How To Tell If You’re Working Out Too Hard, Not Hard Enough or Just Right

Note, the following information is for cardio sessions, not resistance training.

One of the most common questions I get is “am I working out too hard?” or the opposite “am I working out hard enough?” Usually, people will tell me how fast they run, how long they swim or what resistance level they turn the elliptical machine up to and ask me if that’s the right difficulty level for them.  Unfortunately, that’s just not enough information for me to answer that question.

Heart Rate

Ideally, cardio exercise should keep your heart rate somewhere between 60% and 80% of max.   Anything less and you’re not really working out very hard.  Anything more and you’re placing too much strain on your body.

What’s My Max Heart Rate?

A rough estimate of your max heart rate is 220 minus your age.  So for me, being 34, my max heart rate is 186.  That means that if I want to keep my workout between 60 and 80%, I should keep it somewhere between 111 and 148.

But How The Heck Do I Measure That While Exercising?

Yah, that’s the problem.  It’s a little hard to measure heart rate while exercising.  You either need to stop and measure it yourself or you need to hold on to some handle or device that will measure heart rate for you.  Both of these options interrupt your workout and can actually get a bit dangerous.  In fact, the only time I ever fell off a treadmill is because I was trying to measure my heart rate while running.  Seems a bit funny now (ok, it seems a lot funny now) but it was quite painful back then.

So What’s The Alternative

Here’s a slightly less scientific but more practical approach.  Try saying the following sentence while exercising.  “Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.”

• Were you able to say that without any problems at all and with a normal sounding voice?  If so, you’re probably not working hard enough.
• Did you have issues saying that sentence and needed to gasp for breath between every word?  If so, you’re probably working too hard.
• Could you say the sentence but had to pause midway for a quick breath?  If so, you’re probably working at the right level.

In general, you should be able to talk while exercising but not hold a normal conversation.  If you can hold a normal conversation then you’re not working out hard enough.  If you’re completely unable to talk or need to breath between every word and you’re straining for every breath, you’re working out too hard.

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You shouldn’t feel like you’re about to die when you work out.  However, you also shouldn’t feel like you’re taking a leisurely stroll.  Aim for somewhere in between.