Can you exercise too much?

Do you wonder if you are exercising too much or not enough?

The U.S. Surgeon General's recommends that adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week, and children and teenagers should engage in at least one hour of activity each day. They go on to say that "Even people who do not lose weight get substantial benefits from regular physical activity, including lower rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer."

150 divided by 5 days is 30 minutes a day. This amount of time spent is to keep a healthy lifestyle. I would say that 30 minutes a day is for a state of maintenance and a moderate level of fitness. If you are trying to lose weight or build more muscle and endurance I would reccommend more than 30 minutes. You will begin to burn more calories in the last half hour of an hour workout than the first. A 60 minute total body workout, at least 5 days a week, will gaurantee weight loss and muscle strength paired with a balanced diet. I recommend a combination of strength training with bursts of cardio throughout your hour. This will get the heart rate up and allow for more calories to be burned throughout the day. This type of training is called circuite training.

On the flip side of this, I sometimes see people workout for 2 and 3 hours a day. This is not good either. Balance in all things! Too much cardio will begin to tear down the muscle. Stress hormones are realeased when you excersice and too much released will cause your body to store fat and inhibit weight loss.

If you work your hardest for one hour to one and a half hours you will see results. No need to spend half the day in the gym. Of course this excludes those training for marathons or other races. Bump up your weight and be sure you are working to 85% of your max heart rate during your bursts of cardio.