When does fitness become an addiction? Why are some of you overtraining?

fitkansaschick

fitkansaschick

Cathlete
I love my many fitness forums (on one there is even a chat room). But I am beginning to notice a trend, the need/desire to over train.
So I ask this question of you: When does fitness become an addiction? And has overtraining benefited you? I am concerned.

I have read posts (in my many forums I visit) about people doing more than one (hard)cardio video a day for example. I do have one friend that has added 3 nights of cardio to her routine and it has seemed to help her.

I read about someone that rode more than 25 miles on there stationary bike for their cardio workout for that days cardio. it took them several hours.

If a little of something is good, is a lot better? Is it benefiting you? Is this none of my business?

Sometimes I hear/read about peoples workouts and mine are a lot less. I have never overtrained and I simply do not understand it.

If you are working our for hours each day, what part of your life have you given up?

Has our quest for thinness gotten out of hand? Am I for example fighting a battle that perhaps I am not meant to win. At 5'3" maybe I am not supposed to get under 125 pounds.

Just some thoughts ! :-hmmm
 
I think overtraining is a very individual thing. One person's fitness routine may be way too much for one person, while it feels right for someone else. Personally, I enjoy long, intense cardio sessions in addition to regular strength training. Right now I have the luxury of time to do this and do not feel like I am sacrificing anything to get my workout in.
Physically, I would say it is not benefitting me, but I do get a lot of satisfaction emotionally from my workouts. I have a long history of eating disorders and used to use exercise as a means of weight control, but don't anymore. Even with the frequency, intensity and duration of my workouts I am overweight at this time.
I definitely don't think that if a little is good, a lot is better. I believe that you can get great results with shorter workout sessions.
Hope this made some sense - I don't feel like I expressed myself very well!!
Erica
 
I have never posted anything in my life...I've been a "peeping Tom" on this site for quite awhile. However, this piqued my interest. Exercise was (and is) an addiction for me...an exercise bulemic. My whole thought processes revolved around when I was going to exercise next...how was I going to "perform" during my workouts...who was going to "dare" interrupt me during my workouts. I lost 20 pounds in four months (and I only weighted 118 lbs (5'7") to start with). I felt EXTREMELY guilty whenever I ate. I survived on bagels and poptarts for about two years (yeah, I know, those Poptarts are great for you! HA!) Everybody told me that I looked terrible...yet still I felt that I had to continue my habits. Four years have passed (I just turned 39) and I still worry about if I'll have time to work out on certain days. My thoughts are still consumed by this. My diet has improved...I have regained weight...but the guilt remains. I have quit socializing (didn't really do so much in the past anyway) because it takes time away from my workouts. I have even missed family reunions because of my obsession. Most of all, I have missed out on some of my sons' activities (I have three sons). Have I sought help? Once...the doctor said I was too old to develop exercise bulemia...that if I had this, I would have developed this in my teens. Just my own experience.

I would just like to say how much I LOVE this forum. I've never
visited one that is so caring and friendly. I have yet to read a rude or negative post. I'm an RN and let me tell you that some of the nursing forums are RUTHLESS to say the least. Maybe if ya'll (I'm from Memphis...the south!) are nice to me, I'll have the courage to write again.

Can't wait for my new videos!!!!
 
RX,

I have never had exercise bulemia nor have I had any kind of eating disorder but I just wanted to say welcome to the forum. I do hope you post again. Maybe since that one doctor was not very helpful you could seek another one that might be more sensitive to your needs. Life is too short to miss out on family gatherings and whatever else you miss because of exercise. Anyway, I hope we can be some support for you. I am from the south also. I live in Birmingham, Alabama.

Bye ya'll!

Kelly
 
RE: Welcome

Many of us on this forum have struggled with weight/exercise issues and your thoughts are valuable to everyone. Health care professionals probably get harder hit because many folks have the "you should know better" attitude. It is my personal opinion many doctors still do not understand eating/exercise disorders, and I wish they would say "I don't know" instead of telling us it's all in our heads. Anywho, it sounds like you are dealing with your issues head-on and that is all any of us can do--take it one day at a time. I hope you continue to post and reach out for support, because you certainly deserve it! These types of problems can make you feel terribly alone, and you don't have to be. Hope to hear from you again soon, and best of health and happiness.
 
RE: Welcome

Hi Rx,
Just wanted to welcome you as well - glad you posted!!
I have no idea if this would be helpful to you or not, but have you ever considered going on meds for OCD? Exercise bulimia is definitely compulsive behavior and I was wondering if that could possibly help you at all. I think it is very hard to find a medical doctor who will acknowledge exercise bulimia as a problem, but maybe a therapist could help if it is really interfering with your life.
By the way, I'm 5'7" with 3 boys as well. I had exercise bulimia for a few years. I have cut way back, but still exercise more than most and don't take rest days.
Hope you continue to post!
Erica
 
Yes this is the land of excess why not exercise. I have 100 lbs to lose and while the program that I am embarking on is to some excessive, I feel that because of where I am weight wise and years of yoyoing I have to do something to get my metabolism up. I am also borrowing from a magazine article i read about four women who agreed to train with a friend of theirs their workouts were intense double weight training sessions different things of course and an hour of cardio plus 20 minute ab work one day where they went on a long run. One woman in the group was 260 pounds when she started at the end of six months she had lost most of the weight she now runs six days a week does some cycling and weight trains 3 days per week. So there is a reason sometimes for excess. But obviously this woman understands balance because she is not on the same regimine she doesn't have the same goals anymore. I just think overtraining or what may be considered overtraining for some depends on your reasons or goals. Ultimately balance is what is important.
 
FitKansasChick

Hi,
Well here'e my non-professional opinion. I agree with the others that posted that overtraining is a personal thing. If you are giving up family functions and social activities just so you can train for 3 hours every day, chances are you are overtraining and obsessed with fitness. If you are training for a marathon and training for 3 hours a day once or twice a week to prepare and doing your regular routine the rest of the week, that's another story.

I beleive the same is true with ocassionally have a "marathon workout day". If every once in a while you find yourself with time to spare and to yourself and decide to spend it doing a bunch of your favorite videos / exercise activities there's nothing wrong with that.

I think the important thing about exercise is that it makes you feel healthy. I'm 5'2" and about 125 lbs myself. I have come to realize that I'm not 17 anymore (or 25 for that matter ;-)). I have resolved to be happy that I am healthy, strong, and I'm doing something positive to remain that way.

Sounds to me like you already have a healthy attitude and there's nothing wrong with being concerned for other people, but if someone talks about an excessive day or even week they may or may not be doing this all the time. Thanks for bringing up some good points. As always, "Balance in Life is Golden".


Dawn W
 
FitKansasChick

I think it is an individual matter. I had excersise bulimia for years too. I severly resticted my calories and worked out up to 3 sometimes 4 hours a day. I really damaged my body and I got stress fractures in my pelvis for 8 months. With that experience it really opened my eyes that it was just not worth it to beat my body into to the ground. I couldn't really do excersise with any impact and it drove me nuts. When I healed I vowed to myself to be as healthy as I can be.

Just because someone works out for 2 or 3 hours a day, doesn't mean they are obsessed or overtrained though. My girlfriend is a trialthlete and works out up to five hours a day. She looks great and healthy, not at all emaciated. She fuels her workouts and her body is getting the nutrients she needs. I have seen her eat, and I don't know how she can put so much food in her mouth, but obviously she is listening to her body.

I think if your body is tired and chronically sore, that is when you are overtrained. I completely ignored these warning signs. I also think that when it becomes such a chore to excersise when you usually can't wait too, that is another sign.

This is just my $.02 but I think it all comes down to the person and caloric intake. While not everyone will get to be that magic number they think they should be on the scale without seriously doing some damage, others can get their effortlessy. It is all about exceptance and not going over those boundaries. What works for you may not work for someone else.

Take care,
Christine
 
Rxrn3men

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-28-01 AT 01:43PM (Est)[/font][p]Get another Doctor!!!
Its impressive how wrong they can be ...... innattentive to what they are being told too.
 
I thought your questions, FitKansasChick, were really provocative. I think I have stepped up my workouts lately, but I'm a college professor and during the summer I have more time to be thoughtful--about fitness instead of abstract ideas. It's rather nice to shift to more concrete and physical ideas or at least have more variety (I am doing some writing, reading). During the school year, I just grab a tape at 6 A.M. according to my mood and go with it, and frequently my mind is on something I have to do later--a lecture, a committee meeting; but I really wanted to shape my workouts so that I had some goals and, for heaven's sake, some results. I really would like to lose my perennial 10 pounds and get some more muscle and flatter abs. I also had some ankle fractures that robbed me of two months of serious cardio and I felt like I had to regain some of what had been lost from that hiatus. But, all that being said, I am not obsessed. I have added more weight work, do abs everyday, and I've been rotating some very tough (for me) cardio. I just bought some heavier weights, too, in anticipation of the new tapes. It adds up to about an hour more of exercise a week, and I have seen some results. I always take a day off, and when I go on vacation, I don't worry. I don't feel like I am overtraining, but I don't know how things will be when I am once again under the pressures of teaching. I might really become self-indulgent, since I'm on sabbatical for a year. We'll see. Thanks for the questions!
 
RE: Balance

I personally think that if people avoid social situations and family functions to exercise, then that can be a problem. That being said, however, if I choose to workout for an hour after work instead of going for a beer, that is another thing. But to avoid a fun pot luck supper or a ball windup up party, etc. in orde to workout can be problematic.

We need to make time for all the aspects of our lives and if one overpowers too much, then we lose our balance.

I was a little more obsessive in the past than I am now. It used to be that I would not go away for a weekend unless I could figure in a way to exercise. I will still try to exercise IF IT FITS, however, if it does not, I know I can get back at it when I get home. Sometimes I think other parts of our lives can cause the obssessive compulsive behaviour. For example, I was married to an extremely jealous and possessive alcohlic man up until a year ago. I saw exercise as one of my only ways to have some "space" and some time to myself and therefore would never miss a workout. Now that I have a more healthy balance in my personal life, I find that my exercise is more balanced. My exercise habit adds to the quality of my life but does not take away from the other fun things.

As well, I don't think anybody deliberately sets out to overtrain.

Kim
 
Hi Kim!

I don't have time to write much now but wanted to say that I am so happy for you that things have worked out so well for you. You really DO sound balanced and just wanted to share that with you!:)

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
Great post! I have noticed with concern some patterns of what seems to be excessive exercise, and I can certainly identify with it since I had an eating disorder when I was a teenager, and it wants to resurface even decades later.

Too bad that we are bombarded with magazine articles with skinny little girls as the fitness models (like in Fitness and Shape), and we think we have to exercise our way into looking like that. There's no way with any amount of exercise that I could look like that, not with my body type! You can only do so much with the genetic hand you were dealt.

We can be sensible and eat smart and exercise smart and reach our goals without having it become the focal point of our lives! Bless us all for coming here, and doing something which can be positive for ourselves!

Bless our sensible and patient role model, Cathe, who tries to gently point us in the right direction!!!!
 
While I certainly agree exercise can be overdone, I think it's great to be completely taken up with it-as many of the posters here seem to be. Our world has changed so much. In my grandmother's day, housework was grueling. She had to walk to get her groceries. We live in a world of conveniences that may be stealing some of our good health. My mother, who turns 79 today, raised 13 children and in the early days, it was tough. She has many conveniences but she works hard and she's strong and in good shape for her age. She does not have a formal fitness plan.

There's a huge difference between an avid exerciser and someone who overtrains. The educated crowd knows when to not train but having exercise as a central component of one's life is a good thing. Exercise is good for the body, the mind and the soul. We know when it's more than it should be and then it's time to stop. There will always be people who do it for the wrong reason and in such a way that it is an illness. They need help to with issues of control. They will overtrain, they will starve, they will purge. THEY have to get help for themselves. They have to choose to want to live a healthy life. I know from reading the many posts here that Catheites are very healthy and unobsessed with fitness, but very committed to it.:)

Bobbi
 
Great thread! Good opportunity for self-examination . . .

I agree with the posters who discuss one's attitude toward their workouts, although exercise addiction is a complex matrix of attitude, behavior and consequences. I do believe that if an exerciser is driven by the anticipated visible results of a workout scheme, including body measurements AND scale weight, the risk of addiction is far greater. However, if a person is primarily driven by the internal benefits of working out - including how one feels physically/emotionally in the hours afterward - as well as performance measures, the risk is somewhat smaller. Yes, I do agree we're in a thin-obsessed culture, and I'm a former food bulimic, but it IS possible to crawl out of that mental obsession, and train hard, long AND smart.

Personally, I find exercise just plain fun now. It's something I enjoy doing for the sake of doing, as well as for the myriad benefits. If I go overboard (as my husband sometimes feels I do), it's because anything I enjoy doing I want to do for a long time. And, I think the real pathology in industrialized culture is the lack of physical demands in daily life - only us exercisers seem to notice that, and us exercisers start to look like the weirdos because we just like to move!

Thanks for bringing up the topic!

Annette
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-30-01 AT 11:39AM (Est)[/font][p]I suppose that my exercise schedule could look daunting to some and even crazy to normal, a-tape-a-day kind of exercisers. But, I have a training goal that requires me put in hours of cardio and heavy weight training on a daily basis. My husband, his brother and I are planning a 2 1/2 week "vacation" in the Dolomites the beginning of September. We plan to climb and/or hike daily. In order to climb all day and enjoy it, and in order to hike with a pack and enjoy it, you must be in peak physical condition. So, three to four hours of strenuous exercise a day doesn't even compare to what we'll experience in Italy. Climbing mountains is hard work and you earn your view! So it's not an exercise addiction...it's necessary.
Amy
 
Hi Rxrn3men,

I think you need to get a second opinion. I developed anorexia nervosa and exercise addiction in my teens and late twenties. I was fortunate not to kill myself in the process, but I did damage my metabolism badly and it took nearly two years to get things back to normal. I understand very well the all-consuming thoughts about exercise and food. What helped me was psychotherapy; I don't think most family physicians are equipped to deal with this. My problem was lack of self-esteem and a reaction to stress in my life (my father was very ill and had lost his job, I was graduating and didn't have a job, etc). As long as I kept focused on my workouts and eating, I didn't have to think about the other problems in my life (or so I thought). It also gave me the illusion of "control"--I felt like I was so much in control, superior to all those other people who couldn't control themselves. LOL. What I finally realized was that I wasn't "in control" at all--my compulsions were controlling me. I didn't have any social life either.

I think you can develop a problem at any age. If you feel you have a problem, then you probably do. It took a lot of courage to post what you did. I strongly encourage you to contact a caring therapist and discuss your feelings. It took me far too long to seek help and I lost so much time. I have a healthy relationship with food and exercise today and can honestly say that I love myself too much to abuse myself like I used to. I never thought I'd ever feel that way, but trust me, it can get better, MUCH better. Life is too short to spend all your time feeling guilty.

Wendy
 
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