The exact amount of exercise you should be doing each week depends on numerous factors, including your age, current level of fitness, and overall health status. While doing some physical exercise is always better than doing none, it's easy to overdo it, especially during the early days. Absolute beginners are always advised to start slowly, gradually building up over time to avoid exhaustion and injury. While people often feel pressured to do big sessions, coming up with a sustainable exercise routine is about developing good habits you can stick to rather than setting unrealistic goals.

According to Jessica Spendlove, accredited sports dietitian and nutrition consultant, "The Australian guidelines recommend we accumulate 150 to 300 minutes (2.5 to 5 hours) of moderate intensity physical activity, or 75 to 150 minutes (1.25 to 2.5 hours) of vigorous intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both moderate and vigorous activities, each week... They also recommend doing muscle strengthening activities on at least two days per week." This is similar to other national guidelines, with most experts recommending regular 30-60 minute workouts with at least two rest days each week. 

While most people suffer from too little exercise, working out too frequently or too intensely can also be a problem. It's important to realise that exercise frequency should be diminished as intensity increases, meaning that each exercise session should put an equal amount of stress on your body. While a weak beginner may be able to perform high intensity exercise three times a week without putting too much stress on their system, this level of training can be dangerous as your strength and endurance improves. Paradoxically, it often makes sense to slow down as you get fitter, reducing the frequency or intensity of your sessions to give your body extra time to recover.

Common signs of too much exercise include feelings of exhaustion, getting sick easily, mood swings, insomnia, regular injuries, and feelings of frustration or anger. Over-exercise can even lead to an elevated heart rate, increasing the risk of heart disease and other serious medical conditions. According to Kathryn Berlacher, MD, a cardiologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, "Overexercising often contributes to pain, dehydration, or electrolyte imbalances, all of which can lead to an increase in heart rate... If yours is higher than normal for an extended period (resting heart rates vary; the typical range is 60 to 100 beats per minute), you may need to dial things back. Giving yourself time to hydrate, replenish, recover, and repair lowers the demands on the heart."

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