To wonder at what point people can be considered addicted to exercise ?

[INXS998]

I think I used to be. I would run to the gym, work out and then run back, and i'd feel guilty if I had a day off. I also started to get very addicted to running and to chasing PBs (personal bests).
Now, I just make sure I walk my 10,000 steps per day, and I do either a run, dance or gym 3 times a week, 4 in summer/if i'm not working.

I have a friend who exercises 7 days a week and does 3 exercises classes in a row, one after the other. Another who will do a 5k run then straight to the gym for a 2-hour workout.
I no longer have a 6 pack but I think I have a healthy and balanced approach to exercise. I think doing several workouts in a day is extreme, but that's just my opinion.
Has anyone else ever considered themselves addicted ?

I am a little I guess. I run every day do a spin class once a week go to a few crossfit classes. I like the feeling of being shattered after a good workout.

I did used to weigh 18 stone though so that keeps me motivated to not go back to that.

I used to sometimes swim twice a day. I will also prioritise exercise over social arrangements though I can't work out whether that is just sensible prioritising of my health - I have limited time and can't do both.

I realised I had a problem when I was asked to be godmother to a friends child and I left as soon as the service ended (ie before the food/party after) so I could go to the gym.

I was talking to a builder about this the other day

His entire working life is exercise, yet we hear the term exercise addiction. I’m not sure. After Grenfell, the fire brigade came to reassess our policy and looking at the building. One of them told me she works out 2 hours a day before her shift, and always before because she might be attending an incident so can’t do after.

She’s on the move a lot with heavy equipment. I find it very impressive, so anyone who works out a lot, I just, think, great.

caulk I don’t see why that’s a problem if it was a genuine preference.

Any fans of Jonny Lee Miller? He does ultra marathons and martial arts. I just think it’s awesome. Runs to and from work when filming or on stage.

I think it is if you struggle to have a day off it

I've wondered about this. I'm a member of a running club and definitely see it in a few people.

There's someone who has done parkrun every single week for something like 5 years. He doesn't have kids, but surely he must have been too unwell at least once? Another who prides themselves on not having gone more than 2 days without running in a year. So many people who carry on runnning with an injury for fear of losing fitness (I'm also guilty of doing this).

I'm not sure where the line is between enthusiastic and addicted tbh. I suspect I'm not too far away from the line.

This used to be me, I’d NEED to exercise every day and prioritise exercise over other things.
I knew it had gone too far when I ran 54 miles in one go and was immediately cross with myself for not doing it a bit faster.
Now due to life circumstances I exercise in moderation and I am so much happier for it. No, like you I no longer have the 6 pack but instead I now have an actual life .

I probably am. I’ve been a club runner since my early teens with varying degrees of success. I have to make time for at least a 5k most days. I do also run to work (which is 5k each way) but this is genuinely significantly quicker than driving/public transport due to city centre traffic.

I just like it and miss it when I can’t/I’m injured.

I did a difficult gym class morning and while I walking like jelly to my car, one of the people in the class was going into the gym for a workout! I think that is too much.

I've just done 3 classes back to back this morning, and do 8 classes a week, but will happily miss some and not feel guilty most of the time. Some times I do feel really bad for not being able to make it.

So who knows when it becomes a problem, for me this isn't for others it would be.

I do nine assorted exercise classes a week. Someone who does similar classes does twenty each week. That would be too much for me.

I'm in awe of anyone who can do 9 classes a week! I do 3 gym classes and 2 pool ones maximum and more often I only get to do 3 classes a week max. I'm in no way addicted but I do wonder if I'm doing enough to make any difference!

It’s interesting - I used to decline social events on my gym day but I was only going once a week! For years I did it. I am going twice a week now and will miss my session because I want to see people.
So I think it will depend a bit on how often people are going in a week and how many things they would turn down.

I think it's when you mentally punish yourself for not going.
I was at the gym the other day and a man was getting on the treadmill, straight away cranking it to go as fast as it could, he'd sprint for about 5 secs then fly off the back and get really angry with himself, shouting and hitting his head before planking with his face mm from the treadmill belt still going super fast. He'd do this over and over calling himself a 'useless idiot' and when one of the staff came over to talk to him he said he was 'teaching himself not skip a workout ever again'

I used to go to a gym before work, but if running late would go after. There was one very fit woman who was ALWAYS there working out no matter when I went. She had hardly any body fat and was always exercising. I can only think she was there twice a day or maybe even all day (she wasn't staff). Addicted.
My son (who is going into the fitness industry as a career) works out twice a day six days a week (cardio session for one, weights for the other) but I don't think he's obsessed as he can also take breaks for a week or so without stressing about it.

Argh- I accidentally voted ‘YABU’- sorry, I didn’t mean to and don’t think you’re being unreasonable!

I think I was addicted for a while. I was in the gym an awful lot, and when I wasn’t there I was feeling guilty about it. For me, it was tied in with some very restrictive and controlled eating, and an overall fear of gaining fat.

Eventually I became a personal trainer and group exercise instructor, which could have seemed like the wrong choice for someone who was already obsessive, but I think it has actually turned out to be the best thing for me. Yes, I still get a lot of work-outs because I am teaching classes throughout the week, but I am getting paid for it, and now I never feel guilty about not exercising because I know I do enough. I also never weigh myself and no longer restrict calories/obsessively weigh my food etc.

I see it now from the other side of the fence and I notice the people who are coming to an awful lot of classes. If we have concerns about individuals, we can pass them on to our management. I have known people to have their memberships suspended for this reason; usually if they are severely underweight. It’s a tricky thing for gyms to manage!

when you mentally punish yourself for not going

That's a good threshold to look for, a 'symptom'.

I was an exercise bulemic (teenager). I tried to exercise off calories I ate, in an obsessive way.

I think of an exercise addict as something else, not what I was. Addicted to the endorphins or somehow obsessed that exercise is more important in their lives than everything else. Nowadays I like exercise a lot, I plan each day around what activity I hope to do, I often have no appetite or can't sleep if I don't exercise so it's important to my health. I think exercise is quite important to my emotional resilience, too.

Yet, some days, exercise can't happen & that's ok, too. I don't worry about it.

TitsalinaBumSquash

That's horrifying and really not healthy physically or mentally.

I think I probably am. I do a daily exercise challenge, at the moment a squat and press up one until I get to 100 on each. I then do a 45 minute workout everyday at home, sometimes I’ll do a bit more in the evening as well.

Fridays - Sunday I also do an additional hour at the gym with a PT session every four weeks.

I did used to do more, before I was a parent I would go to the gym twice a day when I was working, when I wasn’t working I’d exercise until I was ill. So while it’s still excessive it isn’t as bad as it was.

I used to be a rugby player (prop) so a certain amount of exercise was needed for that, but you see a six pack etc forming and you just want more and more. For me it was made worse by a fairly active ED, it’s more common than you would think.

I like to think I have a healthy relationship with exercise. I have 2x PT sessions a week and 1 or 2 body combat classes depending on if I feel like it. I may or may not go to the gym once a week, depending on what else I have on. If I miss a session I do feel a bit guilty but it's not the end of the world.

I have a friend who was definitely addicted to exercise. She would go to the gym 7 days a week and get up early every day and run or use her exercise bike before work. At the gym she 'had' to burn so many hundreds calories before she could come home. She would get very anxious if she missed s session and do double the next day to make it up. She didn't see that she had a problem. This all was triggered by a bereavement in her life and lasted for several years, until funnily enough a second bereavement had the exact opposite effect, and she hasn't been to the gym for about 4 months and only exercises for an hour a day on her exercise bike now.

Having rest days is meant to be good for you though I think

Addiction is something you can’t control isn’t it. It invades your normal life. If you cannot function without certain exercise levels then it’s Likely an addition, most ppl feel better after exercise and so missing a few sessions would be a downer for sure, but it shouldn’t be an extreme reaction, you shouldn’t be punishing yourself for having to miss a session or two and you should be able to recognise when your body needs to rest.
What is an acceptable moderate level for some would be a drop in the ocean for others, it’s all relative.
Pre baby (don’t have the time and am breastfeeding atm) I would often walk 5 miles with dog first thing, do a decent weight session then run hill sprints on the treadmill and probably walk another few miles on the evening. Sometimes I’d do a spin class as well. Worked for me but maybe wasn’t necessary.

You are definitely supposed to have rest days or LISS days. Trainers tend to say two a week. I will do a fitness class then go straight to the gym, but on session is cardio, the other weights. I wouldn’t do cardio then a run.

All of my exercise is LISS, ha!