Last year, Linda Sun did some form of exercise every day. Yep, you read that right. She worked out day in, day out for 365 days. Whilst we don't condone this – a healthy routine is one that champions activity and recovery – it's a feat to behold, especially when Sun says it healed her relationship with her body for the better.
Documenting the entire experience on YouTube, Sun's year-long escapade has over 2 million views (2,089,395 at the time of writing). Here's what the experts have to say, plus 13 things Sun learned from the practice.
Is it ok to work out every day?
Exercising regularly has myriad benefits from improved bone, heart and mental health to better sleep and lower stress. However, too much of a good thing is no longer such a good thing.
'My recommendation is quality over quantity, says PT Maria Eleftheriou, Head of Barre at Psycle. 'If you are exhausted and running around trying to squeeze in seven workouts a week but running on empty you won't achieve sustainable results and you may start to see your workouts as a chore (which is not how we should ever approach them).'
'For someone new to exercise, I would recommend two to three sessions per week of around 45-minutes. For those already working on a programme, I would say four to five workouts per week is perfect, making sure you incorporate strength training, recovery and cardiovascular work. Even if your workouts are only 20 minutes on a busy day, if the quality of what you are doing is focused, you will still sustain your results.'
Should you exercise every day or take a day off?
Take a bloomin' day off, say the experts. Not only will it help you to avoid overtraining and experiencing mental and physical burnout but it'll also help you hit your goals more quickly.
'Don’t overdo exercise. Stick to a sensible exercise plan, with time-limited workouts and rest periods,' says Dr Deborah Lee, Dr Fox Online Pharmacy. 'Have some days in the week when you don't do any exercise to allow your body to recover.'
'Exercise addiction occurs when you become obsessed with exercise, and exercising more often than you know is healthy, but seemingly unable to stop,' explains Dr Lee. If you feel like this is happening, reach out to your GP, a friend or a trusted person.
If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with an eating disorder, contact Beat, the UK-based charity that hopes to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders.
T: 0808 801 0677
E: help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk, under-18s: fyp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
10 signs you're working out too much
There are a number of signs to look out for when wondering if you need to take a rest day:
- Finding it hard to wake up
- Irritability
- Low motivation
- Lack of concentration
- Higher stress levels than usual
- Having a hard time falling and staying asleep
- Sustaining injuries – even a niggle
- Osteoarthritis
- Sleep disturbance
- Dehydration
'13 things I learned exercising every day for a year'
For Sun, doing exercise every day wasn't something she planned on doing. It was more that she fell into it trying to counterbalance her quarantine routine.
Spending long days in front of the computer, she says working out was a necessary distratction, a break from working, studying and the general coronavirus pandemic reality of being stuck inside.
And in fact, her relationship with exercise wasn't always so healthy. Sharing how she had previously believed exercise was solely for trying to change her body, she says one of the things she takes real joy in is how much her mental strength has improved:
'Over the year, I've been learning to find the balance between pushing my body and respecting my body. This year, I think I discovered the beauty of exercise, the mental it can build and the journey it can take you on,' she describes.
Completing a wide variety of workouts, Sun documented her year of exercise, alternating between resistance training (glute bridges with a resistance band and dumbbells on a chair, for example), low-impact workouts, like Pilates and Yoga, and cardio-focused HIIT sessions.
'Did it change my life for the better? Yes. Would I do anything differently? Definitely,' she says. Here are the 13 things Sun says she learned.
1. Physical motivation is not sustainable
Yes, workout motivation comes in all different shapes, sizes and forms. However, without the right incentive, you're likely to derail before you've got going. (Not good.)
Sun says a real shift for her came when she moved away from looking to physical results as markers of progress.
'I had to value myself as more than my body. I began to realise that changing my body won't change my worth,' she explains. 'Now I workout because I love what my body does for me.'
'If physical change is the only thing you're focused on, you kind of miss out on all the other amazing things that working out can give you.' Amen, girl.
2. Try something new
There's nothing worse than a workout rut. The fix? Switching things up.
'Don't be afraid to try new workouts and new forms of exercise,' says Sun. Everyone's definition of exercise is different and... there's absolutely no risk in trying something new.
One of her biggest learnings was that she should have kept a wider variety of workouts in her exercise lineup:
'I should have worked out different muscle groups – I love HIIT, I love working on my lower body, so I rarely did anything else' but, it's recommended to have at least a day or two in between of working out the same body parts.
3. Longer does not equal better when it comes to working out
We say it a lot at WH: time spent in the gym does not necessarily equate to better workouts. In fact, efficient training and smart workouts look to minimise the time you're spent doing, well, sweet FA.
'I learned to stop measuring the intensity or effectiveness of a workout by the length' says Sun at the end of her 365-day experiment. 'I used to think that I had to spend hours and hours in the gym to even call it a workout.'
4. Booty bands are a great way to add extra resistance
To sum it up; resistance bands, FTW. Used for everything from glute bridges to crab walks, Sun made the most of the home gym equipment she did have – some dumbbells and booty bands (short, looped resistance bands).
'I see a difference in the strength and the muscle,' she said, referring to her glutes – an area she tried specifically to work on during the year.
5. It's hard not to compare yourself but it's important not to
It can be tricky not to compare yourself to the people around you. As humans, it's something we seem to do fairly naturally.
Sun, as a popular YouTuber, has over 752k subscribers and something she struggles with is not comparing herself to others online:
'I need to be proud of what my body can do for me, not what it can look like for others. Results can't solely be measured by what your body looks like,' she says.
'For me, one of the proudest moments is when you realise two weeks, two months, two years ago, you couldn't do what your body and your mind can do now. So, be patient with yourself.'
6. You have to eat
Not fuelling yourself properly – aka crash dieting – is a very quick route to burning yourself out. And that is absolutely not what we want. According to Sun, it was the thing she had to overcome to make sure she felt healthy enough for her sessions.
'I need to fuel my body for my workouts. If I don't, I don't have enough energy, I'm not going to feel strong, I'm not going to get the benefits.'
'It's not always about the perfect pre-workout, it's about eating enough and nourishing my body throughout the day to have enough energy,' she says.
7. "You can't outwork a bad diet" isn't a helpful saying
'I hate it when people call [any] diet "bad",' says Sun. 'It makes working out seem like something to undo my food, instead of something to enhance my life.' And she's right.
How can any diet be bad when all of our needs, preferences and goals are so different? It's about focusing on fueling yourself with nutrient-dense food and adding in some foods that bring you joy, too.
8. Protein is really important
Protein, one of the three main macronutrients humans needs, is brilliant for repairing and growing new muscle tissue as well as keeping you full for longer. And, contrary to popular belief, it's highly important whether you do strength training or not.
Sun's go-to protein-rich meals: Greek yoghurt bowls, protein pancakes, eggs, protein oats and other creations using protein powder.
She said that when she started trying to eat more protein, she quickly noticed her muscles felt stronger – a veritable win in anyone's books.
Kin Whey Less protein powder - Cookies And Cream
Myprotein MyProtein THE Whey+ protein powder
9. The scale is not necessary
For some people, bathroom scales can be a healthy, happy tool they use to measure certain progress. For others, it doesn't work.
Sun said letting go of her attachment to the scales helped her to really notice the other things she appreciated about sticking to her new routine.
'I'm so proud of what my body can do and so proud that I get to take care of it. Instead of asking myself how I can lose weight, I try to ask myself how can I take care of my body.'
10. You've got to know why you're doing it
'You want your purpose to last your entire life because that's what your fitness journey is,' she says, sharing that when her "why" hasn't been strong enough she's fallen off the fitness bandwagon for months at a time.
Instead, identify the reason that'll keep you coming back week in, week out. Perhaps you want to run around with your kids, be able to walk your dog well into your twilight years or reap the mental health benefits regularly, there's got to be a reason deeper than what you can see in the mirror. Trust us.
11. Make exercise part of your lifestyle, not your to-do list
We make time for our priorities, right? But, when something becomes part of your everyday schedule, it doesn't need to have time made for it. It just happens. That's the place Sun says working out every day has helped her reach:
'Working out, for me, is not like a to-do list thing anymore. It's part of my daily routine, it's part of my lifestyle. I don't make time to work out, just like I don't make time to go to the bathroom or eat breakfast or brush my teeth. It's time in the day that I've already allotted to workout out and the rest of my to-do list works around my lifestyle and my health.'
12. Rest days are non-negosh
At the end of this entire thing, Sun says one thing she's changed is how often she takes rest and active recovery days.
''Starting 2021, I've taken one to two rest days every week and I feel fine – I feel great.' But that wasn't the case with her 365-day challenge, during which she took precisely zero rest days.
'I would not recommend anyone to work out for a year without rest days and I personally don't believe it's good for anyone's body.'
'While not every day for me [was] super high intensity, like some days I would do a simple Pilates workout or 15-minute ab workout.'
'I see those days I should have just done nothing. I could have gone for a walk, done some chores or cooking instead. Those days I wasn't listening to my body, that was more listening to my head.'
13. Do it for you
'You deserve to enjoy food, you deserve to enjoy exercise, you deserve to have a life that's not revolved around those two things,' says Sun. You can't hate your body into getting fit, you shouldn't hate your body into going to the gym, you shouldn't hate your body into a diet, you shouldn't hate your body into losing weight.'
'This was the first year I didn't work out to change my body or lose weight or look a certain way. I just did it for me, for fun, for my sanity.' Preach it, L. What a feat.
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