Fitness

How to avoid exercise burnout and still build muscle, according to an expert

Published

3 months ago

December 12, 2025

How to avoid exercise burnout and still build muscle, according to an expert

Many of us have experienced the overwhelming feeling of mental and physical exhaustion that comes with exercise burnout. When you push yourself too hard without sufficient rest and recovery, it ultimately becomes counterproductive to your fitness goals, and your energy will tank along with your motivation. Not only that, your performance will suffer when you overtrain and under-recover, and you’re left sinking further into the couch, wondering how you’ll lift that next weight, swim that next lap, or run that next mile.

With a combo of the right nutrition, rest, recovery, and lowering your training intensity, you can get back on track. To learn more about avoiding burnout and torching fat while sculpting muscle for men, I asked certified personal trainer and Vice President of Education for Body Fit Training, Steve Stonehouse, to share some of his vast knowledge on the subject. With decades of experience in fitness education, fitness programming, and personal training, Steve Stonehouse developed an in-depth knowledge of weight loss, improving body fat composition, building muscle, and the best exercise plans that generate serious results.

Expert advice on burning fat

The Manual: As the Vice President of Education for Body Fit Training, what are your top tips for burning fat and improving body composition for men?

Steve Stonehouse: As the programmer and head of education, this is a little cliché, but I go for balance. Not every workout can be this CrossFit type, give it all you’ve got, smoke yourself, and work out — that’s not sustainable. The other end of the spectrum is just walking at a moderate pace for 20 minutes on a treadmill three times a week, because that’s not going to do it either. There’s value in both of those scenarios.

It’s best to have a session or two each week where the intensity is very high, and you’re testing yourself and pushing yourself closer to your limits. That’s anaerobic exercise, which is 90% intensity or above. It’s fine, safe, and healthy to get there occasionally, but every workout can’t be one of those. Your body isn’t built to train that way; you’re gonna burn out, and you could get injured, or both.

There’s a place for some moderate intensity as well, so if I were focusing on heart rate, I would say in the 80s, so it’s hard but not max effort, and it’s more sustainable. When you’re in that 70 to high 80s range, we categorize that as building aerobic capacity. Overall, I suggest an approach with recovery, moderate intensity, and then high intensity every now and again to test yourself.

The best cardio for fat loss

TM: How does cardio help with fat loss, and what types of cardio do you recommend?

Steve Stonehouse: I’m a big fan of high-intensity cardio. Sometimes, people think if some is good, more is probably better, but more isn’t always better. If I were putting a program together for six days a week, I’d have three days as some type of cardio-driven day, and three of those days I would have some version of resistance training. Maybe some days are heavier, and other days are a little lighter with higher rep targets and less rest.

Of those three cardio days, I’d recommend that one of them be a high-intensity max effort type HIIT session. Another could be hard with a heart rate in the 80s, but not max effort. That third cardio day could be more metabolic conditioning, like kettlebell swings, sled pushes, rower, or SkiErg, and things like that.

Ramping up muscle growth

TM: What types of exercise are the most effective for ramping up muscle growth?

Steve Stonehouse: We’re moving into a great space right now in fitness, and it seems like every 10 or 15 years, there’s this new movement. CrossFit first popped up and led the charge for metabolic conditioning and no days off. It’s the idea that if you still feel good at the end of a workout, you didn’t train hard enough. I think we’re phasing out of that and into wanting to lift heavy again. People who wouldn’t have touched a barbell ten years ago are lifting heavy now.

Keep in mind that heavy is a relative term. You can get stronger with some lighter dumbbells, but there are limits to that. A blend is nice, but you do need to include those times when you’re lifting heavy and challenging yourself at a low rep target.

Say, I’m going to do barbell deadlifts for five reps. If I can do eight, then that weight is too light. It’s intended to be a weight that you can’t get 15 reps of. There are advantages to lifting heavy with low-rep targets and longer rest times. For example, we’re going to do four sets of five reps of barbell deadlifts with two minutes of rest in between sets. If you can do more than five or six reps, that weight is too light. There’s a lot of value in lifting heavy.

TM: We know it’s probably difficult to choose, but what are your top three favorite fat-burning, muscle-building exercises right now?

Steve Stonehouse:

Barbell Zercher squat
Barbell deadlift
Flat barbell bench press

TM: How often should you work out to build muscle?

Steve Stonehouse: For the heavy session with five or six reps and longer rest periods, you could have a day each week that’s primarily focused on upper-body heavy strength training. Then, you could split it up and have another day that’s primarily focused on the lower body. You could do that, so you’re not in the gym for two hours; it’s more like a reasonable 45 or 50 minutes. If you were feeling ambitious, you could get a third one in toward the end of the week and have a bit of a mixed session where there’s not as much volume, but you have upper-body and lower-body focus.

With that type of heavy volume, you’re going to need a decent amount of time to rest. So, if I were doing a heavy bench press today, I probably wouldn’t do that again until next week — same thing with squats, deadlifts, or any larger main lifts.

Incorporating sufficient rest days and progressive overload

TM: Are rest days important for the best results?

Steve Stonehouse: Yes. Rest and recovery are two different things. A recovery session would include a bit of activity, but at a lower intensity. Recovery is restoring to a natural, healthy state, and rest is inactivity.

TM: With resistance training, do you recommend incorporating progressive overload, where you gradually increase the weights over time to develop muscle strength and mass?Steve Stonehouse: 100%. We do strength training regularly at BFT. We have a portion of our performance app, and you can enter your five-rep max. On different days, the performance app tells you how much weight you should be lifting on that day to appropriately follow that progressive overload model.

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Fitness

Stay on Top of Your Workouts and Health With the Best Fitness Trackers of 2026

Published

8 hours ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Stay on Top of Your Workouts and Health With the Best Fitness Trackers of 2026

Format: Would you prefer wearing a ring or a wrist-based device? If you want something understated that you can wear all the time and don’t mind not having a screen to glance at, then a ring would be ideal. If having a watch on your wrist is comfortable, then a smartwatch or wrist-based tracker may be the right choice.

Compatibility: If you’re an Apple user, ensure your fitness tracker is compatible with iOS. The same goes if you’re an Android user.

Storage capacity: For those who don’t want their fitness tracker to be dependent on their phone, look at a device with its own storage capacity.

Special features: Before purchasing a fitness tracker, consider the health metrics that are important to you for your favorite workouts. If you’d like your tracker to do more than monitor your fitness, you’ll be better off with a smartwatch like the Pixel Watch 4 or Apple Watch SE 3.

Wi-Fi or Bluetooth: If you’re the type of person who likes to leave their phone behind when working out but still needs internet access, ensure your fitness tracker has Wi-Fi.

GPS? For those who run, hike or walk and want to keep track of metrics like distance and pace without their phone, choose a fitness tracker that has built-in GPS.

Screen size: Once you decide you want a fitness tracker with a screen, make sure it fits your personal preferences. A smaller screen may be better if you prefer for it to be less obvious that you’re wearing a fitness tracker on your wrist.

Battery life: How often do you want to be charging your fitness tracker? If frequently charging your devices is a pet peeve, ensure your fitness tracker of choice has a long battery life, especially for your preferred workouts.

Water resistance: Individuals who work out by swimming or those who enjoy taking a dip in the pool after exercising will want a fitness tracker that is water-resistant. Confirm your device is rated for the depth you plan to swim at.

Subscription cost: It’s common for fitness trackers to come with the added cost of a subscription, particularly if you want to access all available features or require extra features for your workout or fitness goals. To guarantee that a fitness tracker is in your budget, check not only the price of the device, but also how much your subscription of choice will run you over the course of a year.

Fitness

Exercise First Thing in the Morning for Better Heart Health, Study Suggests

Published

20 hours ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

Exercise First Thing in the Morning for Better Heart Health, Study Suggests

If you typically work out in the morning, a new study suggests you may have a lower risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other contributors to heart disease compared with people who exercise later in the day.

“This study suggests that when you exercise may matter, not just how much you exercise,” says senior study author Prashant Rao, MBBS, a sports cardiologist and physician-scientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.

The research, which will be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session later this month, relied on minute-level heart rate data from nearly 15,000 adults. Dr. Rao says this allowed his team to capture long-term, real-world exercise data with much more detail and accuracy.

Early Morning Workouts Are Linked to Better Cardiometabolic Health

The study analyzed health records and Fitbit heart rate data collected over a year. Researchers identified periods when participants had an elevated heart rate for 15 minutes or more to track physical activity. Then they grouped participants into categories based on the time of day exercise occurred.

Researchers compared these timing groups with health data including rates of high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and other cardiovascular health problems. They adjusted the findings to account for differences in age, sex, income level, total activity level, sleep, alcohol use, and smoking status.

The results showed that compared with adults who exercised later in the day, those who worked out in the morning were:

These risk reductions were independent of how much exercise people actually got. Adults who exercised between 7 and 8 a.m. had the lowest odds of coronary artery disease.

Aubrey Grant, MD, a sports cardiologist at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C., who wasn’t involved with the research, says the results suggest that “timing may be a previously underappreciated lever in cardiometabolic risk reduction.”

He adds that wearable technology is giving scientists more granular exercise data, which “opens a more nuanced conversation about how physical activity interacts with the body’s daily rhythms.”

Exercise Timing Is a ‘New Frontier’

A main limitation of the research is that it’s an observational study, “so we can’t establish causality,” Rao says. Because participants weren’t randomized to exercise at different times, the results only show a link, not that earlier exercise directly leads to the observed health benefits.

“While we did our best to adjust for confounders [factors that could muddy the results], timing may still reflect differences in work schedules, socioeconomic factors, or lifestyle patterns that aren’t potentially fully captured in our analyses,” he says.

The link between exercise timing and health is a “new frontier in exercise science,” says Dr. Grant. For decades, research has focused on “how much and how hard” people worked out — variables that still matter, he says.

But more data on timing is starting to appear. Just this January, for instance, another published study found that older adults who identified as “night people” had worse cardiovascular health compared with adults who said they were “morning people.”

Why Exercise Timing May Lower Cardiometabolic Risk

“The honest answer is that we do not fully know yet” why this link is appearing, Grant says.

“Morning exercise may align better with circadian physiology,” or how bodily functions naturally correspond to the time of day, he says. “Cortisol peaks early in the day and can prime the body for physical exertion, potentially enhancing metabolic efficiency,” Grant adds.

Exercise is also a natural stimulant. When you work out early, it revs up your bodily systems and energizes you for the day, says Andrew Freeman, MD, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver. Dr. Freeman was not involved with the new study.

People who work out earlier may also have healthier lifestyle habits, overall, says Alex Rothstein, EdD, an assistant professor of exercise science at the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury.

“If you work out earlier in the day, you tend to have fewer excuses to not work out,” and you may exercise more consistently, says Dr. Rothstein, who was not involved with the new research.

Should You Start Exercising in the Morning?

Freeman recommends getting 30 minutes a day of “breathless physical activity,” including a combination of cardio and strength training. But if you prefer to work out in the afternoons or have responsibilities preventing you from exercising in the morning, don’t worry.

“It does not mean people should feel guilty about evening workouts,” Grant says. “It means that when we counsel patients on optimizing their health, exercise timing is now a legitimate part of that conversation, alongside sleep, nutrition, and stress management.”

If you have flexibility, though, Rothstein suggests exercising in the morning, as it’s less likely that something will interfere with your workout later on, and it may offer extra heart health benefits.

“The most important message is still: Exercise consistently, regardless of timing,” Rao says. However, “Timing may represent a simple, low-cost way to potentially optimize health.”

Fitness

The HFA Show 2026 Demonstrates the Power of Community With Strong Turnout and Programming – Health & Fitness Association

Published

1 day ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

The HFA Show 2026 Demonstrates the Power of Community With Strong Turnout and Programming – Health & Fitness Association

From the HFA Hall of Fame to Innovation Alley to the launch of new products from more than 60 companies, The HFA Show 2026 delivers a standout week.

The 2026 HFA Hall of Fame inductees pose together (left to right): Cirulli, Eschbach, Landers, Mills, Runyon, and Elaine LaLanne. Missing are Dave Mortensen, who could not attend, and Jack LaLanne, who received the award posthumously. In the second photo, Keith Morrison, a correspondent for Dateline NBC, presents Elaine LaLanne as an inductee.

The HFA Show 2026 recorded 10,300 registrants, 380 exhibitors, 52 sponsors, and 150 speakers for the March 16-18 event in San Diego, according to the Health & Fitness Association (HFA). It was also the launching pad for new products and services from more than 60 companies.

“What an incredible week full of high energy, dynamic networking, insightful learning, and new product discoveries,” said HFA President and CEO Liz Clark. “It was gratifying to support such an extraordinary group of industry leaders and innovators from around the world with this year’s show. Our team has poured more than a year of work into this event, and we’re already energized to make next year’s gathering in Las Vegas on March 10–12, 2027, even more spectacular.”

Clark went on to thank additional groups beyond HFA team members.

“We’d like to thank all our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, and board members for making this year’s event such a strong and inspiring showcase for the industry,” Clark said. “Your commitment and partnership helped create a world-class experience that truly moved our industry forward.”

The unofficial launch of the event occurred on the evening of March 15, with 240 people gathering for the HFA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, sponsored by The Bay Club Company, to honor the organization’s second class of inductees: Gainesville Health & Fitness CEO Joe Cirulli, Exhale and ResetOne Founder Annbeth Eschbach, Fitness Formula Founder Gale Landers, Les Mills Founder and Managing Director Phillip Mills, Purpose Brands Co-founders Dave Mortensen and Chuck Runyon, and fitness icons Jack and Elaine LaLanne. Ticket sales and sponsorships for the HFA Hall of Fame ceremony raised more than $200,000 for the HFA Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity that works to support health through exercise.

The evening also included a celebration recognizing Elaine LaLanne’s 100th birthday, which was March 19. Keith Morrison, a Dateline NBC correspondent and friend of Elaine, presented Elaine and her husband Jack, who passed away in 2011, for induction. Celebrities such as Billy Crystal, Mark Wahlberg, and Tony Danza sent videos congratulating her on her 100th birthday.

HFA handed out three other awards at the event. The Jim Worthington Advocate of the Year Award went to Chris Craytor, CEO of ACAC Fitness & Wellness Centers, for his service to the fitness industry and HFA. The John Holsinger Global Leader Award was given to LifeFit Group CEO Martin Seibold. Bodytech Colombia Co-founder and Executive Vice President Gigliola Aycardi received the Woman Leader Award in Honor of Julie Main.

This year’s keynoters (left to right): Dhawan, Itzler, and Ohno.

The HFA Show included annual President’s Address by Clark as well as three keynote addresses:

March 16 – Clark recapped the highlights of the past year for HFA and urged even further engagement by industry leaders as global influence and expectations grow for the industry.
March 16 – Author and teamwork expert Erica Dhawan shared strategies for building trust, fostering agility, and strengthening collaboration in the age of AI. Her keynote was sponsored by Zenoti.
March 17 – Author and entrepreneur Jesse Itzler shared lessons about creating opportunity, cultivating resilience, and building a life that achieves big goals without sacrificing what matters most. His keynote was sponsored by Matrix.
March 18 – Olympic speed-skating champion Apolo Ohno shared lessons on reinvention, adaptability, and performance in a rapidly changing environment in his keynote, sponsored by ROR.

Other highlights of the conference program were:

The 29th Annual Financial Panel, which was renamed the Rick Caro Financial Panel in honor of Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, who created the panel 28 years ago and had moderated it each year until his death in August 2025. This year’s panel was sponsored by AltaDX.
The Women’s Leadership Summit and Reception, sponsored by Daxko.
The Brazilian Forum and the Latin American Forum, both sponsored by ABC Fitness.
The Canadian Forum, EMEA Forum, and APAC Forum

Highlights of the trade show floor were:

Innovation Alley (sponsored by Sweatworks) featurinh the following companies: Alchemy Innovations LLC, AI Advertising by Mixo Ads, BELLIX, Bolt Recovery, Buzz Bomb Caffeine Company, DetecFit, Fit – M.O., Fit-X, HipDoc, InSquare, MatFresher, Milton AI, Nervō Labs, ObliQ Fitness, OmniFit, OnSight, Silient, Superset App, and xplate.
Innovation Alley Pitchfest, which featured many of the Innovation Alley companies offering a three-minute pitch of their product. The winners of the Pitchfest will be announced soon. They will receive a complimentary booth at The HFA Show 2027 and will be recognized in a future issue of Health & Fitness Business.
The New Product Zone featuring nine companies: Body Energy Technology, Buzz Bomb Caffeine, Core Champion, Echelon Fit, Escape Fitness, Linear Bar, Martoni Bikes, The Abs Company, and WeGym
The Pickleball Experience
The Demonstration Stage
The Recovery Lounge (outside the trade show floor) with products from Am-Finn Sauna Company, CryoBuilt, Silent, WellFit, and WellnessSpace Brands.

“What stood out this year wasn’t just the scale of the event, but the strength of the conversations happening across every part of the show,” Clark said. “From the keynote stage and education sessions to the trade show floor, industry leaders came together to share ideas, explore innovation, and build the relationships that will help shape the future of health and fitness.”

HFA would like to acknowledge Alloy Personal Training Solutions, LLC for authorizing the use of its registered trademark “Stronger Together” as the theme for The HFA Show 2026. The HFA Show 2027 will take place March 10-12, 2027, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.