Can too much exercise cause weight gain? (2023)

Why am I exercising more and gaining weight?

Muscle Gains. Muscle mass is denser than fat mass and you will undoubtedly gain weight from lean muscle gains. While your clothes may feel looser, the scale may tell you otherwise.

“When you start exercising, your muscles start gobbling up fuel called glycogen,” says Krista Scott-Dixon, Ph. D., Director, Headspace Adjustment Bureau, Precision Nutrition. Since glycogen stores water, you could gain up to 10 pounds in water weight alone, says Scott-Dixon.

Unintentional weight gain occurs when you put on weight without increasing your consumption of food or liquid and without decreasing your activity. This occurs when you're not trying to gain weight. It's often due to fluid retention, abnormal growths, constipation, or pregnancy.

According to Noah Abbott, a CrossFit coach in Brooklyn, prolonged, steady-rate cardio can deplete our body's Triiodothyronine, or T3 hormone. This hormone is responsible for metabolism, and a depletion of this hormone can cause the body to go into a mode where it stores and gains more fat than usual.

Individuals who overexercise tend to experience similar signs and symptoms, which include: Extended Muscle Soreness Muscle soreness after a workout should last three days, four at the most, Miranda says. Decreased Immune Response Getting sick more than usual is a sign of overtraining, according to Miranda.

Since many people can't eat enough in a day or two to actually gain 5 or 10 pounds, if you notice a dramatic increase on the scale, chances are it's due to water, says Anita Petruzzelli, M.D., owner and medical director of BodyLogicMD.

Relying on cardio to burn calories is the biggest mistake people make when trying to lose fat, trainer Ben Carpenter told Insider. It can ramp up your appetite, which can lead to more eating, he said. Cardio is important for health, but eating in a calorie deficit is most important for fat loss.

Your Metabolism Will Slow Down to Store Fat

The more you work out or manage your calorie intake to lose weight, the more your metabolism wants to compensate by slowing down to maintain your current weight, this is called metabolic compensation. It kicks in to preserve and store fat for future energy.

Too much cardio makes you lose muscle mass and this makes your metabolism slow. As a result, the fat burning mechanism in your body slows down. Thus, your weight-loss results won't be as quick as they used to be.

How much is too much exercise?

While exercise has more plusses than a math workbook, you can take it too far: If you burn more than 6,500 calories a week with exercise (that's roughly 13 hours) or if you do more than two hours in a row of straight cardiovascular training.

The only way that you can recover from overtraining is by resting. This means that you need to stop training for a determined period of time. The time will vary depending on the sport and the level of activity, but most recovery takes between 4 to 12 weeks.

Too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion, depression, and suicide. It can also cause lasting physical harm. Your adrenal gland, pumping out hormones as you pound the pavement, can only produce so much cortisol at a time. Suddenly, the heartbeat you'd lowered to a resting 48 is up to 80.

Working out daily can lead to injuries, fatigue, and burnout. All of these things can cause you to abandon your fitness program altogether. Start slowly, and gradually increase the duration and intensity of any new exercise routine.

For moderate exercise, like walking, there is no upper limit, although doing it for more than 100 minutes a day doesn't seem to convey any extra cardiovascular benefit.

The only way that you can recover from overtraining is by resting. This means that you need to stop training for a determined period of time. The time will vary depending on the sport and the level of activity, but most recovery takes between 4 to 12 weeks.

How long is too much exercise?

While exercise has more plusses than a math workbook, you can take it too far: If you burn more than 6,500 calories a week with exercise (that's roughly 13 hours) or if you do more than two hours in a row of straight cardiovascular training.

Working out daily can lead to injuries, fatigue, and burnout. All of these things can cause you to abandon your fitness program altogether. Start slowly, and gradually increase the duration and intensity of any new exercise routine.

Overtraining and undereating can not only cause you to lose efficiency, but it can also cause you to lose muscle mass. If you have weight loss goals, eating less may sound like a good idea, but if it doesn't align with your fitness goals, you won't see the results you're hoping for.

Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise during the course of a week. Greater amounts of exercise will provide even greater health benefit.

The telltale sign of overtraining is a lack of improved performance, despite an increase in training intensity or volume. Decreased agility, strength and endurance, such as slower reaction timesand reduced running speeds are all common signs of overtraining.