Fitness Volt
  • News
    • Bodybuilding
    • Strongman
    • Powerlifting
    • Armwrestling
    • CrossFit
    • Results
    • Arnold Classic
    • Mr. Olympia
  • 2025 WSM
  • Workouts
    • Training
    • Workout Plans
    • Celebrity Workouts
    • Training Programs
    • Mastering The Deadlift
  • Exercise Guides
    • Muscle Groups
    • Arms
    • Back
    • Chest
    • Core
    • Legs and Glutes
    • Mobility & Stretching
    • Shoulders
    • Yoga
  • Nutrition
    • Diet
    • Fasting
    • Diet Plans
    • Nutrition Tips
    • Supplements
    • Reviews
    • Food Facts
  • Calculators
  • More
    • Forum
    • Strength Standards
    • DIY
    • Profiles
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • MMA
No Result
View All Result
Fitness Volt
  • News
    • Bodybuilding
    • Strongman
    • Powerlifting
    • Armwrestling
    • CrossFit
    • Results
    • Arnold Classic
    • Mr. Olympia
  • 2025 WSM
  • Workouts
    • Training
    • Workout Plans
    • Celebrity Workouts
    • Training Programs
    • Mastering The Deadlift
  • Exercise Guides
    • Muscle Groups
    • Arms
    • Back
    • Chest
    • Core
    • Legs and Glutes
    • Mobility & Stretching
    • Shoulders
    • Yoga
  • Nutrition
    • Diet
    • Fasting
    • Diet Plans
    • Nutrition Tips
    • Supplements
    • Reviews
    • Food Facts
  • Calculators
  • More
    • Forum
    • Strength Standards
    • DIY
    • Profiles
    • Motivation
    • Videos
    • MMA
No Result
View All Result
Fitness Volt
No Result
View All Result
Home » Muscle Science
Evidence Based
Evidence Based Research
This article was written by one of our team of experienced writers, and fact-checked by our experts or our editors. The numbers in parentheses (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) throughout the article are reference links to peer-reviewed studies.
Our team of experts includes a board-certified physician, nutritionists, dietitians, certified personal trainers, strength training experts, and exercise specialists. We are committed to providing our readers with evidence-based information that is grounded in the latest scientific research.
Read Our Editorial Process

Fitness and Fat Loss: How Much Cardio is Too Much?

Whether you love it or loath it, cardio is essential for your fitness and health. But, how much should you do, and how much is too much? In this article, we reveal the signs that you are doing more cardio than your body needs.

Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

Last Updated on20 September, 2021 | 5:41 PM EDT

Ask Question?

There are 206 muscles in the human body, and each one is important. Most bodybuilders like to focus on the ones they can see, training them several times a week to make them bigger – a process called hypertrophy.

However, arguably the most critical muscle you’ve got is your heart.  

Human Heart Anatomy
Human Heart Anatomy

Located slightly left of center in your chest and about the size of a clenched fist, your heart is a four-chambered muscle with one job – pumping blood around your body. It’s estimated that a heart beats over three billion times over the course of an average lifetime. Your heart keeps you alive, and if it fails, the consequences are dire.

Like every part of your body, the heart ages and deteriorates as the years pass. It’s also susceptible to illness and disease. That said, exercise can help keep your heart strong and healthy.

While all types of exercise are beneficial for your heart, cardio is arguably the best. When you do cardio, your heart rate increases. Over time, this makes your heart bigger and stronger. That’s why people who do a lot of cardio usually have a lower resting heart rate; their hearts can pump more blood per beat. Cardio is also good for your circulatory system and lungs and useful for weight loss too.  

But how much cardio should you do? And how much is too much? We reveal the answers!

Get Fitter, Faster

Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!

Please wait...
You're In! Let's Crush Your Fitness Goals Together

Expect expert-backed workouts, nutrition advice, the latest in strength sports, and a whole lot of motivation heading your way.

How Much Cardio Should You Do?

Running

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and reiterated by the American Heart Association and the CDC, most adults should aim to do at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity cardio per week, or about 30 minutes, five times a week (1).

Moderate-intensity activities include walking, jogging, swimming, recreational cycling, gardening, and aqua aerobics.

This is deemed to be the minimum amount of cardio necessary for general health and wellbeing, disease prevention, and improving quality of life. The same sources also state that 75 minutes of intense cardio per week (e.g., HIIT, circuit training, running, etc.) will have similar benefits (1). 

Related: HIIT vs. LISS Cardio: Which One Is Best for Fitness and Fat Loss?

However, many people do a lot more than this, and with any type of exercise, you CAN have too much of a good thing. Look out for the following signs and symptoms, which could indicate that you are doing more cardio than you need.

Warning Signs You Are Doing Too Much Cardio

Everyone should do some cardio, even if your goal is to build massive muscles or get phenomenally strong. After all, it doesn’t matter how big your biceps are or how much weight you can bench press. If your heart is small and weak, it could shorten your life.

That said, doing too much cardio could harm your mental and physical health, leading to overtraining and other unpleasant side effects.

Warning signs that you may be doing too much cardio include:

1. Your resting heart rate is higher than normal

Checking Pulse

As you get fitter, your resting heart rate will come down. It could be as low as 40-50 beats per minute compared to the average, which is 72 bpm. However, if your resting heart rate is 10%+ higher than usual, this suggests that you’ve been overdoing the cardio, and your body is struggling to recover between workouts (2).

Get into the habit of taking your resting heart rate on waking. Track it over a few weeks to establish a baseline reading. Then, if it’s 10%+ higher than average, take that as a sign you need to take an unscheduled rest day to get back on track.

2. Your workout performance is declining

There is a fine line between doing enough cardio for optimal results and doing too much. If you notice that your workout performance is going down instead of up, you may be doing too much.

Monitor things like speed, distance, power output, duration, and heart rate, looking for any downward trends. You may even just feel that you’re having to work harder than usual.

These are all strong indicators that you aren’t recovering properly between workouts and should take a break to give your body a chance to rest and recover.

3. You’re losing motivation

No Pain No Gain

Assuming you enjoy working out, you should look forward to almost every training session. After all, even when it’s hard work, you know you’ll feel great afterward and experience a feeling of accomplishment that’s hard to beat.

It’s normal to have the occasional off day, which is why pre-workouts were invented! But, if you dread working out and have been feeling that way for a while, you may be overdoing it.

Remember, exercise affects your body AND mind, and if your motivation is wavering, it could be because you’ve been overdoing things lately.

4. You are losing more muscle than fat

A lot of exercisers do cardio for weight loss. However, the goal should always be to lose fat while preserving muscle. That’s why we generally recommended a combination of cardio and strength training. This will improve your body composition, which is the relationship between your fat mass and muscle mass.

Doing a lot of cardio can lead to muscle atrophy and catabolism. In simple terms, you’ll start losing muscle. Yes, you’ll still lose weight, but losing muscle while retaining fat could mean you end up being skinny fat, which means you look slim but are actually soft and weak.

Doing too much cardio increases the production of cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone. Prolonged elevation of cortisol increases muscle breakdown (3). Less muscle means a slower metabolic rate, which makes burning fat more challenging.

If you are getting weaker or you can see you are losing muscle while retaining fat, you are likely doing too much cardio, even if you ARE losing weight.

5. You feel sore all the time

Muscle Soreness

Delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS for short, is part and parcel of working out. It’s your body’s response to intense exercise. In general, the severity of DOMS decreases as you get used to your workout.

Even then, the occasional bout of DOMS is perfectly normal and just means your last workout was a little more challenging than usual.

That said, if you feel sore all the time, it’s a good indicator that you are overdoing it. DOMS should come and go. If it’s constant and affects the same muscle groups all the time, you probably need to take your foot off the gas and cut back on your cardio.

Get Fitter, Faster

Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!

Please wait...
You're In! Let's Crush Your Fitness Goals Together

Expect expert-backed workouts, nutrition advice, the latest in strength sports, and a whole lot of motivation heading your way.

6. You’ve got minor injuries that never heal

Your body adapts to your workouts when you rest, and that includes healing minor injuries. A lot of exercisers ignore minor aches and pains in the hope they’ll clear up on their own, and often that’s exactly what happens.

But, if you have chronic injuries that aren’t healing, it could be because you aren’t giving your body the time it needs to repair and heal. If your aches and pains are persistent, some extra rest time may be beneficial. Remember too that a short break now could save you from a lot of time off in the future if your minor injuries turn into major ones.

7. Your sleep is disrupted

Arnold and Franco Sleeping

As mentioned before, doing too much cardio increases cortisol. Cortisol levels usually peak shortly after you wake up and gradually decrease throughout the day until they are lowest at bedtime. Doing too much cardio causes chronic elevation of cortisol, disrupting your circadian rhythm, which is what regulates your sleep/wake cycle (2).  

Read: The Importance of Sleep for Building Muscle and Losing Fat

It’s one of life’s ironies that the thing you need more of when you do a lot of cardio can be so hard to come by if you’ve been overdoing it. If, even though you are tired, find it hard to get to sleep, wake up more often than usual, or wake up still feeling tired, it could be a sign that you are doing too much cardio.

8. You keep getting sick

Exercise is good for every aspect of your health, including immunity. Studies show that regular moderate exercise strengthens your immune system leading to fewer illnesses (4).

However, those same studies also show that doing too much exercise can suppress the immune system, leading to more frequent bouts of sickness. If you feel unwell or get sick more often than usual, too much cardio could be the cause.

Important Diet Habits To Implement For A Healthy Immune System

9. Your libido has taken a dive

If your sex drive has taken a dip, chronic cardio could be the reason. Those same elevated levels of cortisol mentioned previously can have a negative impact on testosterone levels, leading to a reduction in libido. In studies, high levels of regular cardio training are associated with a decreased libido scores in men (5).

Interestingly, short, intense bouts of exercise, such as HIIT and strength training, are more likely to increase testosterone and libido (6).

10. You are hungrier than normal 

Eating For More Muscle

A lot of exercisers do cardio because they’re trying to lose weight. However, doing excessive amounts of cardio could increase your appetite, leading to overeating and negating some of the weight loss benefits of extra cardio (7). Prolonged cardio tends to increase cravings for carbs and sugar.

If you are hungry all the time or have powerful carb and sugar cravings, your cardio routine could be to blame.

So, How Much Cardio IS Too Much?

Thanks to the CDC, American Heart Association, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we know the minimum amount of cardio that most people should aim for – 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of intense activity.

However, there are no recommendations for the maximum amount of cardio you should do.

That’s because individual cardio tolerances vary from person to person and what would almost kill one person is just another day at the office for another.

For example, ultra-endurance athlete David Goggins does the following every day, 5-7 days a week:

  • Run – 10-15 miles (morning workout)
  • Bike – 25 miles (ride to work)
  • Run – 5-8 miles (lunchtime workout)
  • Bike – 25 miles (ride home)
  • Run – 3-5 miles (evening workout.)

Read also: Steady-State Cardio: Pros and Cons

Despite this HUGE training load, Goggins is lean, muscular, strong, healthy, and unsurprisingly, amazingly fit. It’s clear that he’s genetically programmed to thrive on lots of cardio. Of course, Goggins is training for things like 100-mile ultramarathons and other tests of endurance. It’s what he needs to do to excel at his chosen sport.

David Goggins
David Goggins

For someone else, doing 40 minutes of cardio a day could be too much, especially if that’s in addition to regular strength training or other types of exercise.

The point is to listen to your body and look for signs you are doing too much cardio. If you are experiencing adverse effects, it’s a safe bet that you aren’t recovering from your workouts as well as you should, and a reduction in cardio duration of frequency may be needed. Remember, too, that more is not always better and, if you are doing cardio for weight loss, it may be easier just to eat a little less instead.

Wrapping Up

If you want to live a long, healthy life, cardio is a must. It’s good for your heart, lungs, and circulatory system, lowers your risk of coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke, improves immunity, reduces your blood pressure, improves your blood lipid profile, reduces stress, and boosts your sense of wellbeing.

But, if you do too much, not only will you NOT experience these benefits, you may put your mental and physical health at risk.

Remember that exercise should be health and life-affirming, and if it’s affecting you negatively, you are probably overdoing it. Use and don’t abuse cardio, understanding that more is not necessarily better!

References:

Fitness Volt is committed to providing our readers with science-based information. We use only credible and peer-reviewed sources to support the information we share in our articles.

1– American Heart Association: American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults and Kids (source)

2– PubMed: Biochemical and Immunological Markers of Over Training (source)

3– PubMed: Exercise and Circulating Cortisol Levels: The Intensity Threshold Effect (source)

4– PubMed: The Compelling Link Between Physical Activity and The Body’s Defense System (source)

5– PubMed: Endurance Exercise Training and Male Sexual Libido (source)

6– PubMed: Strength Training as A Supplemental Therapy for Androgen Deficiency of The Aging Male (ADAM): Study Protocol for A Three-Arm Clinical Trial (source)

7– The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Effects of Exercise Intensity on Food Intake and Appetite in Women (source)


If you have any questions or require further clarification on this article, please leave a comment below. Patrick is dedicated to addressing your queries promptly.

Stay on top of the latest fitness news and updates by adding Fitness Volt to your Google News feed: Follow us on Google News You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for even more content.
Facebook Twitter Reddit Flipboard LinkedIn Pinterest
Categories: Muscle Science Training
Previous Post

Julius Maddox To Face Danial Zamani In Head-To-Head Bench Press Battle

Next Post

Brian Shaw Takes Down Poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger From His Gym After “Screw Your Freedom” Comment

Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine, is a Training Editor with 30 years of experience in Personal Training and Strength & Conditioning. A former British Royal Marine, gym owner, and fitness qualifications assessor, he is dedicated to delivering informative, reliable content. In addition, Patrick is an experienced writer who has authored three fitness and exercise books, dozens of e-books, thousands of articles, and several fitness videos. He’s not just an armchair fitness expert; Patrick practices what he preaches! He has competed at a high level in numerous sports, including rugby, triathlon, rock climbing, trampolining, powerlifting, and, most recently, stand up paddleboarding. When not lecturing, training, researching, or writing, Patrick is busy enjoying the sunny climate of Cyprus, where he has lived for the last 20-years.

Related

Burpees Every Day
Training

I Did 100 Burpees a Day for 30 Days — This Is What Happened

Dorian Yates
Bodybuilding

Dorian Yates Clears Up Misconception About His High-Intensity Training Approach

Jeff Cavaliere
Bodybuilding

Jeff Cavaliere Discusses If You Can Build Muscle Over the Age of 40 Without TRT

Things to Do Between Sets
Training

Don’t Just Sit There! 8 Useful Things to Do Between Sets in The Gym

Dr Peter Attia
News

Dr. Peter Attia Reveals If You Should Start Your Workout Routine With Cardio or Resistance Training

Total Body Revamp
Training

21-Day Bootcamp Fitness Challenge: Total Body Revamp

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest

Steve Weinberger Discusses How Hadi Choopan Can Improve to Win 2025 Mr. Olympia: “He’s As Dangerous As Any of Those Guys”

Dorian Yates Compares Nick Walker and Derek Lunsford’s Physiques, Offers Olympia Advice, and Names Samson Dauda as 2025 Favorite

Metabolic Typing Diet: Personalized Nutrition to Unlock Your Body’s Full Potential

2025 TFX Invitational CrossFit Semifinal Results — Nick Mathew and Olivia Kerstetter Win

Exercise Scientist Reveals How to Craft an Optimal Pre-Workout Meal to ‘Unlock More Gains’

Lee Priest Shows How to Hack Squat Like Tom Platz for Huge Quads

Fitness Volt

At Fitness Volt, our mission is to empower every individual on their fitness journey by providing expert advice, the latest research, and comprehensive resources. Whether you are a beginner or an elite athlete, we are here to support your goals with trustworthy and up-to-date information in strength, fitness, and nutrition. Read more.

For inquiries, please contact us at:
Email: [email protected]

About Us | Careers | Contact Form

Topics

  • Mr. Olympia
  • Bodybuilding
  • Strongman
  • WSM
  • Powerlifting
  • CrossFit
  • Workouts
  • Exercises
  • Training
  • Reviews
  • Nutrition
  • Discussion Forum

More

  • Calculators
  • Fasting
  • Mastering The Deadlift
  • Workout Plans
  • At-Home Workouts
  • Programs
  • Supplements
  • Newsletter
  • Review Process
  • Accessibility
  • Advertise
  • Syndication
  • Sitemap
  • DMCA
  • Copyrights
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Disclaimer

© Copyright 2010 - 2024 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Bodybuilding
    • Powerlifting
    • Strongman
    • Armwrestling
    • CrossFit
    • Results
    • Mr. Olympia
    • 2024 WSM
    • Arnold Classic
  • Forum
  • Workouts
    • Training
    • Workout Plans
    • Muscle Groups
    • Celebrity Workouts
    • Programs
    • Mastering The Deadlift
  • Exercise Guides
    • Arms
    • Back
    • Chest
    • Core
    • Legs and Glutes
    • Shoulders
    • Yoga
  • Nutrition
    • Diet
    • Fasting
    • Diet Plans
    • Supplements
    • Nutrition Tips
    • Reviews
    • Food Facts
  • Fitness Calculator
  • More
    • DIY
    • Strength Standards
    • Motivation
    • Videos

© Copyright 2010 - 2024 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.