Can You Work Out too Much?
Pushing yourself too hard in your workouts can do you more harm than good. Here’s how to avoid overdoing it.
Beginning an exercise program—and then maintaining it over the long term—is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Not only will it enhance your weight-loss efforts, but it will also boost your energy levels and overall physical and emotional health.
But can you get too much of a good thing?
The answer to this question is unequivocally yes. You can certainly overdo it if you go too hard in your workouts (based on your individual capabilities and fitness level) over an extended period of time. In the sports world, they call this overtraining.
“Overtraining is very real and is probably more common than we realize,” says Wes Dudgeon, PhD, associate professor and chair in the Department of Health and Human Performance at College of Charleston in South Carolina. “It can present itself as overall fatigue and lethargy, irritability, decreased performance, and injury—but not just in elite athletes. Overtraining can also occur with recreational fitness, so it’s something we all need to be aware of.”