Over-exercising: If some is good, is more better?
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It starts with an hour a day of cardio, then maybe some weights afterward.
After a while, though, that doesn’t seem like enough. So workouts expand to an hour in the morning, then two in the evening after work.
Over-exercising can happen to men and women who start working out for the right reasons, but gradually add more and more time and intensity to their regimen, believing that if some is good, more is better. Even clothing designer Marc Jacobs is said to have a three-hour-a-day habit, revealing to Harper’s Bazaar that he started down a healthy road over a year ago, changing his diet and exercising with a trainer. He says he’s ‘crabby’ if those endorphins aren’t released.
But exercising too much may hurt more than help. A study published on extreme exercising in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction in 2006 found that out of 100 gym-goers who took a questionnaire using the Exercise Addiction Inventory, 8% scored high enough to qualify as addicted to exercise. That inventory was developed by Marc Griffiths, a professor in the school of social sciences at Nottingham Trent University in Nottingham, England, and is a screening tool that includes six statements about exercise behavior. Respondents are asked to rate replies on a five-point scale ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree.’ The statements are:
Exercise is the most important thing in my life.
Conflicts have arisen between me and my family and/or my partner about the amount of exercise I do.
I use exercise as a way of changing my mood.
Over time I have increased the amount of exercise I do in a day.
If I have to miss an exercise session I feel moody and irritable.
If I cut down the amount of exercise I do, and then start again, I always end up exercising as often as I did before.
When workouts escalate, other side effects may surface: social engagements and other responsibilities take a back seat, causing relationships with friends and family to suffer. Restricting food may also be an issue. Despite that, some people caught in a cycle of over exercising may find it difficult to cut back, believing that if they do, they’ll gain weight and lose the conditioning they’ve worked so hard to attain.
Do you think you exercise too much? If you do, we’d like to hear from you, whether you feel good about your training, would like to slow down but don’t know how, or if you have conflicting feelings about the amount you train. If you’re interested in telling your story using your real name and occupation, please contact me at jeannine.stein@latimes.com.
-- Jeannine Stein