Exercise Addiction

Do you know someone like this:

Robin wakes up three mornings a week at 5am to run five miles before she takes her children to school and heads to work. Every weekday evening she goes to the gym to attend a yoga or aerobics class. On the weekends she weight trains. All of her family and social activities are scheduled around Robin's exercise regime. Her family, particularly her children, complain that she is rarely home. And despite having a stress fracture, Robin continues to run.

Many individuals, myself included, utilize exercise as a vehicle to promote wellness and overall well-being. For some, however, exercise involves body obsession or is tightly integrated in body image distortions. For others, exercise is a problematic behavioral symptom of larger concern with an eating disorder.

Although the vast majority of people who exercise do so in a healthy, balanced manner, there exists a small percentage of the population, such as Robin, that have an exercise dependency or addiction.

Here are some signs that suggest exercise has become problematic:

• Rigid adherence to working out.
• Dependency or compulsion to exercise.
• Irritability when even 1 work out is missed.
• Exercising in addition to planned workout time if one has the opportunity.
• Loss of perspective on exercise as a PART (not the central focus) of a balanced life.
• Exercise affects family, social and/or career obligations or other important areas of life.
  
• Events with important others are skipped, canceled or lied about in order to exercise.
• Exercising despite being injured or ill.
• Fixation on calories burned or weight loss achieved.
  
• Obsession with specific body parts, toning specific areas, gaining muscle mass etc.
• Exercising in secret or lying about time spent working out.

If you know someone who is struggling with over-exercise, exercise dependency, or exercise addiction, it is important that you approach the individual with your concerns. Describe the impact that their working out has had in your relationship and other important areas of the individuals life. Recommend help knowing that this person will likely deny having a problem. Trained therapist can assist in helping individuals deal with exercise addiction and help determine if exercise is a part of a larger problem.

Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.



MindBodyHealth
1115 Grant Street, Suite 103
Denver, CO 80203

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