How much excercise is too much?

[wcm_jagers]

So I am kinda new to excericise and going to the gym- it's been about 3 months.

I had a new program done for me at the gym, and the trainer was concerned that I was doing 2 group fitness classes back to back. Each class is approx 45-50 mins long with a 10 minute  break in between. The reason behind it being that my body wouldnt have enough fuel to burn throughout the classes because I dont eat in between them.

Any thoughts??

[iMike]

Your trainer could be right.  50 minutes of intense exercise, with a ten minute break, followed by an additional 50 minutes, will likely serve to only burn you out.

[WendyB]

I also agree with @iMike

[awood08]

I only take one class per day, and those are 1 hour classes. On those class days that's the only excercise I do that day because it takes so much out of me. (It's high intensity cardio step classes) the other days of the week i'll mix weight training and small rounds of cardio. I'd say follow your trainer's advice 🙂

[Elendili]

I just read the latest exercise information from WebMD.  Supposedly the human body was designed to move around on average every 20 minutes.  So if you are walking they recommend walking or stepping for 10 minutes every twenty minutes you are awake.  Will I ever make that goal?  Mostlikely not.  I will keep it in mind though.   My goal is 10k steps a day.  If I make that, then I will worry about the rest.  As far as your exercise @wcm_jagers , I would listen to my trainer.  The object in weight loss exercise as I understand it is to do something every day; be consistant.  That much exercise all at once might not help you drop those pounds at all.  I would suggest one class two to three times a week or listening to your trainer.  However, if you are an athelete already, maybe you need to talk to someone who works with atheletes.  But I can't imagine doing that much intense exercise all at once and I would get sick if I ate inbetween classes.

Please let us know what you decide.  And please be careful!

Elendili

[TomHCinMI]

"They" say "don't exercise to the point of fatigue or pain".  

Other than that I guess there's no limit.

But actually you should ask your physician; probably you and s/he should discuss it several times and come up with a plan which s/he and you will then update every so often.

[Raviv]

If you're super fit, like a world class athlete, and it tires you out but you're still able to easily hold a conversation in the middle of class, then fine.

But that's probably not the case.

Marathon runners also do that, running for 3 to 4 hours, but they do it infrequently.  Their recovery time is measured in weeks, slowly easing back into it.  With very few exceptions, they don't go out and run another one later that week.  The ones that do back to back marathons are only able to do that for a short period of time because they just can't maintain it over the long haul. It's a major stressor.

So what you're really doing is overstressing your body, and it's going to do more harm than good.  You're basically running a half marathon every gym day.  I don't know if it's so much about the lack of fuel - you could always have something small and carby in between - as it is the amount of stress you're putting on your body over and over again.  

For something once every couple of months, like a race, then I get it.  You know you're putting your body under a lot of stress, but you also know it's not the norm, and that you will schedule significant time for your body to heal up before you do it again.  If it's a regular week at the gym, then that's not the case and you're just doing damage.

[thethinker]

Weight loss is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise.  A lot of people do not understand that exercise should increase gradually to prevent injuries and fatigue. I would use My Fitness Pal and focus on calories vs a second class.

[wcm_jagers]

Thanks for the replys/advice guys! I see what you mean- quite valid points. It's great to have this forum to have these conversations.

Will keep it to the one class per day

[DominicJ]

I have (super fit) friends who do three back to back to back classes, one runs to the gym and back on top of that.

But thats a LOT

Depends really, I would say its borderline, but it depends on you really.

In theory.

You store about 800 calories of carbs ready to go in your body,

Between half and a third of the calories we burn come from fat, of which your body holds VAST reserves, even if you are pretty slender

On top of that, your body digests food throughout the day.

So, worst case, you have 800 calories of carbs and 400 calories of fat to get you through your classes, 600 Calories is a seriously intense workout in a 45 minute class

Best Case, you have 800 calories of Carbs, 800 Calories of fats, and digestion, to get you though your two classes.

Id be more concerned with injury really than hunger.

Thats not to say dont do two classes ever, but 4 classes a week is quite a lot, especially for weight loss.

[Heybales]

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@wcm_jagers wrote:

So I am kinda new to excericise and going to the gym- it's been about 3 months.

I had a new program done for me at the gym, and the trainer was concerned that I was doing 2 group fitness classes back to back. Each class is approx 45-50 mins long with a 10 minute  break in between. The reason behind it being that my body wouldnt have enough fuel to burn throughout the classes because I dont eat in between them.

Any thoughts??

---

While new and unfit you'll be burning more carbs for fuel than fat by big %. I could see 80:20.

But 3 months now?

That's backed down, it doesn't take long to start getting aerobically fit, and start burning more fat for the same level of effort. Probably 60:40 now.

And if these classes are like most - you are limited in ability to get more intense because you can only move so fast to the beat of the music. And efficiency in movement is usually gained in first few sessions, so no wasted energy attempting to do the moves.

Unless they include weights that you have kept increasing - you aren't burning all carbs.

Plus your body has been responding to that initial training by storing more carbs in the muscles.

Liver can store 300-500 calories worth, muscles 1000-1500 easily, more if doing endurance cardio.

After a point, you don't keep storing more, your body gets more fit to use more fat and spare the carbs.

So out of that 45-50 min - how much is warmup and cooldown and stretching time?

People can easily run a 90-120 min half-marathon at high intensity and not need any fuel during the run - there is plenty in the muscle, and at that pace using mostly carbs.

I really don't think you have an issue.

I doubt it is that intense for that long total, and I'll bet the intensity is broken up even during the session.

Besides, if you were actually running out of carbs in your muscles - you would know big time.

Your body would be forced to slow WAY down in order to burn just fat, or mainly fat, like 10:90 at that point, and that 10% carbs is coming from lactate acid, and broken down amino acids being converted to carbs.

That's "hitting the wall" or "bonking" of weekend warrior marathoners and bikers, going out too fast for their training for endurance cardio.

You'll know if you are getting low on liver carb stores because your blood sugar starts to go down and you'll usually feel hungry, and light headed, perhaps not thinking straight.

If you haven't noticed that first part - you are no where near bonking from lack of glucose stores in the muscles. Usually takes 90 min of decent intensity constantly, and you are barely getting there.

[Bobbinyc]

So, how does someone burn fat and also build muscle? I want to lose weight but not muscle.

[DominicJ]

Maintain a modest calorie deficit whilst continueing whatever weight training you did previously