How Much Exercise Is Too Much?

How much should you exercise per day and per week? It may be prudent to limit chronic, vigorous exercise to no more than an hour a day and no more than five hours a week, taking at least one or two days off. For runners, the recommended upper limit for longevity benefits is 30 miles a week.

This is the fourth and final video in this series. If you missed the first three, see How Many Steps Should We Get Every Day? ( ), Does Exercise Extend Your Lifespan or Just Your Healthspan? ( ), and How Much Exercise Is Too Much? ( ).

Check out these videos on athletic recovery:
• Ground Ginger to Reduce Muscle Pain ( )
• Watermelon for Sore Muscle Relief ( )
• Reducing Muscle Fatigue with Citrus ( )
• Reducing Muscle Soreness with Berries ( )

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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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Leroy Johnson
 

  • @ClovettCC says:

    First

  • @catAfaable says:

    Ok but what dose would be optimal?

    • @CB-kt7qd says:

      listen to your body, it will tell you

    • @MtgCoach says:

      ​@CB-kt7qd From the good Dr’s previous video and this one, 20 – 30 minutes 3 times a week? But that may be for walking, not jogging.

    • @RoughNeckDelta says:

      Studies can only give you insights into the population as a whole and when looking at humans, it usually maps out as a bell curve. Where you fall on that bell curve you have to find out for yourself.

    • @RoughNeckDelta says:

      @@MtgCoach Wasn’t there one video where he talks about a study that showed there was no upper limit for benefit from exercise or something like that.

  • @leonardodavinci7425 says:

    Useless video, nothing about shorter more intense workouts like a HIIT or interval training etc?

    • @hadd5106 says:

      And nothing about either the current trendy research claiming that the higher the VO2 max, the less risk of early mortality or the benefits of training for VO2 Max by using 4 X 4 minutes at 90-95% max heart rate with 3 minutes of recovery.

    • @RoughNeckDelta says:

      Because that’s how science works. NF is reporting on a study and studies usually try to allow for one variable. This study was just on different jogging intensities.
      There are other channels if you’re looking for bro science.

    • @WilliamThePayne says:

      @@leonardodavinci7425 so because it doesn’t cater to your specific niché desires, the entire video is somehow useless?

  • @lacha608 says:

    Interesting.

  • @Alexander-ok7fm says:

    Thank you!

  • @larrysellers7891 says:

    They ran themselves into the ground. Time was they were referred to as ‘fitness fanatics’. Now they are presented as the norm and something we should all emulate. Take it easy out there. Your body will thank you for it.

  • @Ron-kn6ur says:

    I have been hiking for 49 years and some of my day hikes are 8 hours duration. I only need two days rest before I head out again. I am 71 yrs old with no chronic conditions. This study does not support the increase in mortality with exercise duration “Long-Term Leisure-Time Physical Activity Intensity and All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Prospective Cohort of US Adults” Lower mortality was seen at vigorous physical activity of 150 to 300 min/week or moderate physical activity of 300 to 600 min per wk but no increase in mortality above those times.

    • @aureliaglenn2220 says:

      Yes, but you’re hiking, not jogging or running, big difference in injury levels. Plus, you allow yourself sufficient rest on a long hike, which also makes a tremendous positive difference for your health.

    • @PhilippeOrlando says:

      Hiking is not like running, not mechanically, as far as impact or cardio requirement.

  • @pavolhorvath7850 says:

    I would guess, that shorter life in extreme sportsmen has to do something with too much calories consumed to support the extreme calorie demand. If you run marathons or ultras, you eat a lot of concentrated calories in various junk sources, just to fulfil your energy needs.

  • @yukonnoka says:

    Exercise is not the right way to lose weight. I made myself very sick attempting to lose weight by way of running long distances. Just remember this… we are all African apes. No ape that I have ever seen goes out and runs for hours on end until they are exhausted and sick. Most apes and monkeys would probably find such behavior ridiculous and completely nonsensical. They get all the activity they need throughout the day in smaller doses, allowing their hearts and brains to take a rest. Also keep in mind that extreme exercise is big business just like junk food. Those who advocate it probably are doing so for financial profit.

  • @greensmoothieparty says:

    I believe u-shaped curves representing health outcomes from an overwhelmingly suboptimal dietary lifestyle cohort is not very helpful to those of us who are more diligently striving to achieve nutritional excellence. Go team nutritarian!

  • @JoshBender1 says:

    Very interesting! It makes sense in light of evolution. Running short distances is a survival advantage. Running long distances not so much.

  • @lorah3005 says:

    👍 Whole food plant based for the environment and health; vegan for the victims!
    *Ask your city government to sign the Plant Based Treaty!* 🖖

    • @pmw3839 says:

      Nothing should be made compulsory. There will always be a backlash. Just keep educating people and producing good evidence to support your stance.

  • @GregBaggins says:

    WHAT THE HECK ARE MET-MINUTES??? The dose / response plot presented at 1.2 minutes into this video confused me. I thought that the independent variable was minutes per week. I looked up met-minutes and now I understand, but it might be good to mention somewhere that met-minutes are different from simple minutes. P.S. Thanks for all of your great work. Previous to reading HOW NOT TO AGE, I hadn’t learned anything about health since Roy Walford passed away. (May he rest in peace)

  • @hoangquocta5544 says:

    Do different type of food affect one person’s learning capability? Like how fast their brain making new connections or comparision of a child/person learning capacity, how fast they learn or how deep they can understand. Or lifestyles like smoking harming cognitive function, or exersise increase learning speed, etc. I know about BDNF but have Dr.Greger ever done this topic before? Although i know the anwser is whole plant based diet and other healthy lifestyle but do specific food or nuttition can boost our learning capabilities?

  • @BruceDouglass says:

    From the graph of the meta-analysis (shown at 1:23 in the video), the minimum of Mortality occurs at about 2000 MET-minutes/week. At 6 miles an hour (generally considered a jogging pace), that translates to 20 miles/week. This would be 6.7 miles, 3x per week, which at that pace would take 67 minutes for each run. Interesting.

  • @HuplesCat says:

    Ah the war on runners continues! For 14 years I ran an average of 76km per week. I then had psychotherapy for an unrelated reason and stopped running entirely. I use rowing and hiking now. For hikes going 4 to 5 hours every couple of weeks is critical to feeling good. The meta analysis is ignoring the mental in favour of the physical which is common these days!
    Exercise is also par of many jobs and not only for distraction!

  • @StephenMarkTurner says:

    Some people exercise to “burn off” a poor diet, or eat too much refined carbohydrate or steak and eggs or whatever to support their programs. Still, probably good to heed this information.

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