What Are You: Health Freak or Exercise Addict?

Addiction is simply a negative term if it does not relate to positive aspects like addiction for love, care and compassion. Again, exercise is a positive term, but when addiction gets connected with it, the same term may carry a negative tone. In other words, God may appear to be as a perfect villain due to the conspiracy of some people. Hence exercise addiction is destined to bring you undesirable effects. But how can you differentiate between the optimal level of exercise and the levels that will categorize you as an addict. So how much is too much? Exercise requires commitment but it never demands addiction. Being obsessed with exercise is not a good idea.

The Classical Symptoms That Portray Exercise Addiction

    * Withdrawal symptoms when stopped with the exercise sessions. These symptoms can be characterized by irritability, unable to concentrate etc. when not engaged in activities.
    * Showing tolerance to the activity denoting an increased amount of that activity.
    * Getting obsessed with the activity to such an extent that the person starts avoiding his usual duties and responsibilities.
    * Exercising even when sick or injured.
    * Exercising to the point of pain and sometimes beyond that.
    * Working out in an isolated fashion, away from others.
    * Increasing the exercise timings.
    * Maintaining a rigid exercise routine.

The Negative Effects of Over-Exercising

    * Risk of dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.
    * An increased tendency to suffer from insomnia.
    * Increase in the amount of stress hormones in the body.
    * Overuse injuries like bone damage and injuries to other structures around the joints. This is because, working out more requires fats and calories in the same manner. These same calories are also required to build up the body. But this calorie is not provided to them due to the extra demands placed on their bodies as a result of over exercising. Hence, there are chances of injuries.
    * Women may face menstrual abnormalities.

What are the Reasons Behind Exercise Addiction?

    * Usually the major cause behind exercise addiction is to look good, that is, to enhance the physical appearance. Today's youngsters are increasingly getting conscious of their physique and appearance. They are more inclined towards developing good appearances to look and feel good. But what they don't know is how much time is required to be spent on exercise without affecting the other daily activities of their lives. A person should refrain from pushing himself or herself too much!
    * Other reasons can be low self esteem, eating disorders, a distorted body image or a way to escape from the usual daily routine.
    * Exercise increases the level of endorphins in the body. Endorphins are substances that are secreted naturally from the body and act as narcotics, reducing the level of pain perceived and giving a sense of euphoria. So this feeling can also cause addiction.

Treatment

Just like other types of addictions, exercise addiction will also require treatment. You need great amount of commitment to stick to an exercise regimen. And you need the same amount of commitment to quit. Sadly, you may need to stay away from aerobics and weight training for months. During this period, the addict should divert his energy to fulfilling his hobbies or in meditation. Finding out the true cause of the addiction is extremely important. If it has resulted from depression, then appropriate activities should be suggested to increase his self esteem and to instill a sense of self confidence.

Quantifying the right amount of exercise is very important to get the optimal benefits from it; otherwise it's just foolishness. People will just relate you as a maniac! And you will be portrayed as a "mad fan" who is trying to imitate "fitness Gods and Goddesses" like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Dolph Lundgren and Bipasa Basu, Halle Berry or Janice Dickinson!