Paper: Sunday Times, The (London, England)
Title: Fitness junkie – Fitness
Author: Lorna V
Date: October 22, 2006
Section: Features
Page: Style 42
When exercise becomes an addiction, it can do as much damage as any other drug, says Lorna V
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was recently photographed sporting the kind of impressive biceps that a girl doesn’t normally achieve by merely lifting designer shopping bags. She is the latest high-profile woman to receive favourable attention for her super-toned muscles. Yet few people realise that exercise can be highly addictive – and when it turns into an obsession, it has the potential to wreak physical and emotional havoc in much the same way as drug addiction.
In a recent interview, the actress Patsy Kensit talked of her new-found passion for the gym: “I don’t go a single day without at least an hour of exercise, probably two. Now I’m addicted to it, which I don’t think is a bad thing. It’s my drug of choice.”
Most exercise addicts get hooked on the rush of endorphins – the body’s natural feelgood hormones – that follows a tough workout. Dr Jeremy Adams, an addictions psychologist, believes that workout junkies are similar to people hooked on any other behaviour that produces a pleasurable high, be it sex, drugs or chocolate.
“The difference between, say, cocaine and exercise is that it can take two weeks to get addicted to cocaine, but up to two years of hard workouts to become addicted to exercise,” he says. “Once a person is hooked, as with any physiological habit, a bigger dose is needed to produce and maintain the high.”
One study by the University of Wisconsin, published in the journal Behavioural Neuroscience, found similarities between the symptoms of withdrawal from a vigorous exercise routine and those of drug withdrawal. They include mood swings, anger and grumpiness, fevers and aches and pains.
For die-hard fitness addicts, twice- or even thrice-daily trips to the gym, swimming pool or running track are not uncommon. “It took me about a year to realise that my exercise routine had got seriously out of hand,” says Andrea, 35, a solicitor. “I’d never even been a member of a gym when my sister bought me 10 sessions with a personal trainer for my birthday. Previously, I’d always regarded exercise as a form of torture.
“After my first workout, I couldn’t get over how fantastic I felt. I was glowing and energised, and felt more positive than I ever had, like I could do anything.
Even though I ached the next morning, I couldn’t wait to go back. That was just the beginning.”
Three months later, Andrea was going to the gym every morning to do cardio training or lift weights. Some days, she would return at lunchtime for a spinning class, and often she would cram in a nightly swim, too.
“I would get up at 6am in order to get a good workout before work. If I had to miss a session, it would drive me crazy with rage. Even on Sundays, I couldn’t bear to lie in bed with my boyfriend. I had to get on the treadmill. He loved my new figure, though, and often, after a workout, I would feel in the mood for sex, which was an unexpected positive side effect.”
In time, Andrea developed a problem with her Achilles tendon, but it didn’t stop her schedule. “My health began to suffer.
I was losing loads of weight – I could fit into a size six for the first time in my life – but I felt constantly exhausted and run-down. If someone so much as sneezed next to me, I would catch a cold. My work began to suffer because I was taking so many days off sick, or oversleeping and missing vital meetings.
“Finally, the tendon above my heel started really playing up – it got so bad that I couldn’t wear flat shoes. Running became increasingly painful, but I gritted my teeth and kept going, until even walking began to hurt. Then I was forced to switch to swimming 50 lengths a session instead.”
It was only when Andrea’s boyfriend raised the issue of starting a family that she realised she had a problem. “My first thought was not, ‘Oh, how fantastic, he wants me to have his babies.’ It was, ‘How will I exercise when I’m pregnant?’ After that realisation, I talked to my GP and he referred me to a therapist. These days, I’m putting all my energy into starting a family, and I go to the gym only three times a week.”
The American personal trainer and stress-management expert Debbie Eisenstadt Mandel believes that exercise fanatics tend primarily to be women aged 35-60 who fear ageing. “Exercise addiction is more acceptable than an eating disorder because it masquerades as a healthy activity,” she says. “A woman who exercises to the max ostensibly exhibits strength,
stamina and focus to the outside world. Unfortunately, too much of a good thing destroys the body and depletes it.” Exercising too much too frequently can damage knee joints, put strain on muscle groups and cause extreme fatigue.
The personal trainer Matt Roberts observes that those with a particular type of personality are prone to exercise addiction: “They are usually meticulous and precise to an anal degree. Everything has to be perfect. They go mad if there’s a slight change to their workout time, or they call with a problem while on a run or at the gym, because they need something now.”
As with any other addiction, for the exercise addict, working out soon becomes an obsession. Dr Jill Owen, a psychologist and specialist in sport, exercise and body image, believes that you can start off exercising at a reasonable, healthy level, but that if the motivation is linked to body image, you may become obsessed by the belief that more exercise will help you to achieve the image you’re after, or try to attain a body type you simply aren’t supposed to have. That is the point at which the benefits of exercise go down. An example of a belief that Owen would tackle is: “In order to be attractive, I need to be body type x, so I need to exercise y hours a day.”
“Women are more likely to take negative comments (‘You’re so thin’) as compliments,” she says. “Often, they will seek help for coping with anxiety and depression rather than identifying that they are addicted to exercise.”
Eisenstadt Mandel advises exercise addicts to replace aerobic and weight training sessions with meditation, walks and stretching. She says that stretching, instead of contracting or pounding the body into submission, makes the mind more flexible, even though it doesn’t give the same instant high. “Exercise should stimulate, not annihilate. Walking, stretching, gardening, yoga and Pilates all help to manage stress through moving meditation – returning to the body to feel it and appreciate the five senses, not numb or abuse them.”
For Roberts, the route to recovery is more down to earth. He uses scientific evidence to convince exercise addicts to change their habits. “Knowledge is crucial,” he says. “You have to know what the person’s goal is; then you can give them a scientific viewpoint on why they need to rest. People need information so that they feel empowered to make decisions.”
TEN SIGNS YOU ARE ADDICTED TO EXERCISE
* You get angry or upset when you have to skip a session at the gym.
* You exercise every day, often more than once, and never take a day off.
* You choose your holiday destination according to whether the hotel has a gym or is near a beach, so you don’t need to give up your morning run.
* You don’t take a day off from the gym, even if you feel you may have pulled a muscle or are physically exhausted.
* “No pain, no gain” is your mantra.
* You have had rows with your boss or partner over the amount of time you spend working out.
* You know that you need to exercise more and more to feel good.
* You are training for bigger and more extreme events, such as marathons or triathlons.
* You see Paula Radcliffe’s running times and wonder why you can’t run that fast.
* You have arguments with the management of your gym over its unreasonable opening hours – “Why on earth are you closed on Christmas Day?”
Author: Lorna V
Section: Features
Page: Style 42