Hi Ladies! I usually post on the TOPS thread but I have a question. So I figured I would ask here.

Do you think it is possible to exercise too much???

It seems everytime I exercise alot that I come in with a gain so I was just wondering what everyone else thought?? Is it that I am overdoing it or just building muscle?? Thanks for the info in advance!!! Penny

There are symptoms of overtraining - I've never heard of weight gain as being one. Some symptoms include: a rapid heart rate that continues after exercise, irregular heart rate, fever, unexpected weight loss, irregular sleep patterns or an inability to sleep, it's also very easy to injur yourself when you're overtraining. There is also thought to be exercise addiction - where you exercise to the exclusion of other things, ignoring other responsibilites, loved ones, etc.
More than likely, what is happening with your weight gain after training is that your muscles are retaining water. Believe it or not, the "cure" for this is to drink more water and make sure you take a rest day or a day of lighter activity in between days of heavier activity. So for example, maybe you run/jog one day and take a walk the next or split-training your weight training and do upper body one day and lower the next.
A good book for learning about fitness is one of the "Dummy's" series books - they have a Weight Training for Dummies, Exercise of Dummies and I think a Nutrition or Weight Loss (not sure of the title) for Dummies.

Hi Penny,
Have you measured yourself? If you are losing inches and gaining , I would say that maybe it is that you are building muscle. Maybe building more weight in muscle than you are losing in fat....

Oh yes you can exercise too much! And weight gain is one of the signs. If you are weight training, then a gain could be muscle, but if you are only doing cardio, then most likely not.
Christy

If you feel good and aren't obsessing about exercise -- I wouldn't worry about weight gain. That's probably just muscle, and muscle is great. I had to adjust my goal weight up by 15 pounds when I started exercising. When you are toned and lean you can weigh (and eat) more! It startled me to realize that I'm ten pounds heavier then a friend of mine yet fit into a smaller size. One tip is to take a break every once in while. After four to five days off my performance is so much better.