Can you exercise too much?
Replies
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wunderkindking wrote: »Yeah I occasionally log a 4-6 hour hikes. I'm credited all the calories for it. Might not let you set goals formore than 2 hours a day in goal set up? Not sure since I don't use that feature.
The goals are only used for "attagirl" messages about whether you met your exercise goals or not . . . they don't have any impact or "credit" when it comes to calorie goal.4 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
Huh? I often log more than two hours of exercise on MFP. It credits me with however many calories I say I burned for that time. My fitness tracker gives me credit for all the exercise time/calories it "sees", too.
OP's plan is still a terrible idea, though. (ETA: I've been active/athletic for 18+ years. Two hours plus of moderate exercise is fine, if someone has base fitness to support it. I have base fitness to support it. Still, longer exercise = milder intensity; if intense, then short. It's not even remotely exercise anorexia; lots of people who enjoy being active will exceed 2 hours a day, if their schedule allows. In my case, I'm retired, can have time for as much active fun as I choose to fit in.)
Oh. No disagreement about moderate exercise.
But the idea that all day exercise that OP was suggesting?
I do think that’s bordering on anorexic behavior.0 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
Huh? I often log more than two hours of exercise on MFP. It credits me with however many calories I say I burned for that time. My fitness tracker gives me credit for all the exercise time/calories it "sees", too.
OP's plan is still a terrible idea, though. (ETA: I've been active/athletic for 18+ years. Two hours plus of moderate exercise is fine, if someone has base fitness to support it. I have base fitness to support it. Still, longer exercise = milder intensity; if intense, then short. It's not even remotely exercise anorexia; lots of people who enjoy being active will exceed 2 hours a day, if their schedule allows. In my case, I'm retired, can have time for as much active fun as I choose to fit in.)
Oh. No disagreement about moderate exercise.
But the idea that all day exercise that OP was suggesting?
I do think that’s bordering on anorexic behavior.
Not if you're eating back those calories...10 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
The bold isn't remotely true, you do your exercise and you log the duration and you get credited with the estimated calories for the entire time. As a long distance cyclist two hours is often just the start.
There's a lot more exceptions than professional athletes.....
I'm just an enthusiatic elderly cyclist and this was my biggest cycling volume month this year.
Plus strength training in the gym.
That the OP came up with a dreadful idea to lose weight through inappropriate exercise volume (for her) doesn't extrapolate to everyone else.10 -
I think this is one of those things where people hear 'exercise' and think 'aerobics' or something out of high school gym class (ew) or very focused training. I know until the past... year? I was one of those people.
Faced with hour upon hour of that I'd have alarm bells going off, or think 'elite athlete' too, even now. Also - still sounds yucky and totally unfun to me. I do SOME of that (strength training because crap I need muscle, and a shortish/slowish morning jog)
But there are a lot of hobbies/fun activities that are really... high duration that also happen to be exercise, and burn calories. If I'm at an agility trial roaming around moving all day - exercise. Decided to take a day to do a long/challenging hike, going to be most of the day. Rented a kayak or paddleboard - probably going to be all day. Trial riding on a horse - could be an hour, could be 10, depending.
Calorie burn on those isn't particularly high, OP of this thread and doing days of exercise to lose weight super fast is dangerous and dumb, but. I think a lot of people here have hobbies here where 'take the day/entire evening/ a lot of time and indulge' is a a thing. And those hobbies are, well, exercise.5 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
Huh? I often log more than two hours of exercise on MFP. It credits me with however many calories I say I burned for that time. My fitness tracker gives me credit for all the exercise time/calories it "sees", too.
OP's plan is still a terrible idea, though. (ETA: I've been active/athletic for 18+ years. Two hours plus of moderate exercise is fine, if someone has base fitness to support it. I have base fitness to support it. Still, longer exercise = milder intensity; if intense, then short. It's not even remotely exercise anorexia; lots of people who enjoy being active will exceed 2 hours a day, if their schedule allows. In my case, I'm retired, can have time for as much active fun as I choose to fit in.)
Oh. No disagreement about moderate exercise.
But the idea that all day exercise that OP was suggesting?
I do think that’s bordering on anorexic behavior.
"All-day" "exercise" is not inherently and universally a problem, physically or psychologically. It's not a good idea for a relative exercise beginner, of course, for purely physiological or health reasons alone.
That said, exercise bulimia (variably a.k.a. anorexia athletica, hypergymnasia) can be an actual thing. The number of hours of activity is not a common diagnostic criterion. The context and psychological state of the individual are the important issues. Whether someone is a professional or recreational athlete is also pretty irrelevant (either one can experience this type of disorder, or exercise extensively without disorder).
This condition is not a DSM-5 clinical diagnosis (though it may be treated as a symptom of bulimia), but (for example) the National Eating Disorders Association suggests these are things that could be part of a pattern of warning signs:* Exercise that significantly interferes with important activities, occurs at inappropriate times or in inappropriate settings, or when the individual continues to exercise despite injury or other medical complications
* Intense anxiety, depression, irritability, feelings of guilt, and/or distress if unable to exercise
* Maintains excessive, rigid exercise regimen – despite weather, fatigue, illness, or injury
* Discomfort with rest or inactivity
* Exercise used to manage emotions
* Exercise as a means of purging (needing to “get rid of” or “burn off” calories)
* Exercise as permission to eat
* Exercise that is secretive or hidden
* Feeling as though you are not good enough, fast enough or not pushing hard enough during a period of exercise; overtraining
* Withdrawal from friends and family
From: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/general-information/compulsive-exercise
In theory, someone could exercise for hours pretty much every day, not be "disordered" according to those criteria. Someone else might exercise only an hour or so, but meet the criteria for disordered thinking/behavior concerning exercise.
I do share your concern that OP *could* be on a slippery slope in that direction, because some of those criteria seem as if they might apply . . . though I don't really have complete enough information to say for sure. If I take OP's statements at face value, that the point of this plan would be to get fitter and healthier faster, she's simply misinformed about the best way to accomplish those goals. It's not uncommon to be misinformed about things like that.
For some reason, there's a semi-popular tendency to believe that people who spend a lot of time being very active are somehow inherently disordered in their thinking, but it's not necessarily so.
Why is someone exercising more than a couple of hours a day exhibiting a disorder, but someone watching TV for an equal number of hours daily (quite a common thing) is not exhibiting a disorder? Both take up time, can take time away from other life activities, can (amongst a minority) involve compulsion or obsession. Both can have physical consequences. I suspect the key difference is that lots of people do the TV-watching one, and not that many people do the exercising one, so it's not normative behavior. If one doesn't do X behavior oneself, or have any close associates who do, it's pretty easy to assume that people who do are psychologically off-kilter.7 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
Never seen evidence of this, just the opposite when some have posted screen shots of trackers and adjustments on MFP - all the extra is there as expected, and calculated calories for work done has matched up for device estimated - like long hikes or bike rides.3 -
This thread reminds me of the uncountable number of times I have seen new people at the gym that seemed to have this sort of thinking. People who were obviously new to exercise, and definitely new to that gym, trying to go all-out like someone in great shape. A month (sometimes a week) later they were nowhere to be found. Sometimes I'd recognize one a year or so later doing the same thing for a week/month before disappearing again. Usually in January but not always.
My other thought was Anorexia athletica (also known as Exercise Bulimia and Hyper gymnasia).4 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
Where did you get that idea from?
I do more than 2 hours of exercise almost every day. I regularly log six-hour hikes. I've occasionally logged longer. Pre-Covid I would occasionally do back-to-back high-energy gym classes. I got the full calorie 'credit' for all of them.
In fact it would be highly unethical of MFP to lie about the amount of calories used, because that might cause massive underfuelling of endurance exercise. It looks bad if your users collapse in the middle of a 23-mile hill walk.
However, in response to the OP's question and anyone thinking like the OP - it took me literally years to work up to my current level of exercise. And that included a lot of setbacks where I would get impatient, try too much, get injured, and have to scale back again for weeks while I healed. The way to do more is by small increases and long periods of adjustment between them. Anything else just results in pain. Very literally.3 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
I've already mentioned that the OP's idea isn't a good one, but the bolded just isn't true. Not as much anymore, but I used to routinely log training in excess of 2 hours and always gotten credit. My first real training experience was for a sprint triathlon and would regularly have days requiring two or more hours of exercise. That training is what got me into cycling and I spent about 5 years really involved in endurance cycling and doing races and other events. When you're training to ride 100 miles in one pop, you spend quite a few hours on a bike training. My short rides were 60-90 minutes.
I still road ride, but I haven't done anything but shorter events the last few years so I don't train like that anymore...but I can still spend a good 3-4 hours or more out mountain biking on the weekend and most of the hikes I do are a minimum of 2 hours...most of them are 4-6 hours. I get credit for those if I log them.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »MargaretYakoda wrote: »OP hasn’t logged in for over a week.
But I do want to point out that MFP and most other fitness apps only give “credit” for two hours of exercise daily. Beyond that you get zero credit.
This is on purpose. Because beyond that it’s more likely to be a symptom of anorexia when done on a daily basis.
Professional athletes with good coaches and nutritionists are an exception.
I've already mentioned that the OP's idea isn't a good one, but the bolded just isn't true. (…snip…)
Yes. Thank you. I have been corrected multiple times already.
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I find this thread interesting. I been exercising 10 plus hours a week for decades. I intentionally go to 90% of max heart weekly and complete regular 4+ hour bike rides. My VO2 max is near 70 at 51 years old (tested in a lab). I think too much is hard to hit if you build slow. One summer I rode 20-25 hours a week and after 14 weeks I hated the bike so I dropped down to 8-10 hours and recovered nicely. I did do one full week off. We are designed by evolution to be moving creatures. Exercise is a societal creation. If you want to be healthy move as much as you can, sometimes move fast. I am also therapist and professor of mental health counseling for almost 30 years which also colors my prospective.5
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"While exercise by its simplest definition is a healthy habit, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Training too much can negatively affect your mental and physical health, and the signs you may need to dial it back might not be so obvious."
Read the full article here:
https://huffpost.com/entry/exercising-too-much-mental-health_l_61803a30e4b0ec286d306bd23 -
I do about 6 hours of weightlifting per week and i'm starting to think it's too much. And it's the only form of exercise I do.
I think it's all relative, for me it may be too much for another person it is different.
There's also stress tolerance that is involved.0 -
love this...but I am reminded often by my trainer...who supports my level of activity ( i bike, hike, golf, and ski) that abs are made in the kitchen! LOL
you can't out exercise a bad diet...never!
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Just answering the original question “what if you exercised non stop except for eat and sleep breaks?”. Answer, I think you would die within a year. People have done this before and is the source for the phrase “working yourself to death”.
The benefit is that you may go to heaven and be with Jesus. That is about it.1 -
I have read before somewhere on a fitness site that most people should exercise heavily for like 10-20 minutes, moderately 20-40 minutes and lightly up to 1 hour every other day. Make sure to do aerobic, anaerobic like weights on opposite days. So I guess the average person should exercise 1 hour per day or 2 hours every other day. I'd say after you master that, you could go up to 2 hours per day, but beyond that, it would be too much to handle.0
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Great comments but just an observation: The OP hasn't posted in 1 1/2 months.0
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