You're probably familiar with the saying 'too much of everything is bad'. This is true, and it applies to good things as well.

There's no doubt that regular exercise is vital if you want to be healthy. However, excessive exercise is harmful because it causes your cells to release dangerous by-products of metabolism ('free radicals') into your blood stream.

The danger of free radicals is that when they accumulate faster than your body can get rid of them, they begin to destroy your body cells. This destruction leads to various degenerative diseases, depending on which cells are being destroyed.

In plain english, it means that excessive exercise over a prolonged period has harmful long term effects on your body.

Sound scary, huh? It is. That's why it's important for you to practice exercise in moderation.

How much exercise is too much exercise? How much exercise is safe?

As a rough guide, it's safe and effective to spend 1 hour three times a week on exercise. Another guide is this: never exercise to the point of pain. Pain is a protective mechanism designed to warn you of impending danger in most cases. Ignore it at your own peril.

Thirty minutes three times a week should be for aerobics, and the rest of the time should include strength training and flexibility exercises (stretching).

Keep your exercise regime simple and sweet.

You don't get much more health benefit from exercising more often anyway, and if you do rigorous exercise 7 days a week, you're in danger of triggering the release of harmful, destructive free radicals into your blood stream.

So by all means, exercise regularly, but please don't overdo it.