While doing my research on your behalf today (you’re welcome), I tracked down this article, “Too Much Exercise Not So Good,” today by Michael Hill of the Associated Press.
Pertinent highlights from the article are in green. My comments are in black.
. . . . . . .
Overzealous exercisers can run their way to stress fractures, spin their way to insomnia or even overdo it to the point their immune systems are compromised.
Well, duh! Exercise is a stressor. At the right dose, it’s what Hans Selye called a “eustress” – an amount of stress that enables you to recover and come back stronger in a process some call supercompensation.
Too much stress is called “distress.”
“The real sweet spot, as you would expect there to be in any biologic system, is around an hour a day,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, a surgeon at Columbia University and co-author of “You: The Owner’s Manual.” “After that, it’s hard to show a great benefit.”
William Haskell, professor at the Stanford School of Medicine, says that in general the risk of harm begins to outweigh the benefits for adults after more than an hour a day. Above an hour, it’s questionable whether you’re going to get much more from it, he said.
Why we are so obsessed with this 60 minute mark, I will never know! As I’ve said before, there’s really no physiological reason for the average person to work out more than about 45 minutes.
Most people can make huge changes with 30 minute workouts. When you truly understand how to put a workout together in a scientific way, you need even less time than that.
In general, doctors’ advice is listen to your body. If you are tired or achy, take a rest. Take days off and vary the intensity of your workout. Irwin counsels runners to watch out for signs they’re working out too hard, such as a resting heart rate 10 beats a minute over the normal rate.
It’s great if you have a heart rate monitor, but of course you can do it the old fashioned way.
Just after waking up (preferably without an alarm), check your heart rate by placing your index and middle one hand across the radial artery of your other wrist.
After taking a few deep breaths to relax a little, count your heart rate for 30 seconds (then multiply by two, of course) or a full minute. Keep track of this morning heart rate.
Tags: exercise program, exercise, workout, baby boomer, fitness
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