How much is to much?

Just wondering what everyone's views are on how much exercise is too much?

I had been doing cardio, i.e treadmill intervals with alternating walking only days, and some strength training. Like I mentioned on a different post I just bought and started 30DS the other day so I am swapping up my routine. 

My plan at first was to do the 30DS everyday like it's recommended and then still do my cardio afterwards with the same pattern as before. Now I am thinking about adding in Yoga and an ab workout plus cardio but on different days maybe.. Would this be too much? 

Yesterday I walked 1 mile and did 30DS. Today I did 30DS and 1/2 of the six week six pack abs. I was thinking tomorrow to do 30DS, cardio and yoga. In total it would probably be around 2 hours of working out. I don't want to over do it but I want results. Any advice? 

I think it is always about the way you feel. If you feel good doing it, then I don't see a problem. Just listen to your body. I went from not doing anything to running half marathons and then full marathons. Currently I am trying to run the next marathon (in NYC) with a goal time of under 4 hours. So I train 6 days a week with some days double training (sometimes two runs  and sometimes one run and one strength training session). But I always put at least one complete rest day in as well as cross training so that I do not use the same muscles every single day. But I will also put in more breaks if I can feel that my body is not feeling good with it. So I would do as much as you ENJOY and as long as your body feels good. As soon as you feel pain or really sluggish I would take a few days off and try with a reduced load. 

I am not a trainer, so that is just my personal opinion.

Thanks for your advice/opinion! I feel great from it and look forward to the next exercise so  I'm guessing my body doesn't mind. 

Wow! Way to go on the half and full marathon! I've only ever done 5k and am building back up to that again slowly.

I think too much is when you're tired all the time, start dreading your exercise, or injure yourself and keep injuring yourself. Too much is also when addiction forms - Google for signs of exercise addiction. 

Hi Jenna

I think it comes down to a few things; 

1. what you can comfortably maintain in you're life (how much time and energy do you want to invest in you're fitness)

2. what is you're ultimate long term goal (is it to be a thin fit person? or a curvy active person?)

3. what results are getting now? are they satisfactory?

When I was actively loosing a lot of weight I did cardio mostly because that does burn the most calories. I am at a different phase now and admittedly it is a lot more work. I commit to 90 mins of fitness a day on the "on" day and one hour on the "off day". I went from a very sedentary life to an active life and movement of many kinds is incorporated into my day - I park far away from things, I walk to the corner store and I'm trying to think and "act" paleo... 

I personally am not a fan of yoga because my goal is to burn calories and although there are certain types of yoga that get you're heart rate up in my personal experience the expenditure of time and energy was never significant enough to see any weight loss benefits. I did do it in my maintenance phase when I was 145 pounds and just didn't want to loose anymore weight and just wanted to improve my balance and mental clarity. 

I thought this was a decent article - I read it when I hit some plateaus and had to change things up and now I think I'm loosing again (also reduced my calorie intake)

You're doing the wrong kinds of exercise.
If you are exercising regularly, you're already doing a very important thing to improve your health. But when it comes to exercising for weight loss, there's a lot of confusion out there. One day you hear that strength training is the best way to lose weight. The next day you're told to focus on cardio—but not just any cardio, intervals. Then you hear it has to be high intensity intervals or Tabata training. What gives?

The truth is that all types of exercise will burn calories, which can help with weight loss. But when it comes to losing weight, it's all about burning calories. And in most cases,cardio is the calorie-burning king. Strength training is important, too (for many reasons), such as reducing the amount of muscle loss that occurs during weight loss, but it's typically not a major calorie burner. So if you are relying almost exclusively on strength training as your weight-loss strategy, it could backfire.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.asp?post=8_reasons_why_youre_not_losing_weight

Thank you!

I think it is a combo for me. Yes I want to lose the weight but I also want to be toned, have shape and be strong, not just skinny. But fit. 

I tried yoga this morning but mainly because I need the stretching. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I decided not to do Jillians yoga because I needed something relaxing. 

Your on and off days make me feel better. I like the idea of working out every day by throwing in an easier day. 

Thank you for the article link!

I recommend trying everything that seems interesting, but sticking to it for a month before giving up.  :)  When I first started yoga, I was not enthusiastic about it - I felt awkward and weird and ugh.  But I made myself stick with it for a month and now I think it's the best thing ever :D  

My method was to basically try every fitness class that seemed remotely interesting.  I stopped some after my month, found others that I love, and still try new things as my gym offers them.  Plus I run and bowflex and study aikido.. 

So my exercise schedule looks like this - I consider Monday to be my rest day.  

M: yoga at home, (voice lesson)
Tu: 10k training, yoga stretching, yoga class, aikido
W: yoga class, personal training, relaxation class
Th: 10k training, yoga stretching, aikido
F: piyo class, tai chi class, pilates class
Sa: 10k training, yoga stretching
Su: 10k training, yoga stretching

(Right now I'm recovering from a hip injury, so I'm doing bowflex instead of 10k training.  Sigh.)

In addition to the advice I gave above, I also think it's wise to add things slowly.  I didn't start doing this all at once and I injured myself when I tried to ramp up my race training and add aikido all at the same time.  It would have made more sense to have added aikido, done that for a month, and then added the 4th training day to my schedule.  20/20 hindsight, eh?