Exercise is great! It helps keep us healthy. This is a well-known fact.
However, there are times when exercise can become unhealthy.
This is when addiction can take over and exercise can do more harm than it does good!
Firstly, many of you who are reading this article are likely to be regular ‘gym goers’ and probably often get accused by family members, friends, or work colleagues of being ‘obsessed with exercise’.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you are.
Many people say this to make themselves feel better about doing little or even no exercise at all .
That said exercise addiction is certainly real and can be problematic.
Signs of Exercise Addiction
- You miss family or social events because you want to exercise
- You’re not interested in spending time with friends as you would rather be exercising
- Even if you are unwell, injured or fatigued you won’t stop exercising
- You aren’t particularly happy unless you are exercising
- If you miss a training session you feel depressed and irritable
- Your friends and family have noticed that you over-exercise, yet you won’t listen to them!
- You become very selfish, thinking about your needs and nobody else’s
These are just some of the signs of exercise addiction, from time to time many of you may have some of these symptoms.
This isn’t a major problem, however, if more than one of these symptoms constantly applies to you, it may be time to ease back a little.
If three or more apply to you, it is certainly time to ease back.
Exercise Addiction and Eating Disorders
Addiction to exercise is heavily linked to eating disorders, as the two go hand in hand when a person wants to lose weight in an extreme way.
Furthermore both these illnesses are impacted by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours often seen in those suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The 2006 study in the link explains more on the subject.
Dedication versus Addiction
You will see that there is a fine line between being dedicated to your exercise regime, (to achieve the best possible results, whether that is to lose weight, build muscle or run faster times) and being addicted to exercise.
This is why I have said that at times some of these symptoms will apply to you, but ultimately it doesn’t necessarily mean you are addicted to exercise.
However, if the symptoms continuously occur you potentially do have a problem.
Be Aware
Remember exercise is great and if you want to improve yourself whether that is to lose weight/body fat, increase lean muscle, become fitter, or train for a sporting event/competition dedication is certainly needed and is beneficial if you want to achieve the results you crave.
Though it is extremely important to be aware of the signs when exercise becomes too much.
Compromised Adrenal Function
Exercise addiction can also lead to compromised adrenal function, due to the large amount of stress hormones being constantly released.
Read my blog about Adrenal Fatigue.
You can complete this short exercise addiction questionaire, which is used to check for possibilty of exercise addiction. Please note it is not diagnostic, but can be used as a starting point.
If you do believe you have a serious exercise addiction it can be as problematic as any other addiction and therfore you should seek professional help.
If you would like help with building a sustainable exercise program, that incorporates rest and recovery to optimise your training and well-being please check out my Personal Training page.
I can also work with you holistically to improve your diet to aid performance and improve your well-being with my Nutritional Therapy services.
