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Too much exercise?


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I'm on day 22 and have seen fantastic results thus far- I feel great andoce the whole30. My parents and I are doing it together and are so encouraged.

My mom is worried I am working out too much, though. I work out 5-6 days a week. I do 33 min of elliptical and 33 min of "power walking" at an incline on a treadmill with arm weights. Afterwards I do about 10 -15 min more of varying exercises with weights, always different than the day before.

I am following the meal plan and eat a little pre and post workout.

But is it too much? I for sure go hard and for sure feel zapped of energy after the gym. But I can tell I'm dropping pounds and looking better.

Would love some input. Thanks!

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There are no short-cuts with fitness. You have to build up over time or you will pay consequences. The danger of pushing harder and longer than you are ready to push is injuries or hormonal issues like adrenal fatigue, sleep disturbances, digestive disturbances, etc. 

 

You should feel energized at the end of most workouts, not zapped. If you are walking out of the gym feeling depleted, you are training above your level of conditioning. It is not a question of how long you exercise or how hard you train, it is how tired you feel at the end. Our culture encourages you to workout until you are depleted, but our culture (and lots of trainers) are wrong about how to achieve maximum success over time.

 

Personally, I train in three segments - 30 minutes of kettlebells and pull-ups in the morning, 30 minutes of brisk walking with a 36-pound backpack in the afternoon, and 30 minutes of rocking, rolling, crawling, and breathing exercises at night. I could easily double my volume of work at each workout and complete three hours of training per day instead of 90 minutes, but I would not feel strong and confident at the end of my sessions after a week or two of such behavior. I used to train 90 minutes at a stretch and sometimes completed two workouts per day, but I got injured a lot and felt like crap. Nowadays I am able to maintain high levels of fitness and strength and feel great at the same time. 

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I work out 5-6 days a week. I do 33 min of elliptical and 33 min of "power walking" at an incline on a treadmill with arm weights. Afterwards I do about 10 -15 min more of varying exercises with weights, always different than the day before.

That's not too much. Keep rockin it.

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My mom is worried I am working out too much, though. I work out 5-6 days a week. I do 33 min of elliptical and 33 min of "power walking" at an incline on a treadmill with arm weights. Afterwards I do about 10 -15 min more of varying exercises with weights, always different than the day before.

 

So long as you're incorporating rest days, active recovery days, fueling your body properly, and as Tom says not pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion then I think you're ok. What I would say though is that IMO you need to cut down your cardio by half (if not more), throw in some intervals on the readmill (shorts bursts of higher speed/higher incline/both) & use the remaining time to do more weights. This way you'll get more bang for your buck.

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