Am I exercising too much? Or... just doing too much of the same thing?

This is something I know a few of our members have asked themselves. At 'en Joy we offer so many fitness classes each week, that it can be tempting to try and squeeze in as many as possible, especially when you don't want to miss your favourites!

But when your exercise week starts feeling rather full, it’s natural to wonder whether you should cut back — and sometimes that is absolutely the right decision. Rest and recovery matter, and more isn’t automatically better, even though of course we love to see you here every day of the week!

If your body, energy levels or diary are telling you to ease back a little, that’s worth listening to. But before deciding which classes to 'drop', it’s useful to look at the balance of your week — not simply the number of sessions you’re doing.

The main thing is to aim for a varied week: some cardio for your heart, lungs and stamina; some resistance work for your muscles, bones and strength; and some gentler stretching, mobility and balance work to help your body move and recover well. You certainly don’t need to do everything on the timetable to create a well-rounded routine!

But how can you tell if you’re genuinely doing too much?

Feeling tired after a challenging workout, or having a little muscle soreness for a day or two, isn’t necessarily a warning sign. A more useful clue is a pattern over time:

• You’re regularly starting the next session without feeling recovered from the last

• Workouts or weights that were previously manageable feel increasingly difficult

• Your performance is going backwards rather than gradually improving

• Soreness, aches or little niggles aren’t settling

• Your sleep, general energy or enthusiasm for exercise has noticeably dipped

• You feel persistently run-down rather than simply “workout tired”

These can be signs that training and recovery have become unbalanced, although one unusually tiring week doesn’t mean you’re overtraining. Sleep, illness, nutrition and general life stress can all affect how well you recover too.

If that pattern continues, it may be time for an extra rest day, a lighter week, fewer back-to-back high-intensity sessions or a temporary reduction in effort. Persistent or unusual fatigue or pain should, of course, always be discussed with a medical professional.

It's also worth looking at how well you're fuelling yourself... Having a coffee in place of a proper breakfast and then doing a full morning of classes is a bit like running your car on empty and seeing how far it gets you. Likewise, a light lunch and then nothing until after an evening's worth of back-to-back sessions is likely not doing you any favours.

So, am I really doing too much? Or, just too much of one thing?

“Too much” isn’t only about the number of classes. It very much depends on their type and intensity, how well you’re recovering, your personal goals and whether your week includes a good mixture of movement.

The NHS guidelines for adults recommend:

• At least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity — or 75 minutes of vigorous activity — each week

• And strengthening activities for all the major muscle groups on at least two days

The important word there is and. Cardio and strength training do different jobs.

In terms of aerobic activity, a class could be 'moderate' for one member and 'vigorous' for another, depending on your fitness levels. But a good rule of thumb is this: 'Moderate' would usually include most dance fitness classes. If you are exercising moderately, your heart rate rises, breathing becomes faster and you feel warmer, but you can still hold a light conversation. If you are exercising vigorously, you may only manage a few words before pausing for breath. Some of our classes may reach vigorous intensity more than others, such as Zumba+Lift, Box-IT and Step classes, but it's important to remember that a 40 minute 'vigorous' class does not necessarily equal 40 minutes of vigorous activity, as warm ups, cool downs and recovery breaks will create a mixture of intensities within a class.

However, many regular group exercise class attendees will easily cover the aerobic side, whether through moderate or vigorous activity, and this is likely where they can overdo it without realising.

Pump-style workouts using lighter weights and lots of repetitions (such as Box-IT, Zumba Toning and Disco Dumbbells) have so many benefits: they raise the heart rate, improve muscular endurance and challenge the muscles with light resistance work. However, their fast, continuous format means they’re primarily cardio and endurance-based, so these classes certainly count towards your aerobic quota. So if you're adding those on top of your weekly cardio classes in order to get that all-important resistance work in, and you're starting to feel burnt out, that could be a sign to level things out a bit on the cardio front.

A balanced programme to work all the major muscle groups should include pushing, pulling, squatting/lunging, hinging and core-stability work across the week. And if you're already doing plenty of cardio, some of our less 'bouncy' classes can certainly help you achieve your weekly fitness goals without adding more high intensity activity.

Classes such as Strong Girls’ Club place greater emphasis on slower, controlled sets, technique and gradually increasing the load. Similarly, Dance Tone offers the opportunity to lift a little heavier, while still enjoying a set-to-music workout.

A faster, high-repetition class primarily asks your muscles to keep going, while progressive strength training gradually increases what they’re capable of lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling in the first place. Both are valid and have an important place — they simply emphasise slightly different areas of fitness.

And “lifting heavy” doesn’t mean choosing the heaviest weight in the room or struggling through something unsafe. It means using a weight that is appropriately challenging for you: one you can control with good technique, but which genuinely asks your muscles to work, helping to delay the natural decline in muscle mass and bone density that begins from mid life.

That strength carries into everyday life — shopping bags, suitcases, stairs, gardening, getting up from the floor and continuing to do the things we enjoy.

Other strength-based classes without the high energy cardio factor include Barre Booty Burn and Disco Core; both using bodyweight resistance and controlled movements to challenge the muscles, developing muscular endurance, stability and core control. They may not leave you as breathless as a cardio or cardio/resistance pump-style class, but that certainly doesn’t mean your muscles aren’t working — the slow burn often says otherwise! They’re a useful way to include resistance work without adding another particularly fast-paced session, although they serve a slightly different purpose from progressively increasing resistance in a class such as Strong Girls’ Club.

So, this absolutely is not a message to do more. It might be a message to do slightly less, or slow things down a little, but please remember to keep the variety.

If you’re adjusting your timetable, consider what you’re already getting plenty of. If your week contains lots of cardio, try to protect some progressive strength work too. Equally, remember to include some gentler movement and proper recovery.

If cardio classes are your happy place but you’re beginning to feel you may be doing a little too much, remember that you don’t have to fit all your favourites into every week! The majority are follow-along classes, so you can easily mix and match without simply dropping one and ending up with fitness FOMO!

Rotating your choices gives your body a change of pace, impact, movement patterns and muscle emphasis. This can help reduce the repeated strain of doing the same activity over and over, while keeping both your fitness and your brain challenged. It also keeps things fresh and fun!

You don't need to collect as many classes as possible. Just choose a balanced mixture that suits your body, your life and what you want it to help you achieve, whether that's the same schedule each week or not. Our timetable is a menu, not a checklist — you really don’t have to squeeze in everything every week!

The balanced-week formula

Our balanced-week example timetable below supports the NHS recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate — or 75 minutes of vigorous — aerobic activity each week, plus strengthening all the major muscle groups on at least two days. Walking and other activity outside the studio contribute to the cardio total, so not everyone needs the same number of classes. For our members aged 65+, NHS guidance places additional emphasis on strength, balance and flexibility on at least two days each week.

There is, of course, no single “ideal” timetable that will suit everybody. Two people attending exactly the same classes can have very different overall activity levels. Someone who sits at a desk for most of the day may benefit from more planned movement, while someone with a physical job (or who already walks, cycles, gardens, cares for others or plays sport) may have a much greater physical workload and need more recovery time.

Age, health, current fitness, nutrition, sleep, stress and personal goals all make a difference too. A physical job won’t necessarily provide the same balanced benefits as progressive strength, cardio and mobility training, but it absolutely contributes to the total amount your body is being asked to do.

The timetable below is therefore a general starting point for someone whose classes provide most of their structured exercise — not a target everyone needs to squeeze themselves into.

Focus	Weekly target	What counts
Cardio or cardio-resistance	2–3 classes	Dance, Zumba, Step Up, Box-IT, Disco Inferno, Disco Dumbbells
Strength work to target all major muscle groups across the week	2 sessions per week, on separate days (over time, you may want to add an extra session if trying to build muscle)	Strong Girls’ Club, Dance Tone, Barre Booty Burn, Disco Core. (Pump-style classes can also count, as long as you are covering all major muscle groups across the week, and also adding progressive training if trying to build muscle)
Mobility, balance and flexibility	1–2 sessions	Balance in Motion, Barre Body Release, Deep Dynamics and other gentler mobility or balance-focused work
Recovery	At least 1 day	Easy everyday movement only, such as walking and stretching