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Can Too Much Exercise Be A Bad Thing?
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There is no doubt that everyone knows that a good exercise program goes hand-in-hand with a good eating plan in order to lose weight or to just get into top shape. There are many different ways to exercise – from cardio workouts to lifting weights, from walking to yoga. You get yourself prepared to start working out but something strange happens – you quickly become addicted to exercise and you can’t stop working out. Could this ever be a bad thing?
Believe it or not, while exercising is a great thing to do to become fit, get your circulation going, and make your heart stronger, too much exercise can actually be a bad thing. Whenever you exercise, you start out slowly and increase your workout time little by little. If you find that you are not giving your body enough time to rest and recuperate each day you could end up getting weaker and slower rather than stronger and faster.
How Can Too Much Exercise Hurt You?
Whether you started working out to train for a marathon, or you began to see results from a moderate training program and decided to bump up your routine more and more each day, overtraining can do more harm than good. Instead of becoming stronger and achieving more, you will become exhausted, you will experience more pains and achy joints than ever, and you are achieving less rather than more.
- A Broken Heart. Your heart won’t actually break, but if you continue to put added pressure on it due to non-stop exercising, you may find that you have developed an irregular heartbeat. This is something that should be checked out by a cardiologist just to make sure it is just from the extra exercise and nothing else.
- Everything Hurts. It’s always common to have a few aches and pains when you first start to workout. If you still have pains or if they have gotten worse after you have been working out for a while, you most likely are exercising too much.
- Changes in Eating Habits. Some people like to eat whatever they want so they choose to exercise enough to be able to do this without gaining weight. Problems occur when you have lost your appetite and are no longer hungry because your body is exerted too much of the time.
- Not Enough Sleep. With any kind of workout your body needs a day in between to rest so it can recharge and you can give your muscles a chance to recover. When you work out too much, you are keeping the body from recovering properly because you are no longer able to sleep a full night.
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What Can You Do to Get Back on Track?
- Change Your Routine. Don’t get into a rut by doing the same routine over and over again. When you switch things up a notch you will stay interested in your routine because it will always be fresh and makes it easier for you to reach your goals.
- Take it Slow. Take it slow and steady. Keep working on your goals and set your goals at small increments so you will soon enough reach a larger goal.
- Eat Right. Don’t let your body suffer because you are busy. Taper down your routine and make sure you feed your body healthy foods that are going to keep your energy going.
- Get Plenty of Rest. There is nothing like a good night’s sleep to make you feel at your best and help you perform at your best as well.
- No More Stress. Learn how to meditate rather than give in to your regular stress-filled life. Just about any illness or disease starts with stress, so learn to relax.
Proven Results on Too Much Exercise
The British Study. A trial that followed over a million healthy women who were middle aged showed that over nine years the women who were active physically a minimum of one times a week did not suffer from a stroke, heart attack, or blood clots as opposed to women who were not active at all. What was important was that women who exercised even more, like every day, did not see any extra benefits as women who just exercised twice a week. More is not always better.
The Danish Study. The American College of Cardiology put together a study that showed the mortality rate of joggers who were healthy (1,098) as opposed to sedentary people (3,950) confirmed that the joggers had less of a chance of dying during the 12-year test period that those who didn’t exercise at all. But those who jogged over 2 1/2 hours every week were equally susceptible to dying as people who were sedentary.
The German Study. Checking on heart disease found that of the 1,038 who were studied the sedentary people ended up with the same mortality rate of dying as those who exercised every day. Those who exercised moderately had a lower chance of mortality but the highest rate went to those who didn’t exercise at all.
One of the major conclusions that testing found was that exercising to excess could have been a trait that many of these people carried over into other areas of their life. If they exercised to the maximum level they may have done other things in excess as well. It could be a part of their personality that they were unable to control.
READ ALSO: Find Out Which Exercise You Should Choose And Why Infographic
If you find yourself overdoing your exercise routines try to take a day off in between so your body can rest and recharge. All of the tests showed that there is no benefit to exercising more. In fact, those who exercised at a moderate level were the only ones to reap any extra health benefits.
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