How Do I Know If I Am Exercising Too Much? Every Once In a While I'll Over- Do It and Injure Myself or Get Sick

Topics in this article: How Do I Know If I Am Exercising Too Much?

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How Do I Know If I Am Exercising Too Much? Every Once In a While I'll Get Exercise "Bug" and Over- Do it and Injure Myself or Get Sick

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Michael Collins: This is actually a great question that I don't see discussed much. So many people get that spur of motivation to hit the gym and diet hard, which can be great if managed, but if you don't get a handle on it you can screw up any progress by being overzealous.

Usually it's the cardio that you push a bit too much, as it's the perceived "fat burning exercise". The problem is pushing your cardio too much can lower your immune system pretty drastically, making it easier to catch a cold.

Other symptoms of over doing it are extreme muscle soreness, general fatigue and that feeling burn out and lack of motivation.

How to Manage Your Progress to Avoid Over- Exercising
You should be keeping a training journal. You should know what you did and how you performed in your previous visit to the gym. You should also jot down how you felt during and after the workout.

For instance 30 minutes on the elliptical with the resistance at level 8 and a 12.5 incline. Felt invigorated afterwards but slightly sore legs later in the day.

Now you have a basis to judge what your next session should look like. You want to slightly beat your previous numbers. Perhaps this time you'll do 25 minutes at level 8 and 5 minutes level 9.

You get the point- you want to beat your previous best by just a little.

The problems come when you get one of those days where you're really juiced to workout and adrenaline and endorphins take over. These chemicals that are produced naturally in your body tend to mask pain and help you push at much higher intensities without perceiving it.

For instance you set out to do your 30 minutes at level 8, but notice that it feels easy. So you crank it up to level 10, which feels ok. Then, you're on a such a roll at minute 30 that you decide to crank out another 30 minutes.

So now you've doubled your previous time and did it at 2 steps of resistance higher. You're probably overreaching here and your immune system could take a hit.

Your Best Friend in Avoiding Over- Exercising

P.S. In our Home Exercise program- the 30 Day Fat Loss Crashcourse (DVD and manual) we explain in detail the proper way to vary your exercise program to avoid burnout and make consistent progress.

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