A common mistake I often run across is over-training. A major cause of that comes from mis-information or ego.
Most people realize they need to get a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. A good method of training is to do strength training on one day and aerobic training the next or other day. It’s a good plan. It gives your body a chance to recovery from the stressful anaerobic workout.
The problem comes about because so often people will perform their aerobic exercise (jogging, swimming, biking, dancing, etc.) at too high of an intensity level. They are jogging, swimming, biking, dancing, etc… too fast for their current conditioning level that it becomes an anaerobic workout, which isn’t stress reducing, but is taxing on the body.
Aerobic exercise is…
Low to moderate intensity…Long duration…Stress reducing…and Availability of oxygen, which means your body burns calories from the breakdown of fats for energy while you are exercising.
Anaerobic exercise is…
Moderate to high intensity…Short duration…Stress producing…and Lacking Oxygen (this is why you start breathing heavy), meaning the body burns carbohydrates or lean muscle, when you are working out, instead of body fat.
True aerobic exercise should trigger ‘aerobic’ metabolism. It should be something you can do for a long period of time, like walking. A rule of thumb is, if you can perform the same aerobic workout, again right after finishing your aerobic workout than it was probably aerobic.
If you say, “are you kidding me – that jog, bike ride or aerobic class, whatever…wore me out” it’s more than likely that your aerobic workout triggered ‘anaerobic’ metabolism. This is stressful on the body!
Too many anaerobic workouts in a week will fatigue the body, which lead to over-training. This is when the ego gets in the way, because a lot of people who are stuck or have hit a plateau can’t understand why they aren’t getting the results from their workout, so they train even harder. The simple fact is that they are over-working their body – they are not giving it enough time to recover.
Don’t let your ego get in the way. Find out where that aerobic threshold is. In “To Burn or Not to Burn – Fat is the Question” I show you how to find that aerobic threshold so you can make sure you are not over-training. It’s a big problem and one of the most common mistakes I often see and why I talk about it in greater detail in “The Ten Biggest Workout Mistakes.” Don’t waste your time, energy and effort be wasted by making some of these common mistakes.
Dr. Len Lopez is a nutrition and fitness expert and author of “To Burn or Not to Burn – Fat is the Question,” (where most of the information discussed is found) and Five STEPS Closer… I invite your to learn more about health and fitness at our Free Teleseminar’s [http://drlensblog.com/?page_id=531]
