Should You Go That Extra Mile?

Can you get too much cardio? Is there an ideal amount of exercise for losing weight? And are you ever too old to shape up? Smart Fitness answers your workout queries.

Q: I exercise on a regular basis, at least five to six days a week, consisting of mostly cardio with weight-lifting on three of those days. However, I have heard that too much cardio can be bad for you. Is this true? If so, how much time should be spent on cardio?

A: “You’d have to do an awful lot to do too much, to hurt your heart,” says Dr. William Roberts, a past-president of the American College of Sports Medicine. “Most people aren’t exercising enough to worry about this.”