How much exercise is enough exercise?

AngryBadger

Generally I do 4 sessions of exercise a week consisting of either 40 minutes of weights, or a 4 mile jog.

Some weeks I do 5 sessions, and the lowest frequency would be 3 in a week.

I'm in good shape, (could stand to lost a few pounds from my waist but not too pushed), but I'm a research postgrad, so while I'm fairly active when I'm not working, the bulk of my time in work is spent sitting.

I'm curious as to whether there's an optimum training level that offsets this kind of professional lifestyle?

Dragan

it depends largely on goals, you don't seem to have any. It also depends largely on diet. Huge difference between sitting and eat crap all day, and sitting and eating well.

g'em

Ah, a fellow postgrad. The joys of writing a thesis. If I put nearly as much effort into doing the statistics I'm supposed to be analysing this month as I do into writing here I'm sure I could shave off at least three months the end of my research.

There is no 'optimal training level' as such, it all comes downt o each individual and, as Dragan said, your goals. Like you I spend most of my day sitting at a desk so to offset that I try to excercise 6 of 7 days a week, including 4 weights sessions, 2 or 3 high intensity cardio and 2 or 3 low intensity cardio sessions. This I do to lose weight, stay trim and gain strength.

Various bodies that advocate health and fitness stress that the absoltue minimum exercise a person should do is 3 half hour sessions a week, but that is the absolute minimum. Generally speaking, to maintain good fitness levels you should look at around 3-5 sessions a week, with time frame dependent on the intensity of the exercise. A good balance of weights and cardio will keep your weight stable, while keeping muscle-to-fat ratios in favour of the former. Obviously the more sedate your job is, the more you need to make up for it in your leisure pursuits, but certainly for the type of job that we do, a healthy mind really does come froma healthy body. The fitter you are and the helathier your diet is, the better your concentration and focus will be.

amazingemmet

How much exercise is enough? 50hrs a week combining, max lifts, dynamics lifts explosives lift days, stretching, injury prevention, bodyweight training, cardio and gymnastics. In the words of Arnie " The human body was not designed to be sedentry, It was design to hunt mammoths and run 40 km a day"

But unfortunatly most of us have to work so this isn't a realistic goal, so it comes down to what you want to do, Do you want to be a couch potato? 0hrs, Do you want to lose the beer gut? 3-4hrs, Do you want to run a marathon? 12-15hrs a week. Set yourself a goal and work towards it.

AngryBadger

Dragan wrote:

it depends largely on goals, you don't seem to have any. It also depends largely on diet. Huge difference between sitting and eat crap all day, and sitting and eating well.

My diet is primarily wholewheat foods, lean meat, (minced round steak, or skinless chicken fillets), with a healthy topping of fruit and vegetables. I'll usually have take away garbage once/twice a week. As far as goals are concerned, I like to keep a balance between strength and cardio fitness.

But what I'm wondering about is, exercise helps to keep your body in peak condition, ad a lot of that is thorugh the mechanical pressure you're applying to your cardiovascular system, but does sedentary activity have the opposite effect? And if it does, is there a way to determine how much exercise will offset this effect?

g'em wrote:

Ah, a fellow postgrad. The joys of writing a thesis. If I put nearly as much effort into doing the statistics I'm supposed to be analysing this month as I do into writing here I'm sure I could shave off at least three months the end of my research.

lol exactly the same situation here

Cravez

but wouldnt wouldnt lifting for more than an hour make you lose mass?
depends on the person i suppose? this is probably one of my problems, im not to sure how long i should be working out for. I spend around 45 mins - 1 hour at a gym weight lifting.

t-ha

Michael Cravez wrote:

but wouldnt wouldnt lifting for more than an hour make you lose mass?
depends on the person i suppose? this is probably one of my problems, im not to sure how long i should be working out for. I spend around 45 mins - 1 hour at a gym weight lifting.

Not necessarily, I presume you're talking about running out of nutrients and cortisol build-up. That depends on the density of your workout, and also your peri-workout nutrition. Personally, I also do 45min - 1hr. I try to be intense in the gym, once I get tired or start to lose strength I leave.

Dragan

To be honest, i wouldn't say so. Most of my workouts take from an hour to an hour an a half. To be honest, i think too many people worry about overtraining! this is only my opinion of course. After a while of training to being to find what works best for you, whether it is best to push pass the fatigue or call it a day, whether to do 100 rep sets that day of just doubles and singles.

It all comes in time and it's all about gaining a good understanding of YOUR body, not what may have worked for some else!!!

All in all, the human body is pretty robust, and if you feed it right, and let it rest enough it can do some pretty fabulous things!!

thirtyfoot

amazingemmet wrote:

How much exercise is enough? 50hrs a week combining, max lifts, dynamics lifts explosives lift days, stretching, injury prevention, bodyweight training, cardio and gymnastics.

50hrs a week is very excessive, thats over 8 hours a day with one rest day. Any professional athletes I know only work half of that (with the xception of some sports like cycling probably) and any that do must be doing a lot of farting around and wasting time.

Angrybadger, I reckon your 4/5 days a week is loads to counteract your professional lifestyle. If you train smart you can get a lot done in a short space of time. If your aims are to just stay fit and in good shape, listen to your body, its the best indicator.

In general, if your goals are performance based, like an upcoming competition, you do need to monitor your training volume and training quality. Rest is critical and I disagree with Dragan regarding overtraining, I trained with many guys who whipped me in training but I would beat them in competition, they left their best in training or simply upped their training too soon when they weren't conditioned correctly for the increase in training. Its difficult to control and a lot of time its a macho thing but knowing when to stop is very important. Overtraining causes injury, can result in bad form when lifting weights or bad running technigue when fatigued. Thats when a good coach or instructor is critical, if they know you well they can get the balance between pushing you to your limit, but knowing not too push you too far. Its a tough balancing act and thats where a coach earns his crust.

amazingemmet

Tingle wrote:

50hrs a week is very excessive, thats over 8 hours a day with one rest day. Any professional athletes I know only work half of that (with the xception of some sports like cycling probably) and any that do must be doing a lot of farting around and wasting time.

Seems excessive i was doing it last year on a one year intensive course 10hrs a day, 5 days a week. It was mainly bodyweight conditioning but the exercises we were doing would have most fit people in tears. the trick was not too over do it in one area adn eat and sleep like a b**tard

Dragan

Tingle wrote:

50hrs a week is very excessive, thats over 8 hours a day with one rest day. Any professional athletes I know only work half of that (with the xception of some sports like cycling probably) and any that do must be doing a lot of farting around and wasting time.

You've never seen any of the training of the top guys from PRIDE or UFC then???

Tingle wrote:

Rest is critical and I disagree with Dragan regarding overtraining, I trained with many guys who whipped me in training but I would beat them in competition, they left their best in training or simply upped their training too soon when they weren't conditioned correctly for the increase in training. Its difficult to control and a lot of time its a macho thing but knowing when to stop is very important.

Exactly, these guys sound like they were overtraining, but i fail to see where i said people don't overtrain. I said, in my opinion, that too many worry about overtraining when they have no need to. You are using a handful of people who you witnessed suffer due to "overtraining" to disagree with a point that i never made. GENERALLY SPEAKING, your average gym goer does not have the mental capacity to push themselves to the point of severe overtraining. It just is not really a factor. Laziness on the other hand is a huge issue. Once again, these points are all determined from the point of view of the average gym goer, as that is the bracket that the OP would fall into.

thirtyfoot

Thats interesting amazingemmet. How long did it take before you built up to 10 hours a day, were you on a program before you began the 10 hours a day training or did you jump right in?