Indeed, cardio is recommended for getting the right amount of endurance our bodies need. Cardio exercises as the name suggests are the ones that get our hearts thumping. These are preferred for ta great workout in losing weight. The concept aims to improving our heart health, but little do we realize that it can be a bit too much with the amount of stress it puts on our heart. The right amount needs to be known- to know how much is enough.
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The real reason we need to work out is to stay active, and then comes other our personal reasons to lose weight or to get that shape. The sedentary lifestyle that we currently live, with long working hours and trying hard to make a balance between our personal and professional lives requires us to be more active physically but you need to draw a line too, given the fact, the mental stress that you are already facing.
How to know if it is too much Cardio?
Your age, daily physical activity, gender, and dietary requirements should be considered well to decide the limit one should have. Your fitness coach should be able to guide you better.
A general standard as per American Heart Association is to follow is to achieve 75 percent of your maximum heart rate, which can be calculated by your 220 (maximum heart rate) minus your age. Besides this, there are some simple signs that one needs to observe regularly to know they are exceeding the workout limit. Check below.
Signs that you are doing too much Cardio Exercise
1# Decreased Metabolism
Being regular on your exercise is a good way to stay alert and actively, in fact, optimally performing your tasks. But the rate at which you burn calories will decrease as your muscles are overworked. With this happening frequently, you might be left with more fat and less muscles.
2# Sleep Trouble
Even though exercise is the foremost recommendation by doctors for insomnia, the reason for not getting enough sleep could also be too much exercise. Again, the stress that you are putting yourself to, through exercise, is making you all toss and turns at night. Try reducing your gym time and notice the change.
P.s If you are focussed, you will get the desired result in your body; there is no need to be too hard on yourself!
3# Interferes menstrual cycle
Many a times, our menstrual cycles are affected as the habit of this much stress is not tolerable for our body. The balance of hormones your body needs can be interfered- a moderate amount of cardio exercise is enough to maintain all the metabolic activities. But too much is really not good.
4# Too much pressure on the immune system
Any kind of stress in excess is going to take a toll on the cortisol hormone, which is the stress hormone. Too much cardio will induce the release of more cortisol, which will directly repress the immune system, making you more prone to diseases.
5# That feeling of always being sore
Too much cardio puts a lot of pressure on your body, you do not feel as active as you should. In the initial days, you will tend to feel more pains in the joints and muscles till you get adapted to your routine. But, prolong soreness because you are challenging yourself daily or just doing it more to get results faster will do more harm than good. Observe how long you feel sore, and how much sleeping helps you recover.
6# Slow rate of weight loss
To put it simply, you are now at the stage where you are not able to lose the sturdy fat as the metabolism, hormone cycle are interrupted. The weight loss rate will decrease with your slowing metabolic rate as well as hormonal imbalance caused to the excess workout.
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You need to optimize the cardio exercises with proper consultation, keeping in mind the result you want with the practicality associated considering your daily mental stress level, age, weight, gender, pre-existing health problems, if any. Staying healthy is everyone’s goal and like every other goals of our lives, proper planning is required to get what you want!
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