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BoomerFamily asked in HealthDiet & Fitness · 10 years ago

I have a question about overtraining?

I always thought overtraining was a myth, until it happened to me. I see the contestants on The Biggest Loser working out 8 hours a day, and for the most part, they don't gain. I started working out again a while ago,and was doing heavy cardio on my elliptical, and gained 5lbs in a week! As soon as I stopped, I lost it. I'm now working out again, but with DVD's this time. My plan is to do 20-40mins of circuits with weights 6 times a week, two 30min walks ( 4mph,mostly for the fresh air), and 30 mins on the elliptical in the evening. Does this sound like too much? WIll it cause me to lose or gain? I don't know if it makes a difference,but I'm 39 and a stay-at-home-mom.And I've changed my eating habits.

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  • 10 years ago
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    You're not over training and even if you were it wouldn't have anything to do with fat loss.

    You also cannot attribute a five pound gain or loss to fat simply because you have no absolute body weight. If you measure your weight now and then drink a pint of water, you will have gained a pound. And, those ups and downs in weight due to water and waste retention occur all day every day changing your weight by as much as several pounds.

    You spent a whole paragraph talking about exercise and 5 words about the most important fat loss related factor; your diet or eating habits. You really should mine the links below to get a proper education about diet and fitness and not confuse reality with entertainment. The Biggest Loser is a scam show which messes around with the time so you never really know how long it took who to lose how much. And, I guarantee you those people do not workout eight hours a day.

    If you want to lose fat, you must control your caloric intake because you can always eat more calories than you can burn.

    You should select your gym activities or exercises based on goals which they can be expected to achieve. For example, resistance exercises for strength, aerobic exercises for endurance, cross training for toning, etc.

    If you have no goals except fat loss, all you need to do is burn calories and you don't need a gym or special exercises for that. Just do something you enjoy that requires moving a lot of weight for a long time such as walking, biking, swimming, dancing, sports, etc. You're doing a lot of exercising and apparently it's not working or, if it is, you didn't say so.

    Check out these fat facts.

    • If you consume fewer calories than you burn, you have to lose fat eventually. There are no exceptions to this fact.

    • A pound of fat will yield about 3500 calories (Kcal) of energy.

    • Your body will burn hundreds of calories even if you are in a coma. That's your BMR. Go here to find out what it is --> http://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

    • An average person must run or walk about 5 miles (8 km) every day to burn one pound of fat per week AND THEIR DIET MUST ALLOW IT.

    • An average person must run or walk about 350 miles (563 km) to burn 10 pounds AND THEIR DIET MUST ALLOW IT.

    • An average person who consumes 500 calories per day less than they burn will lose about a pound a week with no extra time or physical effort required.

    • A average person dieting with a 500 calorie/day deficit will burn 10 pounds of fat in 10 weeks. The same person running 5Km (3 miles) per day with a Zero calorie/day deficit will burn 10 pounds in 16 weeks.

    •Running only burns slightly more calories than walking as long as the distance remains the same.

    • It does not matter if a person runs or walks a given distance…they will burn about the same number of calories. Although running burns slightly more than walking, the distance is far more significant than the speed over which it is traveled.

    • It is not necessary to do "cardio" to burn fat. "Cardio" is aerobic exercise which elevates the heart rate to 80% of max and sustains it for the purpose of cardio-vascular fitness. You can burn fat in your sleep.

    • Most of the calories you consume will be spent just keeping your body temperature at 98.6F.

    • It doesn’t matter how hard or how long you exercise, you will not lose any fat if you eat too much. You can always eat more calories than you can burn. When it comes to burning fat, diet always trumps exercise.

    Read my answer about why exercise is not the key to fat loss ---> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlTDB...

    You don't need all that exercise to lose fat but if you really like to exercise, do it. And if you're over training your body will let your know it because you'll feel the fatigue and require more rest than usual. In regard to burning calories, you can't over train because everything you do burns calories without exception.

    Good luck and good health!!

    PS: Here are some good websites you may find useful.

    • A MUST FOR DIETERS http://www.freedieting.com/

    • BEST DIET TOOL ON THE WEB http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

    • NUTRITION DOT GOV http://riley.nal.usda.gov/

    • ALL ABOUT FOOD http://www.mypyramid.gov/

    • FOOD DATABASE http://nutritiondata.self.com/

    Source(s): • US NIH WEBSITE http://nih.gov/ • BEST HEALTH WEBSITE http://health.discovery.com/ • MAYO CLINIC ON FITNESS http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/MY00396 • ALL ABOUT HEALTH http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ • DIETARY GUIDELINES 2010 http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dietaryguidelines.htm • DIET TIPS FOR FAT LOSS http://www.examiner.com/diets-in-phoenix/jennifer-... • EMOTIONAL EATING http://www.youtube.com/user/josielenore#g/a • OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS --> http://www.oa.org/ • EZ CALCULATORS http://www.calculator.net/weight-loss-calculator.h...
  • 10 years ago

    I think you should not exercise too much so. if you're directing a slender body in a long time so be patient and you have a specific plan. you should not set too much in one week. it will quickly make you feel depressed. you are very diligent exercise in about 1-2 weeks but then you get tired and eventually feel lazy. I saw part of your training seems too hard. That is the conclusion of my own. I believe you get a body you desire if you exercise patience. weight loss is a matter of time. you should hope and confidence in yourself. sorry if i spelled wrong.

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