By: Lisa Zeigel

Staying physically fit is a pretty tough job. Considering that there are all kinds of other priorities demanding your attention, you can give yourself a pat on the back if you take the time to exercise. However, while it is commendable that you get yourself to the gym or on your stationary bike at home, or up early for that morning run every week, it is important to know how much is enough, and how much is too much. Why do I mention this? I am not talking about the average exerciser, and I know that many have trouble getting it in at all, but there are people who are (gasp) "addicted" to exercise. Maybe you've encountered someone like that: He or she is exercising, or talking about exercising every time you see him or her. Or if you go to a gym, you notice that person who has been on the stair climber for the entire hour you've been there, and is still climbing when you leave.

Professionally, I encounter every type of exerciser, and I see more than a few who spend an inordinate amount of time in the gym, doing the same activities day in and day out, such as running on a treadmill, cycling, or taking the same class every day. I can identify with this. I used to be one of them. Going to the gym on a weekend meant I could spend more time exercising, and often it would be an all-day effort. I would try to promise myself not to take so long, but inevitably, I would end up spending way more time than I planned; then feeling bad about it. I felt like I didn't have much of a life outside of work and working out. I would make myself go when I didn't feel like it. And I had to be drastically ill to miss a single day. An enjoyable activity, one that I originally felt good about doing, had become a tedious chore. And what brought me out of that cycle? An injury. Yes - too much of a good thing can take its toll. Your body never rests properly until you're forced to rest by over-worn tendons and tired joints.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA) recently released updated guidelines for the amount of exercise a healthy adult should get. It is suggested that most adults ages 18-65 years need either moderate and/or vigorous-intensity physical activity at least five days per week. More specifically, the guidelines recommend that one should perform a combination of both moderate and vigorous aerobic exercise. You could break it down to either:

→  30 minutes of moderate activity, five days per week
→  20 minutes of a more vigorous workout, three days per week

Moderate intensity is defined by the ACSM as between 55-69 percent of your heart-rate maximum (subtract your age from 220; multiply that by each percentage for your range). A vigorous level would be 70 percent or above. It is suggested that you vary the intensities, in other words "mix it up." You could combine easier-level workouts with harder bouts within the same week. While they suggest incorporating more vigorous activity to achieve greater health benefits, they also provide a limit to the volume that should be performed. There was a study conducted by the Cooper Institute of Aerobic Research in Texas, which suggests, "if you exercise above 60 percent of your max heart rate for four to five hours a week or more, you will incur a significant amount of harmful free radical damage in the body".¹

Despite this information and the guidelines put forth by the ACSM and AHA, I constantly see people running too fast, for too long, and too frequently. Or participants in cycling classes, which can be intense in level of difficulty, taking classes almost every day, sometimes back to back - on the same day! Performing these high-level aerobic tasks repeatedly can over time produce results contrary to the goal of the exerciser! Sure, you will burn a lot of calories, but if your body is struggling to recover and you give it little or no recovery time, your body will conserve energy, using it to counteract the inflammatory response that results from all that hard pounding. You might notice this as a plateau in weight loss, (or even weight gain) or you may find yourself succumbing to colds, flu, etc. And worse, you may become injured. As I mentioned above, I am guilty of the excesses I am writing about, and have suffered the above consequences, as well!

I finally received the proper guidance I needed to improve my situation. Today I use my heart rate monitor to keep track of my intensity range. I had my aerobic threshold tested (the level of intensity I can tolerate before I start breathing out more C02 than breathing-in oxygen), and an aerobic program was developed for me based on improving that threshold (so my body would become more efficient at burning fat, rather than stored carbohydrates). The program felt much easier than the work I had been doing, but I was given variations too, on one day a low-level workout for a longer time; another day, a short-duration, high-intensity workout. And in between, some interval programs, where short bursts of high intensity were followed by longer bouts of low-intensity, with 3-5 "intervals" in one workout. After a couple of months of following that protocol, I re-tested my aerobic threshold and found I had become significantly more efficient at burning fat. I stayed in my "aerobic zone" for longer. I not only felt much better, but I got leaner, and I found the variety in my program exciting.

How can you tell if you are overtraining? Here are just a few possible symptoms:

→  You feel tired instead of energized after your workouts
→  You are constantly ill with minor colds, etc.
→  Your resting heart rate becomes elevated
→  You have trouble sleeping
→  You hit weight loss and fitness plateaus
→  You experience constant aches and pains or injuries

And there are mental aspects as well. You may feel tired, lethargic, uninspired to work out, depressed or withdrawn.

How can you beat this syndrome? You could take a V02 sub-max test, like I did. But I had to find a professional who could do it, using expensive equipment (and there is a cost to it). You don't have to do all that! If you are a healthy adult without blood pressure or heart issues, you can determine your own heart rate range. Try using the "Karvonen" formula. Once you find your range, try a workout that stays in the lower range (60-69 percent) for a 30-minute duration. On another day do a shorter duration of 20 minutes at the high end of the range. Then try an interval program. There are programs built in to many treadmills and stationary cycles, etc. Or, simply alternate a three-minute, low-range interval with 1-1/2 minutes in a high range, up to 6 repetitions (add warm-up time before, and cool-down after).

You could monitor your intensity with a heart-rate monitor (you would have to buy one from a sporting-goods store from about $50 and up), or some cardiovascular machines have heart rate sensors built in. You would have to grip them with your hands to get a reading on the display panel. There is the old-fashioned taking your own pulse. (Place your index and middle fingers on your wrist right below your thumb or on the side of your neck below your jaw line). You can take a 15-second count and multiply by 4, or 30 seconds and multiply by 2, etc. It just takes practice, but the easiest option would be to use a "rate of perceived exertion", such as thinking of a scale from 1-10, with 1 being easiest, and 10 being hardest. "Moderate" would be from 4-6; above that would be your more vigorous effort. And finally, there is the "talk" test. If you can talk while you are exercising, but you have to take a few breaths between words, that is moderate. If you are huffing and puffing and unable to talk - that is vigorous!

Once you find the right intensity range for yourself, alternate your workouts as suggested above, taking special care to give yourself recovery time between the harder bouts (2-3 days) and using "active recovery" - that is, easier workouts, in between. Experiment with interval training, and mix it up! Try different cardio machines, classes (cross train). And, don't forget to include a day of rest. You can use that rest day to have a recreational stroll outdoors, do some gardening, etc. Put the fun back in your exercise program, and you will see results!

¹ http://www.lifespa.com/article.asp?art_id=64

Lisa Zeigel is a personal trainer and a group exercise instructor who has been involved in health and fitness for more than 19 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, and is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a health and fitness instructor and as a National Academy of Sports Medicine personal trainer. She has created unique wellness education programs and has taught healthy lifestyle classes for her local community. Currently, Lisa works with all types of clients and particularly likes to focus on new and returning exercisers, combining cutting-edge techniques with the tried-and-true. Most of all, she strives to make exercising fun and easy to integrate into each individual’s lifestyle. You can contact Lisa at fitgrrl@operamail.com.