How much exercise is too much?

Posts: 1,722
9/2/12 11:16 P

Just adjust your calorie burnn goals in Spark and increase your calorie intake a bit if you are enjoying the exercise. I usually torch about 4000 per week and my body's holding up fine, but it took a while to work up to that level of exercise.

3 Days until:  High Desert Half Marathon

50 37 25 12

0

SparkPoints: (42,155)
Fitness Minutes: (12,476)
Posts: 7,897
9/1/12 5:35 P

It's different for everyone; as the others have noted, you can work out, but how much is dependent on you.

HEre's a great article that will help you know WHEN you're doing too much... and what to do about it if you are!

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_artic
les.asp?id=508

current weight: 186.0

211 197 183 169

155

Posts: 124
9/1/12 5:26 P

You've gotten some good advice already, but I just figured I'd chime in too.

It is possible to exercise too much and to lose weight too quickly, but generally speaking there are noticeable side effects to doing so. If you feel great and still have energy for the rest of your life then you are probably ok. If you start to ache all over or struggle to get out of bed every morning, then you are probably over doing it. Listen to your body and see doctor or nutritionist if you get really worried.

The human body was meant for movement more than for sitting at a desk all day, so as long as you're feeling good you probably are ok.

Posts: 33,302
9/1/12 4:22 P

Cardio 45-60 minutes 5-6 days a week is perfectly normal and healthy. Are you strength training? If not, add that in.

Your eating level sounds reasonable. Combined with your weight and your exercise level, you should probably be losing about half a pound a week, which is perfect!

If you've lost that much weight that quickly, at your weight, I would suggest this probably more water weight than fat weight. It's very difficult for anyone of your size to lose 2lb/week of fat, and probably near impossible on 1700 intake calories and only 1900 a week burned. Those are very reasonable stats, not extreme diet levels. As I said, that comes out to about half a pound a week loss. Now, the maths doesn't always work out exact, but it's rarely 4x as much as calculated!

So what you do is ...

1. Set your fitness goal to be more accurate. It's fine to do as much fitness as you feel comfortable and safe doing, but never exceed your goal. If you want to do more - change the goal. You can do that on the fitness page. The goal is what is used to calculate your calorie intake needs, not the tracked exercise, so it needs to be accurate.

2. See how the next couple of weeks go. Three weeks isn't very long in weight-loss-world. If it's water weight it'll settle down and you'll start losing more realistically (or stabilise). If you continue to lose weight at this rate after a few more weeks, consider seeing a doctor to see if there is something going on with your body.

SparkPoints: (765)
Fitness Minutes: (540)
Posts: 8
9/1/12 3:15 P

I read a book that said the following: "never start a new habit, if you can't hold on to it for the rest of your life". I totally agree with that.
I work out 3 times a week for a half hour (strength training, total body workout) and I walk for an hour 3 times a week (to work). I feel great, and know that this is easy to follow and hold on to the rest of my life.

Pounds lost: 13.0

0 10.5 21 31.5

42

Posts: 417
9/1/12 3:14 P

If it's fitting into your life without taking over, you aren't sore or starving you are probably okay.

May Minutes: 526

0 33.75 67.5 101.25

135

SparkPoints: (1,774)
Fitness Minutes: (1,980)
Posts: 17
9/1/12 3:10 P

I agree with eloquenz. When it starts taking over or making it difficult to find time for daily life-type stuff, it's too much. It seems like you're eating a decent amount to compensate, but the main thing (I think) is to listen to your body- if you start to feel worn down, like you're getting sick, then it's definitely time to back off. If you're finding yourself extra hungry from all of the exercise, then by all means eat (healthily of course).

Pounds lost: 28.0

0 13.75 27.5 41.25

55

Posts: 2,085
9/1/12 3:07 P

I don't think an hour a day is too much. The thing to keep in mind here is that the calories burned is often grossly overestimated like it is on a treadmill or elliptical.

SparkPoints: (6,217)
Fitness Minutes: (1,231)
Posts: 293
9/1/12 2:30 P

It's too much exercise when it's all you think about and you neglect other things to do it. It's too much if you feel pain every time you work out (and we all know the difference between good pain and bad pain).

3.0 Inches Lost

0 2.5 5 7.5

10

Posts: 165
9/1/12 1:51 P

anything over 2.5 hours a day 6 days a week is too much in my book, but it varies with other people

current weight: 220.6

243 214.75 186.5 158.25

130

SparkPoints: (10,220)
Fitness Minutes: (21,337)
Posts: 195
9/1/12 1:41 P

I work out 5 days a week. I do strength training/weights 3 days/week (Mon., Wed., & Fri.) for about 45 to 50 min each time. I do cardio 5 days a week (Mon. to Fri.) for 60 minutes each time. What might help you is to go to the fitness page and put in the number of calories you think you will burn that week. For example, you said that you burned 1900 calories this week. So, put in 1900 calories as the amount of calories you are planning on burning. That will adjust the caloric intake range for your nutrition. I think that the workout times depends on the individual. I would just make sure that you are eating enough. Also, if you're not doing any strength training/weight lifting then it migh be a good idea to add some to your workout.

Pounds lost: 26.4

0 12.5 25 37.5

50

SparkPoints: (44,257)
Fitness Minutes: (16,040)
Posts: 1,599
9/1/12 1:33 P

That's kind of a relative question. For most people with less than a 30% BMI they should only lose 1-2 lbs per week. Any more than that and their bodies have a tough time adjusting and it is also usually at the expense of too severe of a calorie deficiency. Which is unhealthy and can bring on more problems than the weight loss is helping.

As far as the exercise routine. Again, it depends on the person and what their goals are. I say too much exercise means a person is NOT giving their body enough time to heal and ends up being a waste of time and effort. One also should be striving for a plan that is doable, and maintainable. The too aggressive of plans tend to burn a person out and they end up quitting.

current weight: 0.0  under

5 2.5 0 -2.5

-5

Posts: 7
9/1/12 1:18 P

Hi everyone! I joined SparkPeople a while back, but I didn't start getting serious about exercising and eating healthy until about a month ago. I joined the 5K running program and also starting swimming - now I do 45-60 minutes of cardio 5-6 six days a week, and I'm going way over my calorie burn goal on my exercise tracker (this week I burned 1900 and my goal was 1300). I'm eating an average of about 1700 calories a day, and in the past three weeks I lost 6.5 pounds. Am I losing too fast? I've heard that it is possible to exercise too much, so I was wondering if I should cut back?

current weight: 149.5

152 150.75 149.5 148.25

147