Exercise – can there be too much of a good thing?

Exercise – can there be too much of a good thing?  Whether you’re starting a new exercise regime or just coming out after hibernating through the winter – well done – there is not denying that exercising is a vitally important element of your overall health.  But can we exercise too much?

Outside of physical changes like building muscle and losing fat, exercise can help with mood, sleep and stress management. However, there is such thing as overdoing it when it comes to physical activity.

So, how much exercise is too much? And how do we know when we need to rest?

First, let’s take a look at the health benefits of physical activity.

There are many proven physical and mental health benefits to regular physical activity:

• Positive impact on mental health and outlook;
• Physical activity results in body releasing mood improving hormones;
• Improved cardio-vascular health;
• Lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and some cancers;
• Improved metabolism;
• Increases strength of bones, muscles and joints and can lower the risk of osteoporosis;
• Assists with weight management;
• Helps manage blood sugar levels;
• Can reduce inflammation and
• Help to manage stress.

How much exercise should you do each week?

The exact amount of times or minutes you should exercise per week depends on factors like your body composition goals, training background, age and overall health status, but there is a guide we should aim for.

• The Australian guidelines recommend we accumulate 150 to 300 minutes (2.5 to 5 hours) of moderate intensity physical activity, or 75 to 150 minutes (1.25 to 2.5 hours) of vigorous intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both moderate and vigorous activities, each week.
• They also recommend doing muscle strengthening activities on at least two days per week. (Australian Physical Activity Guidelines, 2017)

How much is too much exercise?

Although many Australians don’t exercise enough, for those who exercise frequently or intensely, it is certainly possible to overdo it, which can compromise your results and leave you open to injury and illness.

Exercise has incredible health benefits, but there certainly can be a case of “too much of a good thing”.

For some people, most notably athletes, exercising in excess of the guidelines may just be part of their program, however in general, too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion and even hormonal imbalance.

The signs of excessive exercise

Some physical effects of overtraining can include:

• Increased resting heart rate, decreased appetite, restless legs and dehydration;
• Sleep disturbances such as poor sleep quality or insomnia;
• Mental effects such as poor mood and increased stress;
• Inability to complete training session with same energy;
• Physical exhaustion between training sessions and slow recovery from each session;
• In women, long term over-exercising along with undereating can lead to amenorrhea (classified as no menstrual period for three months or more).

Remember that when we say too much exercise, this might not be indicated by the actual ‘number of hours’ that you spend exercising each week, but it might be considered too much depending on what physical state you are in at that point in time.

Postnatal mothers, breastfeeding mothers, parents of young children who have very unstructured sleep patterns or women under prolonged chronic stress are physically compromised.  Undertaking long, hard sessions of exercise or just too much physical activity, can have serious implications on the body and it’s hormonal system.

If you fall into this category, we encourage you to give yourself a break.  We understand that intense desire to get ‘back into it’ or to just ‘sweat again’. We’ve been there!  But, it backfired on us and we really want you to learn from our experience without having to experience it first-hand.  Be patient. Look after that beautiful body of yours.  Accept that the time might not be right for you, right now to really ‘go for it’, but by looking after yourself throughout this stage, your time will come again.

Just as overdoing it can lead to hormonal imbalances, it can also drive overeating and the body can also begin to burn muscle instead of fat. These changes can not only compromise training sessions, but can impact gut health, stress management, overall energy and even management of a healthy weight.

It is important to be very aware of your own health as you begin exercising, as you continue exercising and as you increase your frequency and intensity of exercising. Always check back in with your body. Unless you are training for something specific, remember that exercise should energiseyou, not depleteyou.

And last but not least, what about rest days?

Rest days are important for overall health and performance, and can actually help you reach your goals more easily and quickly.

Rest days are really important. Exercise is by its very nature is a stressor on our body. When done properly and progressively as part of a structured program – our body adapts and improves with this consistent challenge. However, it is not during the actual training session that the body improves.  It is on your rest days, that the magic really happens in our bodies.  This is when our body is able to rest, regenerate, rebuild and repair.  Rest days also help with injury reduction and help prevent overuse injuries.  Skipping the rest days (apart from constantly being sore and tired) will not give you greater gains, in the long run, it can actually lead to lower performance and greater risk of injury.

Exercise like all other elements of your health really needs your awareness.  Because as discussed, more is not always better and maybe the best thing for you right now, is actually less.

If you had any other queries with this or would love to hear about our own personal experiences with a bit of burnout, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.  hello@soulsisterhealth.com.au

Anna & Em xo