Jessica posted a link to a great post on the Healthy Apron about Exercise Bulimia.
I think many of us, at some point, have probably been addicted to exercise. In my opinion, it’s VERY easy to get addicted to exercise because it’s good for us – right?! I don’t think you’ll meet many people who would discourage you from working out.
(Source)
According to this article, listed below are signs of exercise addiction:
- The intensity, duration, and/or frequency of your workouts are above and beyond the recommended 30 minutes a day. (For me – Always)
- You’re compulsive about getting in a workout, regardless of other commitments, the weather, or personal pains or injuries. (Sometimes)
- You’re fanatical about keeping track of your progress (distance, calories burned, mileage, etc.) in an exercise journal, and are obsessive about meeting or exceeding goals that are often above your physical abilities. (Never)
- You feel guilty or anxious when you miss a workout, and beat yourself up about it. (Sometimes)
- You constantly talk, read, research, and think about exercise. (Always)
As you can see, I definitely don’t keep a journal and I am not fanatical about numbers anymore. But one thing I AM guilty of is getting in more than 30 minutes a day, and I (like a lot of you have mentioned) still have a REALLY hard time taking a day off. When I was training for full marathons I didn’t feel guilty taking a rest day because I knew my body needed it, especially after a long run. But now that I’m not logging those long distance runs, I guess a part of me feels like my body doesn’t need that recovery time (although deep down, I know this isn’t true…)
However, I AM making progress in letting my schedule interfere with my workouts. For example, last week I was on my way to yoga when I decided to call my friend. She was in tears, really upset about something. By the time I finished talking to her, I would have been 15 minutes late to yoga. So I didn’t go, and I didn’t feel guilty about it at all. I had done a spin class in the morning, anyway, and it really wasn’t a big deal. The “old” me would have freaked out for missing a workout.
So I am slowly but surely overcoming that addiction. I think I am learning that in those times when I was a fanatic about exercising (moreso than now), my body didn’t look any better and I didn’t FEEL any better than I do now. In fact, I feel like I look and feel better now that I am a little bit more relaxed and try to dabble in all types of exercise, instead of focusing solely on running.
Have you struggled with exercise addiction in the past? If so, what have you learned throughout your recovery process?
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I don’t think getting more than the recommended 30 minutes a day is really a sign of addiction — most group fitness classes are at least 45 minutes. 30 is just a suggestion as far as I’m concerned.
That said, I did struggle with exercise addiction in the past, when I used to feel like I “needed” to spin and burn xxx calories every day. It took an injury that forced me to stop spinning to overcome it — once I stopped, my weight and body actually got BETTER because I started eating real, whole foods and making other subtle lifestyle changes. I realized I didn’t need to force myself to burn calories doing something I didn’t even love to look good.
Now when I exercise — and I DO exercise a lot, although it is no longer addiction, it is now a true love of what I am doing — I don’t wear a HRM (I don’t even own one anymore!) and I don’t consider calories at all. I work out now to be strong and healthy.
I’m with Dori on the 30 minutes. I think the true test is in the compulsive need to track and the obsession with working out so much so that it impacts your life. As a group fitness instructor- the line between work and working out is blurred. I’ve had to pull back on the number of classes I’m teaching before to make sure I don’t cross over into exercise obsession. Great post and important topic!
Great post, my dear. After reading your list, I definitely fall very closely to that line, closer than maybe I admit to myself sometimes. But – I’m aware of it and I know that I am strong enough to NOT let it overpower me.
Wow, this is SO ME too. And like my sis notes, I try my best not to let it get to the obsession point either, and/or the beat up phase…great post. and a good reminder that YES my body needs a rest day as much as I hate it
Wow girl, I can so relate to this! I have definitely had many periods of time in my life where I’ve dealt with exercise addiction – the worst being in college where I would panic if we were going out of town or had something planned that would make me miss a workout. My roommates actually approached me about it bc they recognized I had a problem. Thankfully now I live a bit more relaxed about my workout routine – finding 3 times a week to workout being my goal – however not going to lie in that I do get anxious if a “planned workout” gets missed or I go a few days without one. Thanks for this post, it’s comforting to know that there are many people out there goign through similar thoughts/feelings.
I definitely agree that I think a good majority of people in this community have all struggled with this at some point or another.
I’m aware that I often borderline this description. But I’ve loosened up a lot about it. I used to stick to a plan and deviation from it would cause unnecessary anxiety. I hated rest days and would try to find a way to be active without technically defining it as exercise. Now, I think I’ve slowed down a little and loosened up. I’m still very much in training for my next race, but if I lose a long run day, whatever. Rest days no longer freak me out. If I feel like doing elliptical over running, I’ll do it.
Currently, I seem to be in a bit of a rut, so it’s safe to bet everything will be cut short or changed in the next week or so. :p
Thanks for mentioning my post in your blog! I think it is SO important for other bloggers to share and raise awareness about this topic! Even though many bloggies may be aware of it, they still don’t recognize it in themselves!
Thanks for sharing! hopefully you influenced someone today!
I really look forward to my scheduled rest days….but I do tend to feel guilty if I miss a scheduled workout and I try to think of ways to make it up! Sometimes I feel like I still so new to working out that I’m afraid to stop pushing myself so hard lest I slip back into a couch-potato state.
That list does give me something to think about, though. Thanks for posting it!
I sometimes feel like I am a bit addicted too. But have noticed what you did – my body isn’t any different when I work out 7 days versus 5 or whatever.
But I am still struggling with this. I was so sick this week, and Tuesday was particularily bad – congested, even got a migraine… and was still thinking about running! I almost called a friend who I knew would tell me to take care of myself, but then finally made the decision on my own
And I was really upset when I had to be in the hospital for a week and couldn’t exercise. How selfish is that?
30 mins of exercise though? That seems low for a recommendation
I had an exercise addiction briefly – and then I realized that it was getting a little out of control. Nowadays, if I miss a workout, I don’t freak out. I try to get in some extra walking or something similar.
…that being said, when I wasn’t allowed to exercise for a couple of days because I had to get blood work done, it definitely put me REALLY on edge. I didn’t like needing to take a break.
I actually went to high school with a girl who was exercise bulemic, although I am not sure that term was even used 24 years ago (God I am old!).
But she ate shit like pizza and cookies, but still wanted the cheerleading body, so she exercised 3+ hours a day in order to eat whatever she wanted.
Glad that you can step away and not feel guilty for not exercising!
Oh I most definitely have fit the criteria for exercise bulimia in my past. I used to make myself run in 100+ degree weather for an hour everyday and would not let myself ever stop to walk. I would FREAK out if something tried to get in my way of running. And even if I’d been out there for an hour running, I’d still come back and feel guilty like I could be doing MORE. So I’d put in a pilates DVD, do crunches, and push-ups for an hour afterwards. The worst memory of all of this was when I started to have low blood sugar symptoms during a run (because I wasn’t fueling properly). I felt dizzy, shaky, had blurry vision, but I was so stubborn about sticking with my running schedule perfectly that I just made myself keep going. When I got back, Andrew found my on the ground and I could barely move. He was SO angry with me that I had pushed it to that point. At the time I was mad at him for that, but now I see that he was concerned and trying to get me to snap out of those obsessive ways. ALSO, it later changed into this… I used to overeat on the weekends and feel guilty and then make myself go out and run 10 miles afterwards. It felt like barbed wire was in my belly b/c there was so much junk in there that I was trying to burn off. Oh wow, I was a mess. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO much happier now that I am a totally different person and that I workout for ONE reason only – health!! I wish that for everyone!!
I’m so, so happy that you’re making progress too and just know that I’m always here for you and cheering you on so that you are in the happiest possible place!!!!! 
my exercising has seriously been on the back burner lately. i’m not sure what my deal is? maybe burnt out? i ran once last week and once this week. pretty lame…..
It’s funny that you wrote about this because I was just thinking about it last night. I don’t know that I meet any of the criteria of exercise addiction but one. I feel crappy mentally when I don’t work out. I sort of beat myself up about it. I wish that wasn’t the case.
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i think it is a little irresponsible of whoever is writing the “signs of overexercising” to give out numbers. thats like saying you can’t have an eating disorder unless you only eat “xx” or weigh “xx.” numbers are totally relative to a person and their situation. for one person, 45 minutes working out might be fine! for another, any workout at ALL may be over exercising. its impossible to compare bodies, disorders, and situations like that.
i think that this stuff is less “how long you work out” and more “what is your attitude about it.”
exercising addition is mental AND physical. im finding meditation may help me overcome and move through both of those facets.
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