Ask The Doctor

Dear Ask The Doctor: There's general guidelines for exercise that suggest around 8-15 reps of 8-10 exercises, 2-3 times per week. This is supposed to maintain things like muscle mass and bone density. Can a person ever get too much exercise? Will body building beyond those guidelines ever subject a person to repetitive stress injuries or increase the risk of other health issues down the road?

Dear John: Yes, that is absolutely true, but every person is different and most likely the exercise routine should be customized for each case in particular. There is a very well described entity in the medical literature called: Overuse Syndrome, which can affect any part of the body that is over stressed with movements or activities in a repetitive way, including occupational, recreational, and habitual activities. Repetition is part of the definition of overuse injury. The concept is that overuse injury is associated with repeated challenge without sufficient recovery time, and this is true for Body Building or any other sport or activity in which you exceed the guidelines and your own limits or capacities. So a daily healthy exercise routine besides the standard guidelines should be customized for each particular individual.