[Cmarie123]

Is there such a thing as doing too much exercise? I have increased my exercise routine to include walking 3 miles every morning (7 days a week), and 3 miles every other evening. On the nights I don't walk (Mon/Wed/Fri) I take a spin class at the gym and average about 16 miles per class. My weight has been at almost a stand still since starting this. In the beginning I was only doing the elliptical machine 5 days a week. While that is a great workout, I changed it up because my body was getting accustomed to it. I have only lost 4lbs this month and I wonder if it is because I am exercising too much? Should I take a day off to let my body recover??? I have still been losing inches (which is awesome), but I need to see that number on the scale drop! Any thoughts??

[tinabean]

It's not really and answer but I just wanted to give you an "Atta-Girl"! for the extra excercise. It's great that you have such devotion to it! I haven't been so good the last two weeks with my routine since school is out and kids are home.

Again Great Job. And You Look wonderful!

Take care.

Tina

[breekibuggie]

Gaining Muscle & Toning is awesome, even better when you can notice in the mirror. Muscle weights more the fat...and your still losing a lb a week, that's great. You're doing awesome!
YES you need day for your body to relax & recover, most likely you need a week if you have been pushing yourself that hard.
Honestly you do need one day a week to let you body recover. Maybe after you let your body rest instead of taking a 3 mile walk you could take a 2 mile run!?

[Raquel]

HellifIknow - but 1st off that is GREAT.
2nd Janoodle is a gym rat and teaches a class - she always contributes good physical / training advice. Stalk her and send her a PM or something.
3rd - do you plan to keep this routine up?
4th - if I was losing inches and not #'s on the scale - I'm at a point in my life that would actually make me happier. Freakin' AWESOME for you.

Girl you are doing WONDERFUL!

[insearchofme]

My guess is that it is time to change things up again. My you should go back to doing the eliptical and spinning class only for a week or two and see how that goes. Your body does need a day or two break duirng the week, to allow your muscles time to recover. I hope you find a solution soon.

BTW --Your new pic looks GREAT!

[seashells_63]

Gosh! Look at your new picture! You looks thin and beatiful! Im impresses!!

[Papiriqui]

Well to much exercise is bad only if you do not let your body heal. That can lead to muscle stress and even strains. Give your body time to rest and also i would suggest taking a protein shake after the hard work outs specially the spinning classes which will help you recover from the extensive work out.

Also muscle always weights more then fat so you will still burn the fat and get more toned but most likely you will only lose just a few pounds because you are gaining muscle.

My advice is keep up with what your doing because i think the goal here is to get fit and leaner not just to lose weight, IMO if i lose all the fat and i gain muscle and i weight 300lbs of pure muscle i will be a happy camper.

So pretty much go about what you want and what works for you according to all of this suggestions ;-)

Good job so far....

[janoodle]

Yes it's possible to exercise too much, but you aren't there yet.

Walking is great, but it isn't taxing your system. As you lose weight, you move less weight while walking and therefore burn less calories. When you hit a standstill, you either need to eat less *boooo* or burn more by upping the intensity. Our bodies adapt quickly to the demands we place on them, so shake it up by swimming or weight lifting or running. The spinning 3x a week is great...it's a huge calorie burner.


Four pounds in a month is perfect, btw. One pound a week is great progress, one I wish I was replicating!

I'm a huge advocate of rest days, depending on what your workouts consist of. Walking daily is great, I dont think anyone should take a break from that. Weight training should be done 2-3x a week at most, since gains are made while the muscle repairs itself. Intense cardio (meaning you hit 80% of your max HR or higher) CAN be daily, but I prefer one or two days without.

You'll know if you are doing too much. Your body will tell you and it won't be subtle about it. Aching, weak, tired muscles. Lack of motivation. Irritability and depression. And the most telling? A resting heart rate that is higher than normal. If you start feeling symptoms like that you can decrease the intensity of your workouts, or suspend them completely for 3-5 days to let your body get the rest it needs.

Personally, I'd start hitting the weights now. Build muscle. It's more metabolically active than fat, so it requires more energy *calories* to maintain. Or do some body weight exercises. Pushups, dips, squats and lunges etc. You MAY gain a few pounds intially, but you'll lean out quicker in the long run.

You are totally kicking butt, btw. And look gorgeous!

[thisisonecutie]

4lbs is great and inches are just wonderful. I agree with the other change it up and do your old routine two days a week.

[Cmarie123]

Originally Posted by janoodle

Yes it's possible to exercise too much, but you aren't there yet.

Walking is great, but it isn't taxing your system. As you lose weight, you move less weight while walking and therefore burn less calories. When you hit a standstill, you either need to eat less *boooo* or burn more by upping the intensity. Our bodies adapt quickly to the demands we place on them, so shake it up by swimming or weight lifting or running. The spinning 3x a week is great...it's a huge calorie burner.


Four pounds in a month is perfect, btw. One pound a week is great progress, one I wish I was replicating!

I'm a huge advocate of rest days, depending on what your workouts consist of. Walking daily is great, I dont think anyone should take a break from that. Weight training should be done 2-3x a week at most, since gains are made while the muscle repairs itself. Intense cardio (meaning you hit 80% of your max HR or higher) CAN be daily, but I prefer one or two days without.

You'll know if you are doing too much. Your body will tell you and it won't be subtle about it. Aching, weak, tired muscles. Lack of motivation. Irritability and depression. And the most telling? A resting heart rate that is higher than normal. If you start feeling symptoms like that you can decrease the intensity of your workouts, or suspend them completely for 3-5 days to let your body get the rest it needs.

Personally, I'd start hitting the weights now. Build muscle. It's more metabolically active than fat, so it requires more energy *calories* to maintain. Or do some body weight exercises. Pushups, dips, squats and lunges etc. You MAY gain a few pounds intially, but you'll lean out quicker in the long run.

You are totally kicking butt, btw. And look gorgeous!

Thanks so much for the information! It was so very helpful! I haven't lifted at all because I am TERRIFIED of seeing the scale go up! I know it is time though. Thank you so much!!!

[scatanafas]

Hmmmmmm....good question. There are cases of exercise fatigue in which the body is tired and people don't really see good results...but if you're feeling good then you probably don't have that.........Your body is probably still trying to figure out what is going on , muscles hold on to water when they are challenged and it takes time for that to level out......sometimes we lose inches faster than we lose lbs.....trust me, losing inches is BETTER.....keep doing your thang...

[thin4good]

CMarie - now is the time to start looking at your measurements and not at the scale. I know it's what you've been using to measure your success thus far. But truly, turn to your tape measure. Or help yourself out and get a scale that shows body fat percentages.

Think of it this way. If you are still losing 4 pounds a month while doing all of that exercise you are actually probably losing at least 8 pounds of fat a month. Not to mention, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day.

The good news is just because the scale goes up does not mean your size will go up. In fact, you will continue to find your clothes fit you better as you work with weights! Good luck!

[janoodle]

Something I neglected to mention...to put on muscle, you'll need to eat more. If you add weights now, you'll keep most of the muscle you currently have, but you won't make any gains in muscle mass. You won't need to eat much of a surplus, but you'll have to eat at least a little bit more with a BIG emphasis on protien. It is impossible to gain muscle and lose fat simutaneously. You can play with your diet, eating more the days you lift and eating less the days you don't. And protien, protien, PROTIEN!