Unfortunately, there's no concrete answer to that question. For most people, the answer is… less. If you're training six or seven times per week but you're not training for a specific sport, event or competition, chances are you're overtraining.
If you're wondering how much exercise a day is too much, cap training sessions at 90 minutes. If you train 5-6 days a week, think about how much is too much exercise a week – you'll likely need to do shorter training sessions so you get enough recovery.
Taking 2-3 rest days per week is normal and necessary for recovery. While feeling guilty is common, remember that rest is crucial for preventing burnout and reducing the risk of injury. Embrace rest days as part of your overall fitness routine and focus on listening to your body's needs.
You can experience overreaching after several consecutive days of hard workouts. Past this point, you will begin to experience overtraining syndrome as you train without resting. Many athletes take this decline in performance as a reason to train harder.
It's generally a good idea to take at least one to two rest days a week, Ash says. But there are some personal factors that come into play when determining the perfect amount of rest for you, including: Your typical fitness routine and workout goals. Your level of training.
Generally speaking, you should be going to the gym twice to five times per week, but it depends on your goals.
It Actually Takes a Lot Longer Than You'd Think to Lose Muscle From Not Working Out. In other words, relax—a week or two off when you're sick or traveling isn't a dealbreaker.
Working out every day is okay as long as you do not overexert yourself. It's important to take care of your body so you can produce efforts that support your goals.
Downtime between workouts (whether you're lifting, doing cardio or training for a sport) is when our bodies have a chance to actually build muscle. Strenuous workouts cause muscle breakdown, while rest allows our bodies to build it back up.
In the first stage of overtraining syndrome, an increased production of stress hormones and a slight increase in sympathetic activity (the system that operates in immediate stressful situations such as fight or flight) are often involved.
Doing 100 push-ups a day can help build muscle mass, strength, and endurance, especially in your core and upper body. But it can also increase your risk of muscle imbalances, injury, and overtraining. It's important to focus on proper form when practicing push-ups.
But in some cases, extreme exercise can damage the heart. Research is showing that a small percentage of middle-aged and older athletes who compete in endurance events over many years may be at higher risk for developing atrial fibrillation – an irregular heartbeat – and other heart problems.
Overtraining syndrome is different than feeling sore the day after a big workout or training session. It's a medical condition that causes physical, mental and emotional symptoms. Recovering can take anywhere from a few weeks to months.
Researchers have defined excessive exercise as exercising to the extent where a person loses control and feels a compulsive need to continue the exercise behaviors even when it impairs their ability to function in various areas of their life and/or causes physical injury. 2,3.
They help you make fitness progress
Exercise releases stress hormones and, just as working long hours with no days off can negatively impact your health, too much exercise without enough rest can lead to burnout.
Try to plan one recovery day for every 2 to 3 days of training. Except after a competition or a very intense effort, it is ideal to avoid choosing 2 consecutive rest days.
It's not necessary to lift weights every day, and if you do, you increase your risk for overuse injuries and overtraining syndrome. For most people, strength training two to three times a week is sufficient, but if you prefer to split training different muscle groups, then you can train up to five days a week.
As a rough guide, you'll probably notice some initial changes in the first four to six weeks, but longer-term changes (what you're working toward) will often take around eight to 12 weeks. The good news is that you're likely to start feeling better quickly.
While missing 2-3 weeks of structured workouts will cause some decrease in strength, maintaining regular daily movement and activity can help minimize these losses.
“There's no hard and fast rule for how long a 'break' from exercise should be,” Ting says. “It may be as short as a few days, but it's important to realize as well that it can also be up to one to two weeks without any significant detriment or loss in previous fitness gains.”
Skipping a day of exercise won't cause weight gain, but frequently missing workouts may impact your weight management efforts and make it harder to stay motivated. Experts recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise and two days of resistance exercises per week.
Physical and Mental testing seems to be the most reliable and helpful method of assessing impending or established OTS. These tests include time-to fatigue tests, sport-specific maximum aerobic function tests, and strength or power tests for particular sports.
Experts recommend 2 to 3 rest days between strength-training workouts like lifting weights. So you can plan resistance workouts that target different muscle groups. For example, you might do upper-body exercises on Monday and lower-body exercises on Tuesday. On Wednesday, you could do a cardio workout.