Can You be Addicted to Exercise?

It may seem like a strange idea, but you can get addicted to exercise. Or maybe it is not so strange when you consider expressions like "runner's high."

Most of us aren't getting enough exercise. For this reason, most messages surrounding exercise concern trying to encourage people to work out more often. But some people are actually working out too much. They are taking things so far that their lives are coming unraveled, just like with any other form of addiction.

Working out every day is not a problem per se. But if your social life is dwindling away, your career is being harmed and you are working out until it hurts you, you are probably suffering from exercise addiction. You should seek help.

If a person meets three of the following criteria, they may well have an exercise addiction.

1. They have developed a tolerance.
It takes more exercise to get the desired effect, such as an improved mood. This is called tolerance. It works much the same way as developing a tolerance for alcohol works.

2. They experience symptoms of withdrawal.
If they try to take a break from exercise, they experience withdrawal symptoms. Because exercise impact brain chemistry, this often expresses itself as anxiety, frustration or depression in the absence of exercise. 

3. Loss of control.
They may have good intentions of having a limited workout, but they can't stick to it. They just can't stop. They keep going, well past the point where it makes sense. They may plan to run for 30 minutes, but an hour or more later they are still at it.

4. It accounts for an excess of their time.
Exercise begins to eat their world. There is less and time for anything else. In fact, they may plan their entire life around exercise. They may take vacations that revolve around fitness activities. They may choose a career that involves fitness activities. 

5. They experience conflict.
Their friends or spouse may start complaining that they are unavailable because they are always at the gym. They cannot manage to make time for training to further their career because all their time is taken up with exercise.

6. They can't stop, even when it is harming them.
Exercise addicts often persist even after a doctor has told them to take a break. The first sign that there is a problem may show up after they get a repetitive stress injury. They go to a doctor who tells them to take a break from their workout so the injury can heal. But they can't. They keep going, even while the injury gets worse.

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health, but that doesn't mean it can't get out of hand. If you are finding that exercise is eating your world, causing conflict, and you seem just incapable of stopping in spite of it hurting you, you should speak to a professional about it.