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So the question is: at what point does this kind of long-term exercise turn from beneficial to burnout/overtraining? https://www.outsideonline.com/1986361/runn

So the question is: at what point does this kind of long-term exercise turn from beneficial to burnout/overtraining? https://www.outsideonline.com/1986361/running-empty https://www.outsideonline.com/1986361/running-empty And can you reliably predict it beforehand? Having suffered from burnout/CFS, I would be very careful about doing something like this, and I'd be on the lookout for early warning signs such as elevated heart-rate, anxiety/depression, excessive fatigue/pain, oversleeping/insomnia, etc.

ktRolster 10y ago
I would suggest it becomes burnout when you don't get enough nutrition or sleep to recover reliably.
- cpncrunch 10y ago
  I had normal sleep and nutrition, and so did most people I know who burned out. However, insomnia can be a symptom of burnout (I had severe insomnia, but it a symptom rather than a cause). I do know of one person for whom sleep deprivation seemed to be a contributing factor, along with other stresses associated with military service. In general burnout seems to be caused by chronic physical/mental stress.
reddytowns 10y ago
Related to that, are there detrimental long term effects for too much exercise? Can you wear out your joints so much you'll be using a walker at 60? Damage your internal organs by pushing yourself too far?
jamii 10y ago
The old-school method is to get a grip dynamometer and keep a daily log. If your grip strength suddenly takes a dive you need to take some recovery time. Lot's of other indicators seem to work too, eg resting heart rate, but grip strength is really easy to measure reliably. https://www.trainingbeta.com/why-do-i-suck-at-climbing-some-days-part-2-readiness-monitoring/ https://www.trainingbeta.com/why-do-i-suck-at-climbing-some-...
- JofArnold 10y ago
  That's a very useful and informative post. Thanks!
mauvehaus 10y ago
The glib-sounding, but basically true answer is: If you're planning to do it every day for 5-6 months, you ease into it, and do it at a level you can maintain for the next 5-6 months. And if you're feeling sore, ease back off a bit. Your body will mostly tell you what it needs. The conventional wisdom among thru-hikers is that the only way to get in shape for a hike is to start hiking and get in shape as you do it. This seems to be largely true. In 2010 on the AT, down south, a number of people who started out in good shape from e.g. running, pushed too hard early on, had various health problems and dropped off. People also take far, far more Ibuprofen (I.B. Broken) than they ought to so they can continue pushing out long days. For something like a thru-hike, you adjust your level of exertion to what you can sustain for the time you expect to take, which for practical purposes is "indefinitely" when you're talking about a 5 month walk. The above applies to a "normal", unsupported thru-hike. People shooting for the speed record are a whole different case.
Bartweiss 10y ago
Lots of good answers, but I would add that long-term hiking in particular is remarkably sustainable. As far as I know, hikes like the one described here (8 hour days at a mild/moderate pace) can be kept up almost indefinitely if you have a good diet and don't run into acute injuries. Lots of overtraining injuries like shin splints are much less likely than in other sports. That said, you can get badly burned by fairly tame risks just because you're doing something so repetitive. Even simple dietary stuff can blow up - if you're eating the same handful of meals every day you can run into uncommon issues like micronutrient deficiencies. The risks you mentioned are definitely real, but most of the stories are hear suggest that there are solid warning signs (even just "I feel shitty now"). Most of the people who burn out seem to be ignoring those signs or pushing through them for some goal.

ktRolster 10y ago

I would suggest it becomes burnout when you don't get enough nutrition or sleep to recover reliably.

cpncrunch 10y ago
I had normal sleep and nutrition, and so did most people I know who burned out. However, insomnia can be a symptom of burnout (I had severe insomnia, but it a symptom rather than a cause). I do know of one person for whom sleep deprivation seemed to be a contributing factor, along with other stresses associated with military service. In general burnout seems to be caused by chronic physical/mental stress.

reddytowns 10y ago

Related to that, are there detrimental long term effects for too much exercise? Can you wear out your joints so much you'll be using a walker at 60? Damage your internal organs by pushing yourself too far?

jamii 10y ago

The old-school method is to get a grip dynamometer and keep a daily log. If your grip strength suddenly takes a dive you need to take some recovery time. Lot's of other indicators seem to work too, eg resting heart rate, but grip strength is really easy to measure reliably. https://www.trainingbeta.com/why-do-i-suck-at-climbing-some-days-part-2-readiness-monitoring/ https://www.trainingbeta.com/why-do-i-suck-at-climbing-some-...

JofArnold 10y ago
That's a very useful and informative post. Thanks!

mauvehaus 10y ago

The glib-sounding, but basically true answer is: If you're planning to do it every day for 5-6 months, you ease into it, and do it at a level you can maintain for the next 5-6 months. And if you're feeling sore, ease back off a bit. Your body will mostly tell you what it needs. The conventional wisdom among thru-hikers is that the only way to get in shape for a hike is to start hiking and get in shape as you do it. This seems to be largely true. In 2010 on the AT, down south, a number of people who started out in good shape from e.g. running, pushed too hard early on, had various health problems and dropped off. People also take far, far more Ibuprofen (I.B. Broken) than they ought to so they can continue pushing out long days. For something like a thru-hike, you adjust your level of exertion to what you can sustain for the time you expect to take, which for practical purposes is "indefinitely" when you're talking about a 5 month walk. The above applies to a "normal", unsupported thru-hike. People shooting for the speed record are a whole different case.

Bartweiss 10y ago

Lots of good answers, but I would add that long-term hiking in particular is remarkably sustainable. As far as I know, hikes like the one described here (8 hour days at a mild/moderate pace) can be kept up almost indefinitely if you have a good diet and don't run into acute injuries. Lots of overtraining injuries like shin splints are much less likely than in other sports. That said, you can get badly burned by fairly tame risks just because you're doing something so repetitive. Even simple dietary stuff can blow up - if you're eating the same handful of meals every day you can run into uncommon issues like micronutrient deficiencies. The risks you mentioned are definitely real, but most of the stories are hear suggest that there are solid warning signs (even just "I feel shitty now"). Most of the people who burn out seem to be ignoring those signs or pushing through them for some goal.