Episode 30Jan 19, 2026· 7:50
Am I Working Out Too Much? The Truth About 8-15 Hours Weekly (Science-Backed)
About this episode
Ashley tackles the question everyone keeps asking: is 8-15 hours of weekly exercise actually too much? After nearly two decades of sedentary living left her exhausted and depressed, she's now experiencing more energy than she's had in years. Get the official exercise recommendations (spoiler: she's doing way more), research on when exercise becomes excessive, and her honest take on why she's riding this wave despite…
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Full transcript
00:06
What's up you guys? Famous Ashley Grant here.
00:08
Welcome to More Movement Please, the podcast
00:10
where I hope to inspire you to move your body
00:11
more. Today I want to talk about how much is
00:14
too much. So this has kind of been a question
00:18
that I've been asked a lot lately is how much
00:21
working out is too much because people have been
00:23
seeing that I've been posting quite a few exercises
00:26
throughout the week and I've been asked a few
00:30
times by a few different people, are you working
00:32
out too much? And so I kind of wanted to just
00:35
investigate and find out, I don't know, I guess
00:38
what the science is saying. And so I went to
00:40
a bunch of different websites and the big thing
00:43
that I kept finding is that adults need a minimum
00:45
of two and a half hours or 150 minutes per week
00:48
of moderate intensity aerobic activity. And that
00:52
breaks down to about 30 minutes a day, five days
00:55
a week. Alternatively, you can do 75 minutes
00:58
of vigorous intensity activity like running instead
01:01
of brisk walking. And on top of that, everything
01:04
that I was reading basically shows that you also
01:07
need muscle strengthening activities two or more
01:10
days a week. And they need to work all of your
01:13
major muscle groups. And these sessions aren't
01:15
supposed to count towards your 150 minutes of
01:18
aerobic activity. So I've been working out a
01:22
lot more than that. I've been working out as
01:25
little as like eight hours a week and as much
01:30
as like 15 hours a week. So, yeah, kind of kind
01:35
of a lot more than that 30 minutes a day. But
01:38
is that bad for me? So I kept researching and
01:43
research shows that doubling up to 300 minutes
01:47
per week, which is about five hours of moderate
01:48
intensity activity, provides additional health
01:51
benefits. And this is where you're supposed to
01:53
start seeing like substantial improvements in
01:55
your cardiovascular health, your weight management
01:57
and disease prevention. So I'm even doing more
02:01
than the five hours. of exercise per week. So
02:04
is that bad? And the big thing that I kept finding
02:07
is that there's no universal too much, as long
02:10
as you're making sure that you're getting plenty
02:12
of nutrients and recovery time and all that jazz.
02:15
So as far as I can feel, yeah, I'm not going
02:20
to deny that I sometimes have a little bit of
02:22
fatigue and that I get a little bit tired. And
02:24
so I'll use smaller weights and things like that.
02:27
But There's nothing that I have found that says
02:31
I'm working out too much. There's no hard science.
02:35
I mean, athletes work out 10 to 20 hours a week
02:38
and they're fine. So I guess it does come to
02:42
a point where you're like, OK, well, if I do
02:43
need to take a break, then I'll take a break.
02:45
But as long as I'm not hurting myself, as long
02:49
as I'm not feeling too fatigued. is there anything
02:53
wrong with the fact that I'm working out as much
02:55
as I am? I personally don't think so. It wouldn't
02:58
surprise me if I continue getting DMs and questions
03:00
about, am I working out too much? Maybe I am.
03:03
I'm not really sure. But right now in my current
03:07
season of life, I am loving how much I'm working
03:10
out. Yes, I'm hurting sometimes. Yes, I am feeling
03:13
the pain sometimes. But after so many years of
03:17
a sedentary lifestyle and so many years of not
03:20
moving my body, I'm going to just ride this wave
03:23
as long as I can stand it. And yes, there may
03:26
come a point that I feel like I need to lower
03:28
the amount of exercises that I'm doing in a week.
03:31
There may come a point where I feel like I am
03:33
moving too much. But right now, like I said,
03:36
in this season of life, I'm just going to keep
03:38
riding this wave and enjoying, you know, as many
03:41
exercises as I can get in. And again, I sat still
03:47
for so long. I mean, we're talking. nearly two
03:50
decades where I was barely active, where I was
03:52
packing on the weight and not doing anything
03:54
about it. And when you do that and then you have
03:59
your light bulb moment where you're like, all
04:01
right, it's time to make a change. Yeah, I did
04:04
go a little bit extreme. I understand that. But
04:06
for me, it just feels like it's the right thing
04:10
to do right now. And I want to keep enjoying
04:13
it. Yes, I'm going to do everything I can to
04:15
make sure that I don't get injured. I'm going
04:16
to do everything I can to make sure that I'm
04:18
recovering properly and taking care of myself.
04:21
But I would rather do what I'm doing right now
04:25
and continue doing it the way that I am because
04:29
it's so much better than the alternative. I mean,
04:32
I was just having this conversation yesterday
04:34
that in the past six months, I have had more
04:37
energy than I have. in at least the last six
04:40
years. In the last six months, I have felt stronger
04:43
and I have felt more zeal, I guess you'd say,
04:48
for life, more zest for life, more enjoyment
04:51
out of life. And that is so much better than
04:55
what it was before. I mean, we're talking, I
04:58
could not get through an entire day without taking
05:00
a nap. I could not get through, hell, half a
05:03
day without feeling like, oh my goodness, I can't
05:05
wait till bedtime. I was struggling with... focusing
05:08
on my work. I was struggling with basically any
05:13
kind of movement. And when you go from that to
05:16
being able to do the things that I am doing right
05:18
now, I will take that every day of the week and
05:21
twice on Sundays because that is so much better
05:24
than what I was experiencing before. And I think
05:27
that's why I'm so passionate about sharing this
05:29
stuff with you guys and sharing this podcast
05:32
because I want everybody to know just how good
05:36
this is. I want everybody to feel just how amazing
05:40
it is. And it is so worth it. I had no idea how
05:48
good it could get. And I want more of that. I
05:52
want more people to experience just how amazing
05:56
this feels. I just highly recommend it to anybody
06:00
who is considering it. If you're feeling sluggish,
06:02
if you're feeling down, if you're feeling hell,
06:04
if you're feeling depressed, move your body,
06:07
because that's another thing, right? I was I
06:09
was getting pretty damn depressed and I feel
06:13
so much better. I'm not going to sit here and
06:16
tell you that over the last six months, I've
06:19
completely cured my life. I haven't. There's
06:21
still some stuff I'm working through. There's
06:23
still a lot of stuff I'm working through, but
06:25
that's. That's all part of the human experience,
06:28
isn't it? But isn't it better to do it from a
06:30
place of I'm getting stronger and I'm taking
06:32
better care of myself than it is to try to sludge
06:35
through all the crap that life throws at you
06:38
without taking care of yourself? I mean, there
06:41
is definitely a reason why they say put your
06:43
oxygen mask on first. You have to take care of
06:46
yourself or you can't take care of anybody else.
06:48
You have to take care of yourself or you can't
06:51
even take care of yourself. It just is the way
06:54
it is. No one's coming to save us. No one's going
06:57
to take care of everything and make it all better.
06:58
We have to take care of ourselves. And so, yes,
07:03
I may be overdoing it. But until I actually feel
07:06
like I'm overdoing it, I'm going to keep going
07:08
and I'm going to keep having as much fun as I
07:10
can. I'm going to keep moving as much as I can.
07:12
And I want the same for you. I want you to move
07:14
your body, too. So onwards and upwards, my friends.
07:17
Have you worked out today?
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