How Much Is Too Much in The Gym

When it comes to making progress in the gym, it can be hard to know how much is too much, and how much is not enough.

Some people argue that it’s easy to overdo things in the gym. That doing more isn’t always better.

Advising against over-exercising and over-working and informing us of the harms this can do for our bodies.

Whereas others insist that it’s really not possible to overdo things in the gym.

Arguing that the more time you spend in the gym, the more results you’ll see. To a reasonable extent of course.

Hearing all of this conflicting information leaves most of us wondering who’s right, and confused as to who’s advice we should follow.

In this post, I want to talk specifically about how much is too much in a single gym session.

The goal is to hopefully answer some of your questions as to how much you should be doing in the gym.

Things like how many exercises, how many sets of each exercise, and how much time you spend in the gym. These are questions that aren’t so easy to answer with one single answer.

Instead, it relies mostly on you knowing your own body and how you should be performing in the gym.

In This Post You’ll Find:

Is it really possible to do too much in the gym?

No matter who’s side you’re on in this case, both sides are actually right, in different ways.

It is entirely possible to overdo things in the gym. Of course our bodies have some type of limit somewhere.

And working passed this limit has all sorts of undesirable or even harmful side effects.

But at the same time, the more you do in the gym, the more results you’ll see.

As with anything in life, the more you put in, the more you get out.

The same applies to your workouts and your workout routine.

The harder you push yourself in the gym, the more sets, reps, and exercises you do, the more muscle growth you’ll stimulate.

So yes, at some point there is a limit as to how much you should do in the gym.

But at the same time, that limit could be far, far away from how hard you’re actually willing and able to push yourself.

Although we might not be hitting out bodies actual limit, we can still be training to a point where our workouts start becoming counterproductive.

Most of the Time, Our Bodies Protect Us From Training Too Hard

The reason it’s so difficult to train to our actual limits in the gym is because our body protects us from doing so.

Think about it, our bodies are naturally designed to keep us safe.

We subconsciously and consciously avoid danger and discomfort. As well as have natural instincts and responses to keep ourselves out of harms way.

As a result, our bodies won’t let us push ourselves nearly close enough to our true limits in the gym.

Which is a good thing, since our limit is a limit for a reason.

The point I’m really trying to get across here is that you don’t necessarily need to be worried about training too hard in the gym.

As long as you listen to your body, it will give you cues if you get to the point of doing too much.

On top of that, for most of us training in the gym, we’ll never actually come close to hitting this limit that our bodies have set for ourselves.

Our Bodies Especially Protect Us While We’re Lifting Weights

Like I mentioned earlier, our body gives us cues when it feels like we’re doing too much.

Especially when we’re lifting weights, our body has ways of stopping us from pushing too hard.

That’s one of the great things about our bodies. Whether it be mentally or physically, our bodies let us know when it’s time to stop.

Unfortunately though, sometimes, our bodies overdue it with these warnings. Getting us to stop a set or an exercise too soon, only because it’s uncomfortable.

If you’ve read any of my other posts, then chances are you’ve seen me say the biggest challenges to overcome when training to failure are the mental blocks.

Well, these mental blocks are really one way our body tries to keep us safe.

When a set starts to burn too much, our mind starts yelling at us to stop and rest.

Part of learning to lift weights is learning how to be comfortable in this discomfort, and not always listen to your mind telling you to stop when things become uncomfortable.

That’s why the best way to increase the intensity of your workouts is by adopting a new mindset where you’re okay with being uncomfortable.

Allowing you to push yourself to new, safe levels in the gym.

So although we might not be hitting out bodies actual limit, we can still be training to a point where our workouts start becoming counterproductive.

How Much You Should Actually be Doing In The Gym (It Varies!)

If you’re looking for a straight up answer here, then to be completely truthful, there isn’t one.

Because the real truth is, how much you should be doing in the gym varies for everyone.

From person to person, everyone’s abilities will be different and therefore, how much each person should be doing will be different.

I’ve mentioned on here before that everyone’s body reacts differently to exercise.

What works for you might not work for me, and what works for me might not work for someone else.

That’s why everyone’s weightlifting routine will look a little different.

A different number of sets, reps, weight, and exercises will likely do different things for your body than it will for mine.

So, just like we can’t all lift the same way and see the same results, we can’t all do the same amount in the gym and get the same results.

Someone might be able to spend hours in the gym each day and see amazing results. Whereas someone else might try spending hours in the gym each day and end up burned out, exhausted, and fatigued.

It all depends on your individual strength, endurance, and recovery levels. Which really all boils down to your own, individual genetics.

How to Determine if You’re Doing Too Much During Your Workouts

Although you might not have hit your bodies true limit, I really believe that there’s a time when you can be doing too much in the gym.

I wrote a post before on Why Doing More in The Gym Isn’t Always Better [And What to Do Instead]. The same concepts in that post apply here.

What I really want to focus on is how to know you’re doing too much in the gym.

How you can tell when you’re training past the point of maximum effectiveness in your workout.

You Aren’t Prioritizing The Quality of Your Workouts, Over The Quantity

Analyzing the quality of your workouts is one of the best ways to determine if you’re doing too much in the gym.

What you want to do is prioritize the quality of what you do in the gym over the amount of what you do in the gym.

Meaning you want to do everything better, at the highest quality you possibly can, over doing more, at low quality.

A lot of times, as our workout goes on, the more exhausted we become, and the more the quality of our workout decreases.

Which is entirely normal. The more tired we get, the less reps we can do, the less we can lift, and the less ideal each exercise looks.

However, for the majority of your workout, every set, rep, and exercise you do, should be close to the highest quality you can perform.

Once you start sacrificing the quality of any of these things in order to complete your workout, that’s how you know you’re doing too much in the gym.

If more than half your workout you feel the quality is suffering, then chances are you’re over working yourself.

At this point, when you start doing too many low quality exercises, your workout starts to suffer. You aren’t necessarily losing any gains, but you aren’t being very effective at stimulating more.

As a result, you want to limit the number of low quality exercises you do during your workout.

So if you feel you’ve gotten to the point in your workout where you’ve exhausted your muscles so much you can no longer complete high quality reps, that’s a great indicator you should be close to ending your workout.

The Best Tips to Keep Your Workouts The Highest Quality

Below are some of the biggest tips to focus on implementing into your workouts to keep them the highest quality they can be.

1. Keep Your Reps Slow and Increase Your Time Under Tension

Slow and controlled reps are one of the best ways to keep every set, rep, and exercise the best quality.

As, a result, increasing your time under tension is a must for a high quality workout.

2. Maintain Perfect Form and Make Every Rep Look The Same

Making every rep look the same means you aren’t sacrificing your form as the exercise goes on.

You should aim for your form during your eighth rep of your third set to look the same as that during your first rep of your first set.

3. Lift Heavy

Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and lift heavy in the gym. However, lifting a weight that’s too heavy for you will cause you to compromise your form and actually decrease the quality of your workout.

As a result, it’s important to learn how heavy you should lift to effectively build muscle.

4. Focus On a Mind To Muscle Connection

One of the best indicators for me that I’ve exhausted a certain muscle groups is if I no longer feel a mind to muscle connection there.

What this means is my muscle is so tired, that it’s not really engaging much in the exercises anymore.

At this point, it doesn’t make much sense to continue training this muscle anymore, since it’s already exhausted.

As soon as you start feeling too exhausted to implement most of these strategies into each exercise, that’s a good sign that you should probably get close to ending your workout.

Takeaways

One of the biggest struggled among weightlifters is knowing just how much is just right in the gym.

One day you might feel like you’re doing too much and the next you feel like you’re not doing enough.

But the truth is, there’s really no straight up answer to exactly how much you should be doing in a single training session.

It depends a lot on you knowing yourself and you’re own body, and what you’re own best performance looks like.

The best indicator that you’re doing too much in the gym is if you start sacrificing the quality of your workouts in order to keep up with the amount you’re trying to do.

At this point, you’re workout might start becoming counterproductive. More effectively exhausting you and your body than stimulating significant muscle growth.

More of My Posts On Women’s Fitness and Weightlifting:

Here’s Why You Need to Start Tracking Your Workouts [And How to Do It]

How to Do Glute Cable Kickbacks in The Gym

7 Essential Exercises for Women’s Muscle Growth