• Question: How many hours of exercise can you do per week without getting exhausted?

    Asked by to Kate, Kieren, Nicola, Rowena, Roy on 17 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Rowena Fletcher-Wood

      Rowena Fletcher-Wood answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      This depends upon your diet, strength, endurance, and body. Theoretically, it is possible to be exercising all the time when you’re awake, but you need to have lighter exercises and the right kinds for your body. If you exercise a muscle which is not used to being used, you will fatigue that muscle quickly. If you train up gradually, you will be able to control your breathing to get more oxygen into your lungs, produce less lactic acid and maintain exercise for longer. Some people do runs that last over a day and they have to spend time recouperating afterwards.

      Food is also critically important. If you don’t provide enough fuel, you fatigue quickly and may collapse. If you want to exercise heavily, you need to eat a LOT. You need to have the same number of calories in and out to maintain your body. As you exercise more you convert fat into muscle (which is denser, so you look thinner but weigh more). If you convert too much fat into muscle you no longer have padding for your internal organs and this can actually be life threatening!

    • Photo: Kate Nicholson

      Kate Nicholson answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      Depends on how fit and active you are – some athletes can easily spend up to 25 hours a week training whereas someone recovering from surgery could struggle to do 1 hour of gentle physio exercise per week. Always consult with professionals if you are starting on a new exercise regime and your body will let you know when it has had enough, push too far and you will cause damage, first as cramps then torn muscles.

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