Too Much Exercise Causes Problems?

Exercise is needed by our bodies to stay healthy—build muscle, strengthen bones and maintain overall balance in our system. Exercise, for some, is also a way to aid significant weight loss, whether long-term or short-term. But while exercise is a good thing, you can also have too much of it.

While lack of exercise is obviously a problem, working out excessively can also lead to negative health conditions. Too much exercise occurs once the level of exercise goes beyond the body’s capacity for recovery.

First of all, it is best to recognize how you feel after exercise. Experiencing fatigue is generally taken as a signal to stop and slow down. However, there are people who completely ignore the symptoms and still strictly follow their exercise plan, even if it contradicts healthy living.

Studies have shown that doing so can do damage to tendons, ligaments, and bones, and other body parts. In fact, when minor injuries are not given enough time to heal, it often leads to long-term damage.

An article by Medical News Today, Can You Exercise Too Much? Mental Health Experts Say Yes, shed light on when to recognize overexercising, “There is no set formula or standard that reveals how much exercising is too much,” said Dr. Theresa Fassihi, Phd, a psychologist with the Eating Disorders Program at The Menninger Clinic. “But if exercising is interfering in a person’s life, and it is compulsory, then it may be a problem.”

Those people who already lead active lifestyles are the ones at risk for overexercising. One theory has pointed out that physical forms of exercise can be addictive due to endorphins which are feel-good chemicals produced by the body during these activities.

Having treated patients in the Eating Disorders Program who over exercise in an attempt to burn calories, Fassihi said that patients who suffer from exercise disorders who also have eating disorders is quite common. This tends to happen when body image expectations are not aligned with reality. Athletes and dancers are especially vulnerable to overexercising because the nature of activities they are involved in emphasize excellent physical form. Males and females alike can potentially suffer from an exercising disorder, though their reasons typically differ from each other. Men exercise to increase muscle mass while women exercise to eliminate fat, yet they share the same goal of achieving dramatic results.

Apart from health concerns, too much exercise could also put a damper on one’s quality of life. “Their time is not available for socializing, relationships or work. It is all consuming,” Fassihi added.