Exercising too much? How much is too much?

T

taekwondomeow

Member
Okay, I've been seriously trying to shed some body fat for the last 6 months but it's not budging. I've been reading about how too much cardio can actually slow or prevent weight loss and I wonder if I've been over-doing it...I'm thinking of reducing the lenth of my cardio sessions (which are currently 55-70 mins) down to 30-45mins but I'm more than a little concerned that in doing this I will reduce my overall calorie expediture and won't adjust my eating accordingly...

I guess I have three questions related to this:

1. Am I actually doing too much cardio? (see below for details of an average weekly schedule);

2. If I reduce the length of my cardio sessions should I make a big effort to eat less to compensate?

3. If I did reduce the length of my cardio sessions, should I try to make them more intense (e.g. do the Kick Max blasts twice as one workout and leave out the combos and leg drills)?


I'm very confused about how much exercise to do - in the past (about 4 years ago) I did way too little exercise and when I upped the number, length and intensity of my workouts I lost weight. Recently I've been trying to do as much as my body can handle - part of me doesn' think it's healthy to be working out this much but a bigger part of me can't get rid of the idea that more is better! If any of you out there can help enlighten me I'd REALLY appreciate your thoughts and opinions!

Sally :)

(By the way, I'm 5'5", 26yrs old, 122-124lbs and my BF is approx.16-18%)

Typical Weekly Workout Schedule:

Mon AM - Cardio (Kick Max) PM - Weights (Power Hour or ME or Karen Voights GWW)

Tues AM - Cardio (Tae-Bo 55mins) PM - 2hr Taekwondo Training

Weds AM - Cardio (45min Spinning) PM - Weights

Thursa AM - Run (5miles/50mins) PM -2hr Taekwondo Training

Fri AM - Cardio (Drill Max Ultra Cardio Blast) PM - Weights

Sat AM - 3hr taekwondo Training PM - Boot Camp/Imax3

Sun Rest
 
In my opinion, you are overtraining. And I think that you think so too.

I know some people just like to work out a lot, but I don't think it's really necessary. For example, a 2-hr Taekwondo class should be PLENTY of work, but you tack on another hour of cardio.

Besides which, most people I've talked to, and things I've read, say that your body needs a chance to recover. True, you give yourself one day of rest, but you've got cardio on every single day of the other six. That's a lot of work! And it's a heck of a lot of work to be exercising over 2-3 hours every day.

A popular schedule is to alternate days of cardio and weights, and keep one day of rest. You might give it a shot and see how it works. A popular theme around here is "listen to your body." Please do that, and be careful.
 
Yes, I think it's way more cardio than necessary. Reduce it to 30-45 min sessions, maybe 3-4x/wk. Add in heavy lifting and keep your eating fairly clean. You will see a world of difference.


Debbie


My favorite color is chocolate.
--Homer Simpson
 
your setting yourself up for some major injury. been there done that and still can't do cathe as regularly as i was doing before i hurt my knee. if you want to add on a second workout may i suggest some light yoga and stretching instead. also if you really want to drop body fat,clean eating will get you there much better and healthier then overdoing the exercise. as many on this board have said exercise is only 20% of the equation, how you eat makes up the rest

kassia

http://www.picturetrail.com/ldy_solana

"And do what thee wilt as long as ye harm none"

http://images.meez.com/user03/06/01/04/060104_10010099873.gif
 
And, as for the eating .... what is your caloric intake? You may be at too low an intake for all the exercise you do - putting your body in starvation mode. This may be part of the problem also. I'd definitely lower the cardio for awhile. Deb
 
>And, as for the eating .... what is your caloric intake? You
>may be at too low an intake for all the exercise you do -
>putting your body in starvation mode. This may be part of the
>problem also. I'd definitely lower the cardio for awhile.
>Deb

excellent point!!! something we all dont' think of often is taking in to FEW calories for how hard we work!!! b/c we think we have to restrict calories to burn off more then we take in but there defiently has to be a balance.

kassia

http://www.picturetrail.com/ldy_solana

"And do what thee wilt as long as ye harm none"

http://images.meez.com/user03/06/01/04/060104_10010099873.gif
 
I agree with the others. You are definitely overtraining. And this is coming from someone who tends to do the same thing.

I don't need to lose any weight, in fact I sometimes struggle to keep weight on, but I do know that the more I workout, the more I need to eat. When I stop working out so much, my appetite decreases and I lose weight. It's when I workout hard and tough, that I maintain my weight or put on a few pounds.

Scale back the length of what you're doing, and you'll probably find it easier to drop those pounds.
 
Sally,

WOW!! You are doing alot of exercise. Where do you find the time and the energy to do so much? Are you eating enough food to fuel your body as well? If not, you'd be exhausted and probably starving all the time.

I normally do one day cardio, one day weigth training, another cardio. I average about 4-5 workouts per week that last 60-90 mins per session. I am upping my workouts because I want to lose some weight but not as much as you.

You can still loose weight if you change your workout so that you do 2 hard interval training per week and 2 hard weight training, then add more steady state cardio for the other days if you don't want to rest.

I thought your idea of doing KickMax blast twice was great and I will incorporate that into my workout. I like KickMax but didn't find it worked me hard enough if I do just as is, but doing the blasts first then the combos 1-4 and then blasts again is just what I need for my hard cardio day. Thanks for that.

My workout is currently something like this:

Day 1 - Hardcore Extreme or mish mosh IMAXes
Day 2 - BodyMax2 Upper Body only premix
Day 3 - Step like Step Fit or Step Blast or Christy Taylor
Day 4 - Rest
Day 5 - Legs & Glutes Extreme premix
Day 6 - Stretch Max and one Core Max routine
Day 7 - Hardcore Extreme premix or mish mosh of IMAXes

Yen
 
>By the way, I'm 5'5", 26yrs old, 122-124lbs and my BF is approx.16-18%
>

Just a thought here, but at your weight, height, and body fat percentage you are well within normal range. If you go much lower on your body fat, you could become amennorheic. Maybe take a look at where you are and your goals and reasssess. Ask yourself why you want to drop body fat.

Just a gentle suggestion.
 
"If you want to get even leaner, you're going to have to really watch what you eat."

I would agree with this statement. Diet usually determines how low your BF% can lower.
 
And, I also wanted to mention that it's is MUCH easier to adjust your caloric intake than adding more exercise.

Exercise is vital to a weight-loss regime, but to get to the leanness you want, you basically have to REALLY clean up your eating. You're trying to go against womens' "fat-retaining" physiology and your body is going to fight you every step of the way.
 
WOW! i got tired just reading that!

i have to agree with everyone else! too much! i know when i first started working out, it was all the time... consumed me... then i realized it wasn't necessary (or good for me!) i mean... i got up and workout out... went to work... came home changed and rode my bike (so worked out) got home.... cleaned up.... ate... went to bed... what a life, eh? not! lol!

now i've toned it back to what it was originally supposed to be: a workout in the morning! i know have time for life in the evening! YAY! :)


-------------
cute work out clothes are good for AT LEAST an additional 10-15 calories burned!

http://www.picturetrail.com/desertbriez
 
Hi everyone :)

Thankyou all so much for responding to my post - I really appreciate you all taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences with me!

I think I just needed to hear someone else say that I was overtraining - I have a natural tendency to be rather lazy and I have to force myself to get off my ass and do things every day (not just workouts) and part of me was thinking that the idea that I was overtraining was just my lazy side's way of finding an excuse to workout less! Hmmm...just realised that makes it sound a little like I have split-personality disorder! :p

As for the eating...I do eat pretty clean and I eat 5-6 small meals a day...I do have the odd binges but I'm slowly getting my carb cravings under control. I think the big problem for me as far as food is concerned is that I seem to be hungry ALL the time and on bad days I end up eating about 800kcal rather than 300kcal in the evening (usually after a workout). (I am eating enough, if not too much - I eat between 1800-2500kcal a day depending on my willpower). Maybe if I cut the cardio down my appetite will reduce and I'll be able to control my food intake a little better?!

Why do I want to reduce my body fat even though I'm on the lower end of normal? Honestly, I recognise that I may be setting myself and unhealthy and unrealistic goal but since I was about 10yrs old and my mum put me on my first diet I've wanted to be skinny! I've tried accepting myself but I always feel like I'm giving up on my goal too easily - I've come this far and I only have a little way left to go...I know if I persevere I'll get there eventually!

Anyway, thanks so much again to all of you - as of today i'm cutting down the cardio to 30min sessions, and maybe having th odd lie-in rather than getting up to workout before work (like I did this morning :D ). I'll try the lower cardio routine for 3-4 weeks and come back and report how I got on (just in case anypne's interested).

All the best :)

Sally
 
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