Last week we published an article about how exercise can indeed become addictive. As written in that previous article, it is important to make sure that exercise does not become the focal part of your life and that you are able to balance everything in your life without putting exercise first and foremost.
What are the symptoms of being addicted to exercise? Well, to start, those who are addicted compulsively exercise. They like to make any opportunity that they can as one to exercise and go through feelings of heightening anxiety and anticipation. Eventually, the exercise addict will replace the need to exercise with feelings of depression and isolation. Another symptom of this disease is sleep disturbance. Those are all typical signs for anyone who is addicted to something; some more specifics signs are feeling the need to exercise at odd hours or at an intensity level that is much higher than average workouts. They exercise even though they are injured, and tend to have sore muscles and body aches. Also, cortisol is often released, and the amount of testosterone secreted in men is typically higher.
Those addicted usually write down all of their exercises in a journal of some sort and hate to miss anything that they had planned. If they do miss one of their sessions, they tend to get angry. Speaking of getting angry, questioning an exercise addict’s routine or criticizing them makes them go crazy.
Like most addictions, exercise addiction is curable. The first step, as always, is to acknowledge the addiction and commit to quitting. It is best to keep the addict from any form of exercise for a whole month. However, you can, of course, do something else to to feed their need to move around and exercise. Calming activities, such as yoga, meditation, and walking, are highly encouraged. You could also dance, sing, write, garden, paint, or something else that is artsy. The most important thing while fighting exercise addition is to maintain a healthy balance and to stimulate the addict’s mind. This way, they will be distracted and their body will be, too.
