by Steve Robinson

Created on: January 08, 2010

Many people don’t take into account the rest of their lives when they consider the amount of exercise they do. It’s easy to think that professional athletes may get too much exercise but that is what they do; everyone else squeezes their exercise into an already busy day. When a pro is taking a recovery nap everyone else is scrambling to get back from lunch to finish the second half of their work day. Regular people may not realize it but there is such a thing as too much exercise and affects them far more often than the pros.

Moderation is the key to exercise and it is perfectly fine to throw in the towel on occasion simply because you are too tired. Often, it will be more beneficial for your overall health, mental well being, and your workout tomorrow to take a break. In fact one thing missing from many workout schedules are planned rest days. A busy schedule can easily put workout sessions on the back burner and force you to get it in where you can. Don’t do it. Choose a rest day and use it even if you miss a workout.

Self awareness can go a long way to prevent getting too much exercise. Minor soreness can be expected in the days following exercise but when it gets excessive, your body is trying to tell you to slow down. When you refuse to listen, that’s when your body quits trying to tell you and forces you to; you catch a cold.

There are more precise measures that many professional athletes use to monitor their state of fitness. One of the best is to take your pulse before getting out of bed in the morning and then to stand up for 20 seconds and take your pulse again. Write down the difference between the two numbers daily. Minor fluctuations are fine but if it is 5 higher for more than two days it is an indication to slow down or stop exercising for a day or two. As sure as clockwork, if you don’t heed this warning you will catch a cold.

Remember that your day consists of a lot of activity and that exercise is just one more activity thrown onto an already busy schedule. There is such a thing as to much exercise and contrary popular belief it does affect regular people more than professional athletes. By becoming aware of the signs of excessive exercise you can easily prevent the down time created when you over train.

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