I am officially an over achiever

[zoom-zoom]

I think the bar is set way too low. Too many people look at these recommendations as a norm or maximum and view anything over and above as obsessive...which we all know is bunk.

[bluejellybean]

Seems a little low to me...but I think we're in good company as 'over achievers' on this forum!

[jessmarimba]

Seems low to me too? But then again, I wouldn't have anywhere near the time for 2 hours of exercise a day unless I could average it out over the week. And I don't even have kids or a family to care for.

I try to make up for not having time to exercise on the days that I teach by pacing and bouncing on my toes all afternoon. But...hardly equivalent.

[Susan]

60-90 Minutes of cardio exercise 5 times a week plus added strength training doesn't seem so low to me?
Of course there will be a lot of people on this forum who do more, but it's probably still way more than the average person does...

I'm not sure if I average more than that (there are recovery days or some days where I can't get any exercise in).

Marni, your training schedule sounds hard - you can be very proud of yourself

[Crankin]

When you look at the minimum (the 15 minutes of raking leaves 5x a week) it does seem minimal. But, if you do the "recommended" of 60-90 minutes 5x a week, I think a lot of us would fall in that category. Like today, I did a 30 minute run on the treadmill and 10 minutes of core work. I sweated. My HR was up. But, I don't have time for more. I do stuff like this twice a week, maybe three times. Sure, I am doing 1-3 hour rides a couple of times a week later in the season, as well as lots of short rides of about 45 minutes. I do stuff 6 days a week. Something. I just choose not to do the type of training that some people here do. I am not training for anything and I like some down time...
And people think I am obsessed.

[Bike Chick]

It sounds like we are all overachievers but how many people do you know outside of your training circle, that actually do the recommended amount?

DH and I train at least an hour a day, most days more than that and sometimes twice a day. The weekends are filled with long swims, runs and bike rides. I will admit that training for triathlons consumes your life and doesn't leave much time for anything else besides work and sleep but I love it. It's become our lifestyle. At my age, I figure I only have about 8 years of training this hard if I don't injure myself, then I will slow down. I wonder what the guidelines will be then?