Professional Opinion: Can you work out too much?

This week, Meghan M. Deagan, senior wellness coach at Beaufort Memorial LifeFit Wellness Center, discusses whether you can work out too much.

Question. Is there such a thing as working out too much? Is it best to give yourself a day between workouts or take the weekends off? Is simply changing the type of workout each day giving your body enough rest?

Answer. Yes, there is such a thing as working out too much. When you lift weights, you cause micro-tears in the muscle fibers of the muscles you're working. Once the workout is completed, those muscle fibers need time to recover and repair in order to grow and adapt to the load demanded of them.

An adequate rest is usually 48 to 72 hours. If you have ever felt sore from a workout, you may have noticed that the soreness usually subsided within that 72-hour window. If your workout is not too difficult, you would cause fewer micro-tears and need less time for the muscle to rebuild itself. If your workout is too demanding on your muscles, causing too many micro-tears, the muscle fibers will not be able to repair and will remain in a weakened state.

This is why it's most important to find the appropriate weight for the exercises you perform. You want to lift enough weight so that the muscle can grow and strengthen. If the weight is too little, the muscle adapts and the fibers get smaller since they are not being challenged or used. If the weight is heavier and the muscles are not getting adequate rest in between workouts, the muscle will also weaken. In a perfect world, the appropriate weight will be used, the appropriate rest will be taken, and the muscle will rebuild itself. It will come back stronger and ready for more.

So, there are a few ways to look at a resistance training schedule. Keep in mind that the muscles or muscle groups worked need 48 to 72 hours of rest. The American College of Sports Medicine is considered the "gold standard" for exercise prescriptions and has put out the recommendation for all healthy individuals to engage in two to three days of resistance training each week. With a seven day week, that isn't too much to ask. However, those two or three workouts should involve all major muscle groups. This recommendation allows for the rest needed for muscles to repair and reap the benefits that resistance training offers.

There are different goals with resistance training depending on the individual. The common goals are to increase muscle mass, increase muscle tone, increase strength and maintain strength. All of these goals would require customization of strength training programs to achieve the desired results. One variation of a workout schedule may be to do upper body one day, lower body the next, and repeat. Some individuals like to group certain muscle groups together and dedicate one day as that certain group day. (For example: Monday is back and biceps, Tuesday is chest and triceps, Wednesday is leg day, Thursday is shoulders and abs, and Friday is a rest day.)

Whatever works for your schedule should include a break from the most recent muscle group worked to allow for necessary recovery.

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This story was originally published July 27, 2015 at 9:22 PM.