How much exercise is too much exercise?

Not a medical professional. But maybe depending on one’s age too much exercise is when it results into pain levels one couldn’t handle anymore.

If your heart springs from your chest and shakes a finger at you, likely you have overdone it.

I have been in a wide span of physical condition.
Conditioning is an individual thing, and is best planned with the help of the doctor who best understands your personal limitations.

^Agreed. Ideally, you speak to a doctor. Develope a plan. Stick to it. Keep the doctor up to date.

Diet change, even in when you eat, can be helpful too.

I’ve ran every day for the past 3yrs & work out at home with dumbells while also doing sit ups & press ups. My runs range from 5 to 25k & in that time i’ve dropped to my current weight of 158lbs & at almost 52, have developed a passable 6 pack, so for me…there’s no such thing as too much exercise.

Thanks, all!
@ucme Good for you!
Can I ask, for example the dumbbells routine; do you do certain amount of exercises per day (say, 20 lifts), and that’s it, next day the next exercise?
Or can you do those kinds of exercises, say, 8 times per day?
Does one or the other influence the goal?
Or is 8 times not gonna add something to when one does only one per day?

I mean it’s different for everyone, but I do a solid hour, hour & a half of reps using all of the upper body muscle groups resting between each rep as I rotate with press/sit ups.
Always like to do 200 of each in 8 seperate segments of 25, works for me & basically freestyled the routine from day one.

That sounds like a good routine, maybe one that I can try my hand at.
Thanks a bunch for your detailed answer, I appreciate it!

No sweat man, well maybe a little…good luck.

Thank you.

There can be a point where you are overtraining.. It is evident from a feeling of fatigue, and inability to sleep well.

Other symptoms:
Persistent muscle soreness
Elevated resting heart rate
Increased susceptibility to infections
Increased incidence of injuries
Irritability
Depression
Loss of motivation
Decreased appetite

Body builders/weight trainers are susceptible to over training.

Your idea of working out more than once a day is not a good one. Only athletes that are getting back into competitive shape after a hiatus (like footballlayers and swimmers) should dontwo a day workouts, and then only for a couple weeks maximum.

That book Real Age has statistics on how much exercise adds tears to your life and how much shortens your life. I don’t remember the numbers but there are sweet spots. Like 30–45 minutes of aerobic exercise daily adds 3 years and over one hour of exercise daily takes away a year. I made those numbers up, but it’s something like that. It seems there is a such thing as too much exercise.

There is also a sweet spot for building muscle. You have to put demand on the muscle, but then you have to let the muscle rest also. It’s definitely a science.

Remember to stretch AFTER working out to help avoid muscle soreness and to increase the length of the muscle to become more limber.

Getting rid of your belly is almost all about getting rid of body fat and not building muscles. Building up your stomach muscles can actually give you a pooch. Not that you shouldn’t do a sit up, I only mean aerobic exercise and healthy eating is the biggest key. Increasing muscle tone and strength does help though. More muscle mass burns more calories, and weight resistance is not only good for building muscle strength, but bone strength too. Building strength in the stomach/core area helps avoid back injuries too.
Muscle does not turn into fat and vice versa, that’s a myth. Getting rid of fat is how to look lean. Fat lays over the muscle, so you could be incredibly strong with large muscles, but if you’re fat too, no one will see those strong muscles.

Good gyms that have trainers with degrees who really understand the physiology are a good bet if you’re willing to pay the money.

Thank you both for your valuable input, @zenvelo,and @JLeslie.
Insightful and helpful!