You Should Pump the Brakes with Your Fitness
Too much of a good thing is never a good thing and you sometimes need to pump the brakes. In fact, too much exercise can actually lead you down the path to dependence. While it’s not a common disease we think about during our day-to-day lives, some people have what’s called, exercise dependence. If any of you follow my work in the industry, you know I have research published on the subject.
Exercise dependence while many will joke and think there’s no such thing, is an actual addiction. By definition, it’s a state characterized by a compulsive engagement in any form of physical exercise, despite negative consequences. Just like with any disease, such as alcoholism, the person affected is generally in denial and doesn’t want to admit they have a problem.
Signs of exercise dependence
There are many signs that go along with this addiction such as:
• Withdrawal from friends and family to exercise
• Late to work or events due to time spent exercising
• State of depression if a workout is missed
• Anxiety and irritability when not exercising
• Exercising for hours due to the need to feel the physical activity
• A lack of control or the inability to stop exercising
Some individuals suffering from exercise dependence also have a primary eating disorder where the exercise dependence is secondary (as well as vice versa) which means you need to pump the brakes.
Just because you exercise a lot doesn’t necessarily mean you’re dependent
There are a lot of people out there who exercise more than the recommended 30-minutes per day, five-days-a-week. That doesn’t automatically toss them into the addiction status. In fact, there are a lot of people who exercise seven-days-a-week for an hour each day—this can be considered normal and safe. Where things start going sideways is when an individual starts changing their behavior and relationship with exercise and it becomes a compulsive behavior and tendency. They are no longer giving themselves periods of rest between bouts of exercise, they are going to the gym multiple times a day for a duration longer than an hour for each session and overtraining, they are going to the gym and exercising even when sick or injured, and they tend to lose interest in social and personal interactions with others (including with family members). This is where individuals need to start to pump the brakes with their fitness.
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