Do you think you can do too much exercise?

rocketpopsicles
rocketpopsicles Posts: 170
in Fitness and Exercise
Just a general question - looking for personal opinions not negative rants / harsh responses!

If you think of the biggest loser and such, they work out 5-6 HOURS a day, minimum.

Where most people do 1 hour or so..

Do you think you can do to much exercise?

Replies

  • KaidaKantri
    KaidaKantri Posts: 401
    Yes. Definately. You never want to overdo it with food, and that's the case in ANYTHING that you do. Too much exercise can put too much of a strain on your muscles, and you could even damage something in your body by doing too much.
  • LunaMischief
    LunaMischief Posts: 166 Member
    Too much exercise can put too much of a strain on your muscles, and you could even damage something in your body by doing too much.

    ^ this

    Your body needs time to rest and heal. I wouldn't think exercise is productive if your body's weak/ achey
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    of course, but it's more about not allowing yourself proper rest than the amount of time.

    most of the workouts those people do at the TBL ranch is slow and steady cardio which isn't anywhere near as hard on your body as HIIT, strength or those last chance workouts (which only occur once every 7-10 days from what i understand).

    i think in general most people worry unnecessarily about over training. the human body is a machine. our ancestors used to have to work (ie exercise) hours a day on a daily basis to get food, prepare food, store food, work in your community, etc. we have the same bodies that they have yet when people have to workout an hour a day now they are suddenly worried about overtraining :laugh:

    as an athlete i worked out hard hours a day 6 days of the week and my rest day was a workout that i would now consider my regular workout. i never got injured (from the actual workouts) and nothing broke inside me
  • rocketpopsicles
    rocketpopsicles Posts: 170
    i think in general most people worry unnecessarily about over training. the human body is a machine. our ancestors used to have to work (ie exercise) hours a day on a daily basis to get food, prepare food, store food, work in your community, etc. we have the same bodies that they have yet when people have to workout an hour a day now they are suddenly worried about overtraining :laugh:

    That isn't at all what I was talking about.
    I just meant in general, I never meant working out only 1 hour a day.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    If an hour a workout is good, a ten hour workout is ten times as good!

    I'm kidding. Of course you can do too much exercise. And the main issue is overtraining, which I guess isn't what you're talking about.

    I read the Biggest Losers mostly walk for hours.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    i think in general most people worry unnecessarily about over training. the human body is a machine. our ancestors used to have to work (ie exercise) hours a day on a daily basis to get food, prepare food, store food, work in your community, etc. we have the same bodies that they have yet when people have to workout an hour a day now they are suddenly worried about overtraining :laugh:

    That isn't at all what I was talking about.
    I just meant in general, I never meant working out only 1 hour a day.

    ok, but i was also answering based on my experiences. i personally know people who have approached me worried because they think my 60-90 minutes a day is over training.

    the idea of too much exercise is pretty subjective. most people are pretty lazy with regards to exercise, so they struggle to even get to 20 minutes 3 times a week (which is what i think the minimum is supposed to be to stay healthy) and to them doing something every day for 60 minutes is excessive or obsessive.

    basically most people have no idea what the limits of heir bodies are and it's those limits that determine too much exercise.. so yeah i do think it's possible but i doubt most people will get anywhere near that level to even have to worry about it
  • angrodriguez92
    angrodriguez92 Posts: 193 Member
    I think working out an hour a day is perfect, but you should fill your life with activity. Have an active job, active hobbies for fun. If you do that I think you are generally healthier and still participating in your life. I also think different people need different things. I think 5 hours a day is too much tho... You can't possibly rest enough working out 5 hours a day...
  • Twiztedbeing
    Twiztedbeing Posts: 389
    One other thing to think about. Your body functions off a certain amount of calories. If you are working out too long, then there is no way you are netting enough calories to not only maintain your body but in general.

    IE 5-6 hours of strenuous activities.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Do you think you can do to much exercise?
    IMO, the answer is yes...but what is "too much" depends on a lot of things. Professional athletes train at a level that would severely overtrain and/or cripple the average couch potato...but they've built up to that level through years of progressive training and have very specific training programs (with down-cycling and recovery periods built in), adequate calorie intake and supplementation (as necessary) to support it.

    For the "average" person, it depends on what the exercise is and how it's done. For example, if you're doing a whole-body weight training workout six times a week (training the same muscles every day - not a "split") for an hour at a time, you're most likely going to overtrain and your results will suffer. If you're doing that same workout three days a week and mixing in three other days of some type of cardio, the effects probably won't be so deleterious (assuming adequate rest and nutrition). As another example, if the "average" person does grueling HIIT cardio workouts six days a week, that could also excessively tax both the muscles and the nervous system, leading to overtraining and/or injury. OTOH, cycling the intensity over those six days would yield better results for most.

    Take a look at the MFP population - there are people here at every point in the spectrum, fitness-wise. "Too much exercise" will mean vastly different things to each one of us. Somebody near their goal weight who has been working out intensely will be much more tolerant of a strenuous fitness regimen than a highly obese person who has been sedentary most of their life and is just taking their first steps toward fitness. We're not all "unique little snowflakes" - everybody can benefit from exercise. The question is how much, how often and how intense.
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
    Too much LISS cardio? No. Our bodies were designed to do that all day long.
    To much HIIT/HISS or resistance? Definitely.
    Even if you eat back calories, the oxidative stress from intense cardio adds up, and will lead to premature cellular aging, increased rate of ailments of senescence etc. (I'm sure some of the cardio all day folks will take offense to this, but it is indisputable scientifically). If you're going to do tons of cardio, load up on anti-oxidants or you will pay the price in the long run. Acetyl l-carnitine plus alpha lipoid acid is a great stack.
    Resistance training is even more limited, assuming you are moving enough to make it worthwhile. For a natural person, 3-4 hours/week is probably the most productive time you can spend (maybe a bit more for the genetically gifted). More than that is generally only useful for the drug-enhanced.
  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
    Just a general question - looking for personal opinions not negative rants / harsh responses!

    If you think of the biggest loser and such, they work out 5-6 HOURS a day, minimum.

    Where most people do 1 hour or so..

    Do you think you can do to much exercise?
    Keep in mind that The Biggest Loser's goal is to maximize weight loss, even at the cost of muscle loss. They don't care about muscle loss.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Yes
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    I can't, but I AM a lazy git.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    Fun fact: There is a form of anorexia that involves extreme exercising. So, yes. It is possible to exercise too much, just like it's possible to eat too little.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
    Yes - but 'too much' is relative to your ability and the exercise intensity. A daily marathon is probably a bad idea, where as a daily 4 hr walk would be fine.

    As a rule, to improve strength, speed or stamina rest and recovery is an important part of a training schedule.
  • cryshelle247
    cryshelle247 Posts: 78 Member
    im determined to workout more than i actually do a day lol it may seem a little intense to see like wow they r working out 4-5 hours i watch my brother in the gym and to be honest the time passes by really fast ... 45 minutes on the tredmil 45 minutes on a bicycle about 1 hour lifting different kinds of weights then theres stretching then u could go swimming for half an hour and there u go ... its not that terrible as people think it is. i mean when a person says they been n the gym for 3-4 hours any1 would b like whoah but its all on what they were doing . i mean theres 24 hours in day if u arent working and u r home all day whats wrong with taking 3-4 hours being active moving around out of 24? idk everyone is different tho
  • CassieReannan
    CassieReannan Posts: 1,479 Member
    Yes of course!
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,446 Member
    There is definitely a way to do too much exercise. But honestly, the biggest reason I don't exercise more is that I don't want my body to think 10 hours a week of exercise is "normal" for me, and require that much exercise in order to maintain. I am only doing as much (and at the frequency) I plan to do in maintenance. I won't do more than 4ish days of exercise a week, so I just aim for 4-5 hours a week, even though I could definitely handle more. I just up the intensity to make it as efficient as possible.

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