Some healthy behaviors turn harmful when done to excess. Here is one man’s view of how exercise itself can become an obsession.
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Everyone has heard a story or two about “exercise addiction.” Often it’s dismissed as a joke or a silly reference. You may have also done it. It’s also not uncommon to see references to “exercise addiction” being thrown around when someone is going to the gym every day. However, such dismissive comments fail to see a real problem. Exercise addiction is no joke—it becomes a problem when exercise gets in the way of relationships, jobs, school or your own happiness. I don’t think we talk about this, but it affects many men and needs immediate addressing.
I first became aware of it being a problem for me when I started working out at a boxing gym in Toronto. I became obsessed with bodybuilding and combat sports when I was a in my freshmen year of college. So, I joined local gyms and tried to be friends with the much older men who came to work out. In Toronto, I got to know a couple of guys who were roughly the same age as me. They were extremely dedicated to their gym schedules and never missed a date. I was quite impressed, and tried to emulate them. I was too young to notice that my group’s obsession with working out was not at all healthy.
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Coming to the gym after classes became a ritual. I planned everything else in my life around working out.
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We worked out everyday combining cardio and strength training. Even though I considered my exercise partners friends, we didn’t hang out much outside the gym. When we talked, we talked about fitness related topics. I really appreciated these two as my buddies. I didn’t have that many friends at college, so coming to the gym after classes became almost like a ritual. I planned everything else in my life around working out. Possible dates, extracurricular activities and mid-term breaks? I skipped them if they interfered with my working out.
My weight fluctuated a lot, too. No one else could see anything wrong with me. After all, unlike other kids who skipped school to smoke pot, I was working out. I didn’t realize I had a problem until one of my gym buddies went to watch a Toronto MMA fight and came back with a broken arm. He had gotten into a scuffle at the event, but didn’t let that halt his gym schedule. He would work his legs, and attempted one arm pushups. I looked at him and realized that he could easily have been me.
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Back then, exercise addiction was not that well known. Still, there is no official classification for exercise addiction. However, researchers have estimated that close to 0.5% of the general adult population suffer from this condition. Exercise addiction, just like other types of addictions, is a compulsive behavioral problem. If you find yourself needing (not wanting) to go to the gym, spending a lot of time at the gym, or giving up other activities for the sake of working out, you may be addicted to exercise. If you feel “withdrawal” symptoms like tingly sensations when you don’t work out, you certainly have a problem.
Exercise addiction is not a condition that should be easily dismissed. Initially, I thought I had an eating disorder and sought counseling. It was after a while that I realized it was exercise I was addicted to, and started cognitive behavioral therapy. It can be hard to spot, but be aware of this condition and don’t succumb to it. And don’t forget to talk about it with men who might be going through the same thing.
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Source: 30dB.com – Exercise Addiction
“At 94% negative social media agrees exercise addiction is a problem and is mentioned in same breath as alcoholism, eating disorders and sex addition.” — Howard K. 36db
Photo: FT Architects Boxing Club / Flickr
Mike, great article. I think you’re absolutely right to say this is just like any other compulsive behavioral problem.
How long would you say it takes to “recover” from something like that, once identified? Or is that even an appropriate term to use here?