How much exercise is too much exercise?

While exercising is necessary and has several benefits, too much exercise can often have disastrous consequences.

It is often said in the fitness community that regular fitness and exercise is the best gift that one can give themselves in order to lead a happier, healthier life. Exercise is not only great for the body, but also good for the mind and soul and exercise is recommended to everyone irrespective of age, gender, or even current fitness levels.

However, with active exercise, the question often arises: how much of it should you do? Even though fitness workouts are essential to lead a healthy lifestyle, striking a balance and avoiding excessive strain is important.

"Understanding the difference between maximum required exercise and overdoing it is vital for preserving our health and achieving sustainable fitness goals," says Ajay Singh, a Jaipur-based celebrity fitness coach, who has trained a number of film personalities, polo players and Olympic athletes, among others.

Here’s how he believes people should train depending on the age group they belong in:

Between 6 and 17 years old

For children and teenagers, usually moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity for an hour or more each day is recommended. They should be dedicating at least three days a week to various kinds of activities including high-intensity exercises like running or playing football or badminton for cardio-vascular fitness.

In order to get the benefits of muscular development, they should also engage in climbing or push-ups and activities like gymnastics or jumping rope will help with bone-strengthening and avoid the risk of osteoporosis. Swimming, cycling, and walking are some other fun activities that kids and adolescents can also engage in.

Between 18 and 64 years old

Adults between 18 and 64 years of age should get in at least 150 minutes of moderately intense activity and movement every single week. This could be something like brisk walking, working out in the gym, swimming, playing a sport, dance fitness or cycling.

There’s an emphasised need to strengthen the muscles and people between the age group 18 to 35 should also focus on strength training exercises at least four times a week, training every muscle group at least twice and follow a healthy diet while getting seven to eight hours of sleep each night.

They can also engage in cardio with low to high intensity to improve the health of the heart and general fitness levels.

Above 65 years old

For people in this age group at least 150 minutes of moderate activity such as brisk walking is recommended every week. People should attempt to strengthen muscles for at least two days in a week, do cardio with low to occasionally moderate intensity, and do strength training for five days every week.

Two days of complete rest is advocated and it is really important for older people to sleep well, not skip meals, and eat a healthy diet with consistent meal times. At this age, they should also focus on meditation and breathing exercises as well as activities that improve balance, mobility and coordination.

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