Is a daily two to three hour workout bad for you?

Question

If I do an hour on the elliptical, 30 minutes on the treadclimber, 30 minutes on the bike, and some light weight lifting each day, will I be hurting myself, or helping?

The only other exercise I get is walking from my dorm to classes.

I would be doing this 6-7 days a week.

Answer 1

You sound like me in my VERY AVID bicycling days where I'd ride a minimum of 30-35 miles (two hours) every day after work, and then on Friday where I worked only till 1 o'clock, I'd ride maybe 45-50 miles (three hours), and then on Saturday and Sunday I'd ride 65-100 mile rides, taking up most of the day, or around 6 hours for the tougher routes. My doctor once said to me, "You're a glutton for punishment", which, from his less-than-athletic lifestyle might be true, but when anyone took my blood pressure they marveled at how low it was, or how I could eat so much and be so "slim and trim". I think it's all a matter of perspective. If you want to do that exercise, and it's not damaging your studying you need to do (and I have 3 university degrees, so I know how much study is required-to some extent), and you have no other personal or family commitments that are being jeopardized, well, then, have at it. I do want to tell you though, that, I was ONCE married to a woman who didn't like all the time I spent on my bicycle, even though she first saw me on a bicycle racing through town and loved my "slim and trim" profile, and tried like hell to get me to believe that I was addicted to bicycling and should slow down a bit. Well, she's an "ex" now, sad to say, but she also smokes, so, . . .. And I've been remarried and have a wonderful life now, and no longer bicycle since other life commitments have taken that time away. Just be aware of what you are compromising in order to have your fun at exercising, and then, if it's still what you want, I truly hope you enjoy it fully. God Bless you.

Answer 2

Yes, that's very excessive! Especially if you're currently not working out. If you exercise that much, your body begins to break down itself in order to maintain energy levels necessary for the activity. I have to ask why it is you feel you need to exercise that much?

It's a mindset trap many people fall into, in that if some exercise is good, more must be better. This can be dangerous and you risk overtraining (catabolism) and even injury.

When exercising, your body utilizes a substance called ATP for energy. This will get used up after about an hour of activity, at which point your body pulls in other sources for energy, starting with bodyfat but quickly working on muscle and even bone and connective tissue. Additionally, too much activity does not allow the nervous system, muscles, joints, or endocrine systems a chance to recover.

Even olympic level athletes rarely train more than an hour at any given time. And they have spent months and years preparing for that, and they cannot sustain that level of activity for too long as it's hard on the body.

I suggest definitely starting out short and slow and building up as you go. As you become more advanced, you can then start adding distance and speed to your workouts. You should also take at least a day off per week at a minimum. Also, make sure you are getting sufficient caloric intake throughout the day so your body doesn't catabolize too much, and make sure what you're eating is healthy and nutritious.

I suggest splitting up your workout to where you do weights maybe three times a week, treadmill one day, bike another day, and elliptical another, and then rest a couple of days. I always say work out smart, not just hard.

Answer 3

Actually they have found out that excercising 6 or 7 times a week is not good for you. You need to take a rest inbetween, that means maybe two days on one day off, something like that. If you don't give your body time to rest it actually gets too accustomed to what you are doing and will adjust your metabolism to this. You want it so that when you do the excercises you will get a work out and be getting the most out of it,not just keeping up to stay the same, and then find you need to work harder to work up a sweat.

Also, 2 hours a day is ridiculous. You don't need to do that much unless you are in training for a sport.

Answer 4

For regular, basic exercise, it is a little bit much. However, if you are training for something, it should be okay. However, please give your body a rest from the daily "routine" and just have a day off once a week. Like I have heard that weight training should only be a few times per week. May I request that you go to a local gym (probably theone you are going to) and ask to speak with a personal trainer, to ask these questions. Why? "Cause they can see your body, watch what you are doing, and help on "tweaking" anything, and letting you know how much of what, and when, etc. for your benefit. I wish you the best. Take care.

Answer 5

When you start getting up into the multi hour workout range, there are alot of things to consider.

How many calories will you be consuming per day?
How many hours of sleep will you be obtaining per day?
What supplements will you be taking?
What proportion of carbs/protein/fat is your diet?

These are all important questions for you if you are going to workout this much.

I recommend keeping one workout to about 1.5 hours max. Eat 5-6 smaller meals. Get plenty of sleep. Get plenty of water. Supplement. Tweak your diet.

And most importantly, no matter how much you want to use it -- Keep one day as a cheat day to do nothing and eat what you want.(don't go crazy, but splurge a little)

Answer 6

wow, thats a lot. I really doubt you would hurt yourself with the running. My dad runs for an hour on the eliptical every morning so im sure youll be fine.
But, with the weight lifting, make sure you lift in variation. One day do your chest, the next day do your arms, then do your back and so on

And one tip for wieght lifting: if you work out one side of your body, work out the other side just as much. This means like if you work out your chest, do you back. Or if you work out your bicep, do your tricep.

Answer 7

UmI'm not a doctor but I'd say prehaps yes - unless your being followed by a trainer & had a full medical examine,

make sure you spread al the work out -out ans take lots of rests & don't push yourself

Answer 8

Excercise isnt bad at all!!!! As long as you have a healthy diet working with you too, then its all good!!! Excercise is great...I'm a dancer and we get a workout everyday!!!

Answer 9

as long as you're eating healthy, you're fine. but you should give yourself a break at least one day a week.