Cardio is a great way to drop weight and lose fat, especially when combining it with weight training. Some people find cardio tedious, where others really enjoy it and will use it often during a week. But just like with weight training, doing too much can often hinder results, so the same goes for doing excessive cardio. Here’s 3 ways to know if you’re doing too much of it…
1. Constantly feeling sore and achy
That whole saying of ‘no pain no gain‘ is actually incorrect and can be unsafe. The soreness you feel after exercise (DOMS – Delayed onset of muscle soreness) usually comes when you introduce new exercises, movements, heavier exercises or if you’ve overworked a particular area. Over time, your soreness will ease, but don’t take this as an indicator that you’re not training hard enough though, it just means your body has adapted!
If you find that you’re constantly feeling sore workout after workout, don’t use this as a measurement of a good workout. Instead, if it’s more than the typical workout DOMS you’re experiencing, then use it as an indicator that you need to reduce some intensity and up the recovery.
2. You feel drained all the time
It’s normal to feel tired after you exercise as well as sore just like the point above. Placing stress on the body and exercising for a period of time will make you fatigued. However, you should recover fairly shortly afterwards (which is why hydration, nutrition and days off are key). If you find that’s not the case and instead, you’re constantly feeling tired even on your days off, then you’re doing too much and should re-asses how much gym time you’re putting in through each week. Remember to recover just as hard as you work out!
3. You’re starting to lose muscle
This is one of the biggest indicators that you’re overdoing the cardio side too much. People can sometimes mistake weight loss as being fat tissue, but it’s not always the case, especially if you aren’t eating enough calories to adapt to the amount of cardio you’re doing too. Not fuelling correctly will lead to muscle being eaten into as an energy source. When your body does this, your resting metabolism will drop (you’ll start burning less calories). To avoid too much muscle loss, be mindful of how much cardio you’re doing, make sure you’re getting the correct amount of calories in your diet and add strength training to your routine as well.
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