The Fallout of Obsessive Exercise

As we enter into the holiday season, many of us are already thinking about our Thanksgiving plans, Christmas parties, and New Year’s festivities — all occasions marked by food. Enjoying yourself at these events may mean you stray from your usual eating habits, which in turn leads you to feel guilt and shame. These feelings, then, may drive you to compulsive or obsessive exercise in an attempt to “undo” your binge or higher-than-normal consumption. 

In today’s blog post, we want to consider the fallout of obsessive exercise and the importance of allowing your body to rest and recover.

To start, let’s differentiate exercise as a part of a healthy routine and obsessive exercise. Check-in with yourself and think about whether or not the following four mindsets describe your relationship to fitness.

Working out regardless of injury or illness

This behavior is very common in individuals with compulsive exercise tendencies. You may push yourself to exercise even if you tweaked a muscle or woke up with a low-grade fever. As dietitian Elaina Efird, RDN, CD, CEDRD, CSSD explains in a YouTube video, “it is perfectly appropriate to give yourself time off to heal from the injury or illness.” 

Prioritizing exercise over a balanced lifestyle

Are you finding time to exercise no matter what your schedule demands? It’s one thing if exercise slots into your daily routine (i.e. you make time to workout before work or school). It’s a problem, though, if it starts to take priority over other things in your life, like time with friends or family. 

Elaina shares a common example: “Let’s say someone asked if you wanted to grab dinner on a Thursday night. If your only reason for saying no was because you would miss your workout, that is when it would be compulsive exercise.” People often avoid social situations because they may mess up their fitness routine, and that can quickly become problematic.

Not taking any rest days

At least one rest day per week is a very important component of healthy workout habits. “I have worked with Division 1 athletes, and even they — at an elite level — give themselves a rest day,” Elaina explains. It’s okay if your rest day includes stretching, foam rolling, and/or gentle walking as long as it doesn’t involve any intense exercise. 

Feeling guilt or sadness for missing a workout

Let’s say your car breaks down on the way to the gym and you miss your workout because you’re stuck at the repair shop for the rest of the day. Do you feel overwhelmed by feelings of shame or even depression because you didn’t stick to your intended routine? If so, it’s time to rethink your relationship to exercise. 

If you’re struggling with obsessive exercise, there are some ways to decrease your compulsion and shift into better fitness habits.

First, it’s important to acknowledge the problem and focus on intentionally breaking your habits. Before each exercise session, ask yourself, “Why do I do this workout?” If it’s because you genuinely love it or because it helps to decrease your stress and improve your focus, that’s great! If the answer is solely for the purpose of weight loss or because you feel like you have to, it’s time to make small shifts. Focus on finding an exercise that you truly love, whether it’s trail running with a friend or a dance cardio class after work. Walking is okay too! “There’s a stigma that you have to be doing intense exercise for it to ‘count,’” Elaina shares. “And that’s simply not true.” 

Once you find exercise that you like, create a routine that’s appropriate and allows for flexibility. For instance, aim to go to the gym four times each week. From there, set performance goals, like running a 5K race by Christmas or biking 18 miles at a certain speed by your next birthday. Don’t let food consumed or calories burned be your primary motivator.

It’s also important to address obsessive exercise because of the physical implications of this disordered thinking.

It’s not uncommon for compulsive exercisers to experience chronic injuries as a result of their fitness habits. These injuries may include tendonitis, shin splints, stress fractures, and shoulder impingement. Additionally, you may notice that you’re failing to hit your performance goals despite consistent training. You may even experience excessive soreness that lasts for several days.

Too much exercise and not enough fuel (calories) can also lead to osteopenia and/or osteoporosis, which signifies low bone density. “For women, bone density reaches a point in the late 20s where it’s no longer going to improve. Until then, you can develop healthy bone density with good eating and exercise habits,” Elaina explains. “Once you hit 30, that’s it — you’re no longer going to build bone minerals.”

Remember: With the right mindset and professional guidance (if needed), you can shift your approach to exercise from a disordered behavior to a part of a healthy lifestyle

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