physical signs of over training to look out for include extended muscle soreness, loss of mental clarity (that foggy feeling), increased injuries, poor sleep, getting sick more frequently and a change in resting heart rate to name a few.

    I am being serious. I have worked out with people training for Iron Man, 100 mile runs, 24 hours running events, 50 and 100 mile bike races. The amount they train is staggering and would blow away what most people consider a workout. I never once heard any of them complain about overtraining. I did a mountain bike workout with a guy that his workouts were in hours not reps. He said we are going as far as we can for 4 hours then we eat, turn around and go back. That was a 10 hour day on a mountain bike. You only limitation is your mind. Of course you will be sore as hell but after seeing what these guys could do I don't believe there is such a thing as over training. One persons insane workout could be someone else's warm up. Each person should find how far they can push their body because I think they would be amazed. I like to push way way past my typical fitness comfort zone a minimum of once a year.

    I am one of the people who do long, long distance cycling (50-100 mile rides have been relatively short training rides) ... and I can assure you that there is overtraining. In fact, when I've been building up toward my peak distances, I have to manage my exercise and rest very carefully.

    I'm a randonneur who has done four 1200 km events and one 1000 km event as well as numerous shorter distances of 200 km. 300 km, 400 km and 600 km.

    You are right that the human body can be pushed way past what most people think is possible ... but it does have to be pushed there with some caution.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    [/quote]

    So the hikers or runners didn't over train they found their limitations. Pushing to complete exhaustion isn't overtraining it should be a goal from time time. I don't go to the gym anymore but when I did if my legs weren't wobbly or it wasn't a struggle to carry my gym back while walking to the car then I didn't train enough. If the reason for eating and working out is to be the strongest and fittest you then why not find out how strong and fit you truly are.

    [/quote]

    @gearhead426hemi, I am an endurance athlete. Based on your comments, I believe you are trying to make the point that humans have great physical capacity and only a small percentage push themselves to find out their physical limits. I understand and agree with that sentiment.

    With that said, I would suggest that you do not have even a rudimentary understanding of how 99% of ENDURANCE athletes train. (I can't speak to how weightlifters train.) In ENDURANCE training, there are several concepts that may help you understand how athletes build fitness to compete on race day. (So they can push themselves to exhaustion as you suggest they should.)

    The first concept is called PERIODIZATION. This is a way to segment training into time blocks (say 4 weeks) that have a specific goal. Typically during a time block, an athlete would build training volume (say bike or run mileage) during the first three weeks, then REDUCE volume and/or intensity during the 4th week to let the body recover and absorb the fitness gains achieved during the prior 3 week build.

    This ties into the second concept, which is SUPERCOMPENSATION. It is supercompensation that occurs as the body recovers from the stress placed on it in training. When talking about SC over time, think of it as walking up a long flight of stairs. Each week we walk up one step. When we reach the 4th week, we stay on step #3 and catch our breath. When we resume, our fitness is already 3 steps from the bottom, so our next block allows us to reach step #6, etcetera. This pattern is often repeated over a 12-24 week timeframe as athletes build fitness for long events, such as marathons, triathlons, long cycling events, etcetera.

    As others have mentioned, most of an endurance athlete's training under this process is done at an "easy" or low heart rate zone effort. (Look up Heart Rate Zone training for details.) The high intensity days, such as speed work on a track, are only done about once/week. This is so that the body can recover from the high intensity days before being placed under a heavy stress again.

    Finally, I have pulled an abstract from a friend's doctoral thesis. The abstract defines Overtraining Syndrome and mentions some of the symptoms associated with overtraining.


    The Overtraining Syndrome:

    An Examination of Symptomology, Etiology, and Pathophysiology

    ABSTRACT

    The Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) is classically characterized by repetitive muscle trauma coupled with insufficient rest. This excessive stress, further complicated by psychological and extraneous stressors, exceeds the physiologic capacity to adapt and results in the deterioration of homeostatic mechanisms. Though a myriad of symptoms are common, including reduced performance, loss of lean muscle mass, immunosuppression, declines of libido, sleep disturbances, and mood alterations, an underlying etiology of indolent inflammation ties them all together. Mediated largely by inflammatory cytokines: IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α, research indicates subsequent alterations in the HPA and HPG axes, the production of APPs by the liver, elevations in glucocorticoids by the adrenals, and sympathetic overdrive as noted by neurotransmitter imbalances. Further, these cytokines influence processes auto-regulation, like gluconeogenesis, insulin sensitivity, and appetite.
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