Can you exercise too much???

I usually exercise about 5 times a week and if I can swing it, I go 7 days a week.  I usually do no less than an hour of cardio and then some weights.  Now, am I exercising too much, or am I right on target.  Basically, what is not enough exercise and what is too much!!!

You can exercise too much, that's for sure. But it depends. First, it is def okay to have some kind of activity every day. But if you cardio and weights every day, I would take it easy 2 of the days. Or take a walk or a light jog on the "off days". Also, if you are exercising your way to an unhealthy deficit that could be a problem, so make sure you are getting enough cals. Lastly, don't underestimate the benefits of resting your muscles. If you are trying to build lean muscle rest is important. When you lift weights you are acutually making small tears in the muscle and during rest the rebuild stronger. Maybe you already alternate days so that you have time to rest.

I was always told that if you can take at least a 1 day break you should or else your body will not produce muscle as efficiently because it has not had time to repair/heal.

Exercise Log:

M-W-F-Sat-Sun:  Cardio at least an hour

T-TH: Cardio at least an hour and weights

Granted:  I may not go on a Sat/Sun or Thurs, but I definitely go at least 5 times a week.

Is that too much or too little or excessive!!! 

I'd say that's excessive.   You need to give your legs atleast 1 day a week off to recoup.  Sometimes I give mine 2 days ... though one of those days I may still hit the gym and do weights as well as a short warmup walk.

Does anyone have references to back up taking a day off?  (Just curious.)

I don't have the references handy to quote because they are still in boxes from my recent move, but...

You do need to build rest into your workout regime.  Some people can sustain 7 day a week cardio, but you might not be performing at your optimal level.  If you take a day off, you will likely do better on the other 6.

If you really want to do cardio 7 days a week (which I don't advise, for the record) then please do some research on periodization, and make sure you are building in rest weeks.  That means periodically you have some time completely off, and that you have some days/weeks where your intensity is lower than normal. 

The body is actually designed to be exercised every day, for more than one hour. But not necessarily at high intensities, or in the same exact activity day after day after day.

I think it's only excessive if you are always doing the same cardio activity. Then you risk overtraining. So try cross-training: doing different types of cardio activities that stress different parts of the body. For example, running is high impact so maybe you only do that 3-4 x's a week, and on the other days of the week, you give your knees and joints a break and go swimming instead.

It may also be excessive if you are always going at high intensity. Aim for 80% of your workouts to be at a moderate intensity, an easy pace, and only 20% at high intensity.

As for taking a day off, you needn't take the day off completely. You can participate in "active recovery" - for example, take a liesurely long walk at a pace much slower than your usual pace. But any athlete will tell you that taking off a few consecutive days each month, and several weeks during the offseason, helps improve performance. This gives your muscles, ligaments, heart, etc time to adapt.

As for the weight training, yes, you do need ample recovery time to make any gains. Work each muscle group no more frequently than twice a week.

Thank you for the great tips.  I do vary up my cardio from running, elliptical, etc., and I vary up my weights as well.  Therefore, I just have to vary up low and high intensity cardio!  Thank you so much for the wonderful input!!!  I learned a lot!

You're welcome. :-)

I agree with pandajenn about periodization, and that you should read up on it. Her post reminded me of one other bit of advice I forgot:

Having a heart rate monitor can be an excellent tool to help you figure out how your body is handling your cardio program, whether you need to ease off, or up the intensity, or even take a few solid days completely off.

Once you start tracking, you'll see how long it takes your heart to recover from exercise. For some people, they recover fast and that means they can handle 7 days of cardio no problem - or even cardio twice a day (I know some ultra runners who do that). For other people, they need more than 24 hours to recover. I was definetly like that when I first started exercising again... hoo boy.. age can really slow you down. An HRM can also indicate when you are overtraining and need a rest, and also when you have adapted and need to up the intensity to push it to the next level.

leinad once posted the best way to know if you need a day off is to take your pulse before getting up - if your alarm wakes you up stay flat in bed rest for a minute or 2 then take your pulse then sit at edge of bed and take your pulse again - if your sitting pulse is more than 5 beats higher you need a rest day from cardio.

I do cardio 7 days a week but in ranging zones and also weekends are my "off days" and I just go for a nice leisurely 4 mile walk.  I may get my heart rate up when I go up the hills, but most of the walk is just in my low zone and sometimes not even over 105 which is my minimum for cardio.  My recovery time is also very quick.

this was awesome info! i'd asked about this before, and the responses weren't quite as helpful.  

I also don't advise that much cardio, the more you do, the more  your body gets used to and the more you will need to do to continue burning fat. 

Really - healthcrazytoo - goodness, I was unaware of that.  However, i try very, very hard to get at least 30 minutes of cardio in everyday even if I don't feel like going to the gym.  Therefore, I will keep that in mind.  Thank you for the great tip!!!

Your routine looks great to me, you're not doing weight every day and that is good.  Cardio every day is okay.

Just make sure you're eating enough to fuel your body, you are very active!

This seems to be the most asked question on this site.  Same replies, same 50/50 split.  I'm guessing most folks here aren't pro athletes looking to preform a PR or win a prise purse on the weekend.  So with that, why does the question come up so much?

Is it unhealthy?  Bad for you? Will it ruin your diet plan? Of course not.  I personally have a running streak of 111 days now.  Over 350 miles during this period.  Sure somedays my legs hurt, but my will to keep the streak going helps me through it.

Would you benefit from rest?  Sure, but if your not planning for the Olympic trials, what benefit are you looking for?  Also keep in mine you start losing muscle after 72 hours of rest.

Best Wishes, and keep on keeping on

Geo

Geo - I think this subject gets so many questions is because people get "cardio vs weights" workouts mixed up.  They hear don't work out every day to give your muscles a day of rest - not realizing weight training and cardio are 2 seperate animals.  Working out daily is ideal its what is done daily that matters.  Cardio can be done 2 times a day if wanted.  Look at aerobic instructors - they may give more than one class a day and I'd say they are pretty fit and aren't overworked.  My cardio teacher has days where she teaches more than once a day.  But my weight teacher although she works out daily she works different muscle groups never doing legs 2 days in a row etc...

I posted this yesterday to answer your question:

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/3343 6.html

Have a look..

Hey gscott, can you give me a cite for the "lose muscle after 72 hours"? I've never heard that before. Thanks!

Hi Guys, i was wondering if i could get some advice......I Weight lift (Training) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I want to know if i should go swimming on Tuesday and Thursday....will that the effect the muscle growth period???

How about this one... Legs one day, this includes abs, and upper body the next. Gives one muscle group rest while the other is worked. keeps the fire going.  -jiggles