The day after spring break, the fitness room at the Lied Recreation Center was packed. Not one elliptical machine was open, weight machines were full, and joggers made their way around the track.

One thing the people in the crowd needed to be aware of, however, is not to overdo it.

“The amount of exercise needed is a lot less than people think,” said Warren Franke, associate professor of health and human performance.

He said many people don’t realize there is a point at which exercise has diminishing returns, or a point at which the amount of effort put in is not equal to the benefits received. Exercising too much can cause people to become prone to overuse injuries or get burned out so that they quit exercising altogether, Franke said.

Injuries are a common problem, a Lied Recreation Center employee said.

“When exercising, tears happen, they heal, and that’s how strength builds up.” said Nick Bolton, personal trainer at Lied Recreation Center and senior in management. “If you’re lifting the same muscles every day, you’re actually breaking down the muscles.”

He said people have the biggest misconceptions about abdominal muscles.

“People think they can do abs every day, but they are just like any other muscle,” Bolton said.

Franke said for someone simply trying to stay fit and healthy, five days a week is plenty of exercise, and any more than that is not worth the trouble.

Burning more than 3,000 calories per week may be too much, he said. It’s the equivalent of running approximately 30 miles.

For cardiovascular workouts, Franke said exercisers can see dramatic improvements in fitness with 100 minutes per week, whether it’s three days a week for 30 to 35 minutes or five days a week for 20 minutes.

Sara Grout, personal trainer and senior in exercise and sport science, spends most of her time exercising, working out on her own and teaching classes.

Grout teaches yoga, cycling and a “butts-n-guts” class at the Lied Recreational Center. On her own time, she works out for an hour or hour and a half each weekday, doing upper body workouts and running. Weekends consist of two hours of exercise, running for one hour and lifting for the other hour.

“It’s a good stress reliever and a time out of the day to yourself, and it gives me more energy, too,” she said.

Grout said she doesn’t think she exercises too much, even though she works out more than Franke recommends. She said she can tell when her body needs time off to recover.

Franke said a guideline for weightlifters is one to two sets of eight to 12 repetitions working major muscles on eight to 10 machines per week.

Performance athletes, such as college athletes, trainers for competition and body builders, are the exceptions to this guideline, but these people must be careful not to overtrain as well, he said.

Bolton said rest is just as important as lifting. He said he recommends people lift a half-hour to an hour each time, and three to four days per week, as long as they’re not lifting with the same muscles without giving them a day’s rest.

Blake Ruehlow, sophomore in agricultural studies, lifts weights four times a week, spending between an hour to hour and a half in the weight room.

“I always make sure to rotate which muscles I lift each day,” he said.

Franke said the best advice to keep from overworking muscles is to listen to your body.

“If you’re overfatigued or wake up and your heart rate is fast, both are signs of overtraining,” he said.