Does anyone exercise twice a day?

[GymEnthusiast]

i exercise twice a day 7 days a week. I swim 2k or do a Pilates session in the morning. I then do a cardio session in the evening after work. I keep being told this is too much (mostly by people who never exercise) , but I spend the rest of my time sleeping or sitting behind a desk at work. I don’t have a specific goal, I only want to keep fit, healthy and slim.
Anyone else do twice a day sessions? Please share your routines with me.

In a younger, fitter, time I'd swim 5 days a week before work, go in the gym for an hour each weekend morning, gym Mon, Wed & Fri evenings and play tennis Tues, Thurs and Sat afternoon, and usually Sunday too. God knows how I fitted it all in! It did help enormously that I passed the gym/tennis club on the way to & from work

I lift heavy in the gym 3 times a week, I'm trying to fit cardio in but I have 2 full days off a week. I walk 10-12k a day. I'm happy with how much I do. I was doing a lot of cardio as a way of managing my raging hormones but since I started to lift heavy and build muscle that has chilled down.

I know lots of fitness instructors who do for work. My mum is 60 and in phenomenal health

I'm sure lots of exercise helps my mental health.
I'd rather go for a walk for an hour than watch TV for an hour.

For a lot of people, if they stopped watching tv, then they would find a lot of time to do all sorts of nice other things. Does anyone get accused of being obsessive if they watch tv more than once a day, I wonder.

Would say more, but I'm off for a walk. With my teenager who talks to me...

It’s competitive for the OP to even ask. She doesn’t actually want to know. It’s like the “people say I don’t eat enough” threads where the OP lists the handful of almonds and small undressed salad they consume daily. It’s like online body checking.

@Fancylike , I am not in competition with anyone. I am sure people who only exercise a few times a week can have a much more efficient exercise programme than me. I don’t lift weights because I find it boring for example. I probably should. I posted to hear from other posters who also exercise as much as I do (for various reasons) and because I find it strange how so many people seem to get irritated by us.

@TinTinCheeseHat that does sound like a lot. One option would be to phase out the standalone HIIT sessions and replace with high intensity running intervals (start gradually if this is new to you!) to give you back the intensity. A good rule of thumb is 80% easy, 20% hard and avoid the grey zone in between Strength training, particularly run specific work, can be really helpful for recovery, injury prevention and improving performance so I would keep that going if you can but tail off as your training intensity peaks.

I think there's a lot of confusion between what some people call 'exercise' and other people would call 'moving'. If the rest of your day is quite sedentary then definitely don't cut down.

A pilates class, an hour of steady walking, cycling or swimming (especially if you are already comfortably doing that distance) aren't really things that you need to take a 'rest' from. If you were doing full on swim training, working to your max for 2k that would be quite different.

'Rest' also doesn't mean you have to do nothing, only give any muscles you worked to the point of fatigue a day or two to recover. So if your evening class is a spin class one day and boxercise the next you can still 'rest' a muscle group but keep moving. When I'm training for a run for example I might swim on my 'rest' day or go for a long walk.

I exercise between 2-4 times a day.

Gym 3 times a week minimum
Pilates twice a week
I swim where I get the chance (1-2 times a week)
Bootcamp twice a week

But 2 of those times (and I don't know if they really count because with them it seems like I over exercise but I feel like based on the above I go to the gym a normal amount) are 40 minute walks with the dog. Rain or Shine, no matter how busy we are she'll get walked twice a day.

Ah. If so many people are annoyed by you, maybe it’s not annoying that you exercise twice daily but more how you talk about it and how often? It’s a bit like how some vegans are very annoying because their diet is their entire personality.

I talk about lifting a lot. A big lot. I doubt many people get through a conversation with me without me mentioning it. I've never noticed people annoyed by it though. They seem interested, but maybe I'm just reading it wrong. I'm never annoyed when people tell me about their achievements either. Personally if people were getting annoyed I'd probably avoid them as they'd not seem like the nicest people to be around. I know it's not quite what you asked but you keep coming back to this issue of annoyance, which to me is a 'people around you' problem rather than a 'how much you exercise' problem. Share it with people who support you, pay no attention to people who don't.

@UnaOfStormhold @SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc thank you both for advice. It has put it all in perspective for me. I do need to knock some of it on the head and focus. I think I have just got carried away by enjoying exercise again!
I love weight training so will definitely build some in, and cut back the Hiit to focus on the running. I'm not a serious, or fast runner, but do want to complete London for personal reasons really after a difficult time. Once that is out the way, I guess I can then build in more strength training.

Depends what the exercise is and absolutely not 7 days a week as recovery is a vital part of the fitness process.

Daily core work/ active recovery = absolutely. So yoga, walking, swimming fine to do every day. Would always aim for 10k steps too.

Daily Strength and Cardio is now considered counterproductive as it's recovery that makes you stronger, progressive overload and all that.

I'd also deliberately set up to do my "main" sport tired from other training sometimes to simulate a long competition!

It matter not a bit what anyone else's opinion is
Seek help if you think you have an addiction or it's an unhealthy obsession with body image but only you can seek help if you think it's a problem

I'd personally not want my partner doing this but again , it's your body , your life

I agree with the main points you've made @AltitudeCheck

For me walking would be a very gentle form of moving on a rest day. Yoga doesn't really register as exercise for me either and if I do yoga it will be before bed to relax.

Some days I do a couple of classes like Pilates ,yoga or Zumba.Other days the only exercise I get is walking.
Today I did back to back Pilates and aerobic dance classes in the morning then played tennis in the afternoon.

@AltitudeCheck , very much agree with your post. Swimming and pilates I consider quite gentle exercise. I think if I was lifting heavy weights or going flat out on the HIT circuit, I would need more recovery days.

@Fancylike , I have already explained that I am not a gym bore to people not interested in fitness. You seem quite hostile.

I do something most days and often something more than once. If I need a total rest, or go gentle, I do.

I'll count 15 mins yoga as a session, but typically the strain on my body from that is less than the effort it takes half the population to walk downstairs, make a cup of tea and carry it back up again. I might run and swim on the same day, but it'll be an easy run plus easy swim. I have regular bursts of functional walking that I don't count. There are key sessions in a week that I prioritise and build the week around. Doing a lot of outdoor sports, can me opportunistic around weather conditions which can bunch sessions up to fit them in.

I do a lot, because I enjoy it.
If my plans don't work out, I brush it off and move on. I fuel my body well. I enjoy what my body does for me, not punishing it. It's not necessarily an addiction, obsession or problem to do a lot if you balance it out. Many people have a very low bar on what "a lot" or even a reasonablr amount of exercise is, and some people, particularly those who do nothing can be very critical or give out outdated advice such as "you'll ruin your knees"

@SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc I had a bit of a chuckle at your last post to me. I can tell you the RPE of every exercise i have carried out week in week out for the last 52 weeks. Its how i train :-) I dont think we are a million miles away from each other in our thoughts.

what is RPE ?

Twice a day every day sounds abnormal to me I'm afraid 😳

I do on my days off work. Run am. Weights at the gym PM or Pilates.

Occasionally I'll run AM and PM.

The other 4 days I just run and fit it around my shifts.

I walk the dogs every day too.

What was the Inov-8 advert?

“obsessed is just what lazy people call dedicated”

" Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated "

I probably would if I had the time. As you said, it’s about priorities. To be honest, my priority after work would be family. I probably do find it a bit excessive that you delay going home every single work day to do a second exercise session. Before anyone jumps on me, I’d say the same about a male making the same choice. My guess is there is a level of dependency and obsessiveness. I’d be curious about your mental health and coping if you were told you could only exercise five times per week for a month.