It is a fine line when it comes to working out too much and working out too little. It is even very specific to each of us and not all of us can follow the same guidelines. So when we talk about here, ‘How Much is Too Much?’ these are just guidelines, some of it may be relevant to you and some of it may not. However, it is important to be educated on what the signs are of too much exercise or too little so that you can sit back and analyze how much exercise you did and see which category you fall into. Hopefully, you fall into the just right category and here are the ways to figure out just that –
Overexercise releases two key hormones
Overexercising releases two key hormones: CRH and cortisol. Both of these hormones are related to how the body responds to stress. What you may notice is that high cortisol really messes with your gut. It has a terrible way of interrupting proper digestion, blocking blood flow, and tampering with your immune response. When this happens, you may need to back off your workouts entirely in order to fully heal. Even top athletes turn to the help of supplements to help when they can’t stop training. Some key supplements that help with this are: probiotics, omega-3s, and vitamin C. If you feel like you may be in this situation turning to a more moderate exercise may be the best routine for you to follow.
Cortisol levels
Touching on cortisol a bit more, it is important to know where yours measures up. If your cortisol is already high, then you don’t want to do things that will cause it to go up. Intense exercise will cause an increase in cortisol. This can become particularly true as you age. Exercises that you enjoyed in the past may not be the best recipe for you now. Incorporating routines with yoga, barre, pilates, meditation, etc may actually be just what you need to lose weight.
Get Enough Sleep
We chat a lot here about the importance of sleep, so we won’t bore with you repeating ourselves. If you want to read up on the importance of sleep, you can read more over at our article called, ‘How Sleep Affects Your Workouts the Next Day’.
Recovery time is important
Exercise affects your hormones. Period. Taking the time to recovery adequately keeps your hormone profile in balance so that other parts of your body don’t go out of whack too–aka your adrenals, thyroid and sex hormones for example.
All in all, balance is key. Finding that line between too little and too much. The best way to figure this out is to choose an exercise that you enjoy doing and do that four times a week. When do you start your routine or if you already have one start paying close attention to your body, weight, and mood. Getting a better understanding of these three things will help you sort out the perfect route toward feeling and looking your best.
