How much cardio is too much?

[gbnz]

Anyone else facing this problem?

How does one work out whether one's doing too much cardio related exercise? It's pouring down with rain, an inch of water on the road, both the bike and a walk are really out of the equation for yet another day (Nb. It's not enjoyable).. And following a forced absence from the gym & pool for much of the past 14 months, a desperate desire to get down the gym again has again beckoned since 06.30am (Nb. High levels of cardio fitness are superb for a decent day on the bike!)

But it'd the fifth day in a row of a heavy cardio workout before 09.00am. How much is too much?

[cyclop]

If you,re already cardio fit,and it sounds as if you are,I can,t see a week,s hard cardio doing any harm at all.Where it can prove a problem is if you,re doing hard cardio, long term,to the exclusion of anything else.I can see the attraction of HIIT training if you,re short of time ,younger bodies can no doubt cope with this workload but even this needs to be tempered with easier sessions.Mo Farrah won,t be hammering it every day,easier days are incredibly important.You can dig a deep hole by overtraining ,your immune system can be compromised,possibly leading to long term problems,fatigue syndromes,flu and infections.In conclusion more is not necessarily better.

[al_yrpal]

Personally exercise without a point other than fitness isnt for me. I hate gyms. A walk has to be in beautiful surroundings as does a bike ride with the opportunity to admire a view. We all know that cardio produces addictive hormones that make you feel good. Some love it. Perhaps thats what you are feeling the lack of? Try and think what you are actually missing?

Al

[gbnz]

Personally exercise without a point other than fitness isnt for me. I hate gyms. A walk has to be in beautiful surroundings as does a bike ride with the opportunity to admire a view. We all know that cardio produces addictive hormones that make you feel good. Some love it. Perhaps thats what you are feeling the lack of? Try and think what you are actually missing?

Al

Well, as asked, how much cardio is too much?

In respect to a walk, I think my 3.5 mile detour post gym along the Dukes pastures at lunch yesterday, below the castle, having picked up a fresh side of rainbow trout for lunch was quite pleasant. As was my 3 hour walk over the fell sandstone moors last night, with views over to the Cheviot Hills and over to the coastline of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Galloway calves in particular were incredible, one doing four legged jumps alongside me . Though that shambolic, drunken man returning to his estate was even more incredible- he seemed to be trying to pick up an injured bird with a stick around 22.00, to move it off the road and away from danger. It was quite dark on returning home by 22.22. Suppose I haven't walked over to the coast since Monday .

Though to be fair, have to admit my Hi Tec walking boots only last a typical 8 months before being worn out. Suppose I'm now on my fifth pair since 2018, having had to replace Decembers pair last week (Nb. The holes in the soles were a full 2-3.25" in diameter). May have to return to Scarpa, they were always fine in the Rockies as a kid and ok over in the Northern & Southern Alps. They seem to last. Though it would seem absurd to wear £140 walking boots on my 60-70 mile weekly walk via the shops

But back to the key question. How much cardio is too much?

[axel_knutt]

How much cardio is too much?

How long is a piece of string? It depends how fit you are. These are the symptoms of overtraining, sustain them for long enough and they'll become permanent:

• Decreased performance.
• Recovery prolonged
• Reduced toleration of loading
• Decreased max work capacity
• Increased difference between lying and standing HR
• Heart discomfort on slight exertion
• Elevated BMR
• Chronic fatigue
• Insomnia with night sweats
• Feeling thirsty
• Loss of appetite
• Headaches
• Increased aches and pains
• Gastrointestinal disturbances
• Depression
• Apathy
• Decreased self esteem
• Emotional instability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Sensitive to stress
• Fear of competition
• Distractible
• Give up easily

(Ref. Kreider, Fry, O’Toole (Eds): Overtraining in Sport.

[cyclop]

How much cardio is too much?

How long is a piece of string? It depends how fit you are. These are the symptoms of overtraining, sustain them for long enough and they'll become permanent:

• Decreased performance.
• Recovery prolonged
• Reduced toleration of loading
• Decreased max work capacity
• Increased difference between lying and standing HR
• Heart discomfort on slight exertion
• Elevated BMR
• Chronic fatigue
• Insomnia with night sweats
• Feeling thirsty
• Loss of appetite
• Headaches
• Increased aches and pains
• Gastrointestinal disturbances
• Depression
• Apathy
• Decreased self esteem
• Emotional instability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Sensitive to stress
• Fear of competition
• Distractible
• Give up easily

(Ref. Kreider, Fry, O’Toole (Eds): Overtraining in Sport.

Good answer ,listen to body and mind,if you,ve not "woken up" after 20mins or so,don,t continue or do so at a much reduced level.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Ho,
How do you know you're doing cardio?
Or more over How do you know what sort of cardio you are doing, That's what's the intensity level of your cardio.
And how long are you keeping it up.

https://www.openfit.com/what-is-cardio

[gbnz]

Ho,
How do you know you're doing cardio?
Or more over How do you know what sort of cardio you are doing, That's what's the intensity level of your cardio.
And how long are you keeping it up.

https://www.openfit.com/what-is-cardio

Thanks, I'll review the link. But personally have used a heart rate monitor for twenty years and time the workout. Suppose I normally workout at 85-95% max heart, though having had a forced covid break, have tried to keep it 85% max.

[gbnz]

How much cardio is too much?

How long is a piece of string? It depends how fit you are. These are the symptoms of overtraining, sustain them for long enough and they'll become permanent:

• Decreased performance.
• Recovery prolonged
• Reduced toleration of loading
• Decreased max work capacity
• Increased difference between lying and standing HR
• Heart discomfort on slight exertion
• Elevated BMR
• Chronic fatigue
• Insomnia with night sweats
• Feeling thirsty
• Loss of appetite
• Headaches
• Increased aches and pains
• Gastrointestinal disturbances
• Depression
• Apathy
• Decreased self esteem
• Emotional instability
• Difficulty concentrating
• Sensitive to stress
• Fear of competition
• Distractible
• Give up easily

(Ref. Kreider, Fry, O’Toole (Eds): Overtraining in Sport.

Oop's perhaps I'll have to cut back . At least six of those apply to me (Nb. Though to be fair, following last springs lockdown, four weeks non stop cardio resulted in superb days on the bike. Just a bit more lost ground to make up this time!)

[Tangled Metal]

Perhaps too much is when you miss it too much when you can't do it. By that I mean the physical activity might not be too much but the psychological aspect might be too much if it's more like a addiction.

Not saying it is as I don't think you are but imho there comes a point when exercise becomes more obsession and even addiction. I confess I got addicted to whitewater kayaking once, looking back I understand that obsession was like an addiction in that when unable to do it I'm looking outside to see if the rain's coming or checking out forecasts hoping for rain so I can paddle.

[al_yrpal]

Thats just more proof. IMO too much, but, its a personal choice. Each of us is free to do whatever floats our boat.

Al

[Blondie]

When you say heavy cardio are we talking intensity or volume? An hour every day at 70% of max HR is different from an hour every day of 90% of max HR. The former good for you, the latter not so much as it’ll lead to systemic stress and inflammation.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Ho,
How do you know you're doing cardio?
Or more over How do you know what sort of cardio you are doing, That's what's the intensity level of your cardio.
And how long are you keeping it up.

https://www.openfit.com/what-is-cardio

Thanks, I'll review the link. But personally have used a heart rate monitor for twenty years and time the workout. Suppose I normally workout at 85-95% max heart, though having had a forced covid break, have tried to keep it 85% max.

So 85 to 95% of max heart rate, over what time five minutes five hours?
We are talking of continuous exercise not five minutes then five minutes rest et cetera.

[gbnz]

So 85 to 95% of max heart rate, over what time five minutes five hours?
We are talking of continuous exercise not five minutes then five minutes rest et cetera.
[/quote]

A quick 60 minutes continuous exercise @ 85% max heart, then another 30-60 minutes in 20 minute sessions, split up with weights/ab's etc. Given cardio sessions in the past 14 months have been split by lengthy periods of gym closure, the rationale for my question was really the level of risk in respect posed by heading straight back into heavy cardio. I am thus making a point to try and keep the max heart rate down, avoiding 95% as far as possible

[gbnz]

When you say heavy cardio are we talking intensity or volume? An hour every day at 70% of max HR is different from an hour every day of 90% of max HR. The former good for you, the latter not so much as it’ll lead to systemic stress and inflammation.

Perhaps, but it was very notable end of July/August last year, after four months of purely cycling and walking, that a base line of 6-8 hours a week at high heart rates over just 3-4 weeks led to a incredibly fast return to normal cardio fitness levels. But given that the hearts a muscle, it does seem logical to give it rest days after heavy cardio workouts, rather than pushing it every day