This is definitely going to be the year you conquer your goals; you’ve signed up for a gym membership, and enlisted a nutrition counselor.
But immersed in your new health regime, you start feeling fatigued instead of refreshed, as your trainer had promised. You’re having trouble sleeping, though your carbs and proteins are organized. You’re snapping at everyone, postponing engagements to prioritize workouts. Your body is sore for days after training.
Could it be, despite intentions of getting into shape, you’ve flipped the paradigm, and are now at the opposite spectrum, completely overdoing it?
Exercise addiction hasn’t been deemed an official mental disorder. Nevertheless, a connection between compulsive training and eating disorders exists. If your once-enjoyable workouts are now something you’re compelled to do, you may be suffering. If you’re anxious about skipping a session, exercise has probably lost its glory for you.
If you recognize the following signs, you can break the cycle, before your body bears the brunt of damaging side effects which includes difficulty focusing, concentrating, or remembering.
Overtraining syndrome
Consists of stress fractures, tendonitis, bursitis, joint pain, runner’s knee, muscle strains, and shin-splints.
Though this usually affects elite athletes, no one is immune. The body needs time to heal.
Continual severe fatigue
Of course, you’ll feel tired after training! But if you won’t allow your muscles to recover (repeatedly), they’ll never feel rested. Overdoing it, and not nourishing your body with enough fuel to replenish, will arrest rejuvenation.
Chronic infections or more frequent colds
Overexercising compromises the immune system, hence a decreased immune response.
Weight gain (in all the wrong places)
Overtraining can instigate an imbalance in your hormones, consisting of low levels of testosterone and high levels of cortisol. This can trigger elevated cues of hunger or the lack thereof, fluctuations in your weight, and sarcopenia (involuntary loss of skeletal muscle mass).
Self-created social isolation
When workouts matter more than friends and family gatherings. This can lead to an unhealthy work-life balance.
Your stamina is losing its edge
The mental anguish and physical exhaustion that accompany overexercising can result in a lack of enjoyment and a dip in motivation.
An early onset of osteoporosis may occur because of bone mass loss/bones weakening
This is the opposite of the bone density we seek!
Training should be a mood booster
Over-training can contribute to or worsen mental health conditions such as irritability, OCD, anxiety, or depression.
Insufficient caloric intake, on purpose
Under-fueling can lead to RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports), which can cause reproductive concerns, including fertility issues, and sexual dysfunction. This can affect your stress hormone levels, resulting in mood swings, restlessness, or a mental fog. When continually usurping your body’s energy reserves, you could develop a nutritional deficiency like anemia.
Getting tired early in your workout
Officially called “Premature Muscle Fatigue”, within a short while, you feel exhausted.
You’re no longer progressing
Instead, you’re hitting performance plateaus, experiencing a loss of endurance, strength, agility, and speed, making it harder to reach your goals. You don’t bounce back as quickly, after workouts.
Your body image is negative
You over-exercise to offset meals eaten, or to transform sections you don’t like.
Your resting heart rate is elevated
Consistent exercise should lower this! This might signal a cardiovascular change. You’re doing too much, too fast. Is your heart rate higher than usual while working out, taking longer to return to its resting heart rate afterwards?
Dark urine, almost the colour of Diet Coke
This is a primary symptom of Rhabdomyolysis, a very serious/potentially fatal medical condition which occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases proteins and electrolytes into the blood. This can damage the heart and kidneys. If you notice this after a stimulating workout, seek help immediately!
Loss of periods in women (amenorrhea)
Insomnia
With imbalanced stress hormones, it might be difficult to relax at bedtime. The rest of your body needs to repair and rejuvenate will be missed.
If you see yourself described above, fear not! You can learn to build a more nurturing relationship with training. Question your motivations: are you training to avoid areas of your life, or attempting to rearrange your body/alter your weight?
A cognitive behavioral specialist can help you acknowledge the side-effects of your addiction, figure out why you’ve become so compelled. Therapists help discover alternative coping strategies.
Perhaps alone, you’ll implement more rest periods, better nutrition and hydration, and turn things around. You have control.
Cheryl Struzer | Contributor
