5 Ways You're Working Out Too Much

Fifty miles of running, 20 miles of swimming and hundreds of repetitions of calisthenics in a week, 600-pound deadlifts, 400-pound bench presses, 400-pound squats and 20-mile rucks with 60- to 80-pound backpacks may sound like “too much” to do for anyone. But for the competitive marathon runner, the collegiate swimmer, a Spec Ops student, a powerlifter or an Army Ranger or Marine respectively, it is part of a normal training cycle.

When people ask whether they are training too much, it depends on several factors -- as discussed in the It Depends article. But the thing to remember is that a beginner’s workout is an advanced-level athlete’s warmup, so the question of “too much” is also primarily relative to your abilities at the time.

What is too much?

In the world of Special Ops preparation training, there is a delicate balance between pushing yourself and hurting yourself. That balance is determined by how well you recover from previous workouts, eat to fuel your body and take care of aches and pains when they first start to show themselves. I would say 90% of the time, my job is not to make gut-check workouts but to pull back on student’s creations to make workouts harder. 

Too many times, those seeking jobs in the special ops community undertake challenging workouts to build mental toughness, but there is a fine line between mental toughness and stupid. There should be gut-check workouts but within reason, keeping in mind your current abilities.

Here are some common ways people do too much:

Running too much: It is no secret that many of the hardest spec ops programs are tough because of the high mileage of running (and/or rucking) that is involved to graduate. This means having a solid foundation of running under your belt before attending selection programs like SFAS, Ranger, BUD/S, PJ/CCT, RECON, MARSOC and others.

Building up to 30-40 miles per week is a logical solution for many; however, adding in events like marathons and ultra-marathons can lead to serious injuries that can slow you down for months. If you are on the bigger side (200+ pounds), you may want to lean toward the lower end of the mileage spectrum (<30 miles) during your training and rely on faster, shorter runs equivalent to your typical tests (four- to six-mile timed runs) versus longer, slower distance.

Sprinting too much: There are tactical fitness tests that require sprinting short distances as 40 meters, 300 meters, 400 meters and 600-yard shuttle runs. These are done fast and hard, with recovery time between sets as well as between days.  Like lifting using the same muscle groups, sprint every other day at full speed at the most. Be warmed up well and stretch after training well; tight hamstrings are typically the first to get pulled during training and testing events.

PTing too much: For some reason, many people think they can perform high-repetition calisthenics workouts every day. They might get away with this for a month (maybe six weeks), but you will start to see overuse injuries and muscle imbalances. If you are progressing in your calisthenics workouts and you are able to do 100-150 pull-ups, 300 push-ups, dips and abs with relative ease, that is great.

But give yourself a day before working out that muscle group again. If you must lift and PT the same day, either mix the lifts with calisthenics or do calisthenics in the morning and weights in the evening for your second workout of the day. That is better than not allowing the same muscle groups to recover properly.

Lifting too much: When lifting, you need time to recover that muscle group before doing it again. Also consider the amount of weight you are lifting. There is a time to do one-rep max effort lifts (1RM) to build strength (strength cycles). However, during a running cycle when your goal is to get faster at timed runs to enter training or preparing for longer runs of selection, it is not the time for 1RM lifting of such exercises like deadlifts and squats. 

Instead, your running “leg days” can be body weight or dumbbells in hands, doing farmer walks up bleachers/stairs/hills; squats; and lunges between interval runs. Those exercises are a good way to increase muscle stamina and work your heart and lungs for maintaining running pace to be competitive in PT tests. 

Swimming too much: Typically, people great at swimming will prefer to get their cardio activity in the pool; however, the running progression needs to be steady for swimmers.  Overuse injuries tend to occur quickly for the swimming athlete who does not run. Training for sprint triathlons is a good way to train and progress in running miles each week. The cross-training of swim, bike, run can be therapeutic to the zero-gravity athlete. 

If you are not good at swimming, treading and other pool skills, though, you may be spending too much energy muscling through these events when some technique training may be all you need. Get some coaching. Watch YouTube videos on swimming skills and techniques and practice for better form versus hours in the pool each day.

Take a day off. Rest/work on mobility.

Your body will have a natural way of telling you when you have done too much. Do not be scared to take a day off and rest, eat and sleep well, or get to the gym and pool and do a mobility day. Work on pool skills like knot tying, treading, bobbing and floating. 

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you’re looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

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