As the habit increases into a dependency, the person loses proper perspective. Responsibilities and relationships are laid on the altar and whenever the craving is not satisfied there is a withdrawal manifestation such as anger or depression. Could this happen with something as beneficial and desirable as exercise? Sadly yes.

A Fine Line

Many athletes develop strict training regimens and incorporate exercise into many facets of their daily life. It is important to note that a strong commitment to exercise is not addiction. Addiction happens when commitment ratchets up to compulsion. The person addicted to exercise feels they must exercise and they must do so at all costs.

People addicted to exercise may run or visit the gym several times in a single day. They will exercise even on occasions when they are sick or injured. Most telling, perhaps, is the compulsion to exercise at the cost of meaningful life events with friends, family, and/or work.

Again, this sort of commitment may occur short-term in a psychologically healthy athlete as they train for a specific event. The addict, on the other hand, exhibits this sort of exclusionary focus and value toward exercise in a chronic fashion.

From Athlete to Addict

It is not clear how a person transitions from committed athlete to addict. Some suggest that the endorphin highs which accompany intense exercise are the culprit. Some posit that the move away from steroid use could be blamed for inordinate gym schedules. Others claim that, as with other addictions, the root is psychological.

Perhaps the voices of low self-esteem are being silenced by the evident successes gained through exercise. Unfortunately, if this is the case, the drive to achieve self-acceptance could actually prove self-destructive as over-exercise inevitably leads to injury. The mindset of the person ultimately determines whether exercise has become a dysfunctional and addictive behavior.

Overcoming Exercise Addiction

For the person who senses that they may have crossed the line, there is a way back. Establishing a sensible exercise plan with a trainer is one step. Experienced trainers will plan for rest and recovery as part of the regimen. Follow the plan and do not add any “extras.”

When a planned exercise period is missed, so be it. Do not attempt to make up for it. And when, as will likely be the case, you find yourself with extra time that was once given over to training, invest it in the relationships that suffered neglect and inattention during the period of addiction.

Lastly, find a new diversion. Make balance in life a new goal and find a support system that can encourage you to do so.

The scientists who conducted the study reason that if excessive exercise is addicting, then maybe addicts could take moderate exercise instead of drugs to feel good. The findings also shed light on the potentially fatal eating disorder called anorexia athletica, in which exercise undertaken to shed pounds becomes as compulsive as taking drugs, resulting in even greater weight loss.

“Excessive running shares similarities with drug-taking behavior,” the researchers wrote. “As with food intake and other parts of life, moderation seems to be the key. Exercise, as long as it doesn’t interfere with other aspects of one’s life, is a good thing with respect to both physical and mental health,” said lead author Robin Kanarek, PhD, of Tufts University.

For several weeks, 44 male and 40 female rats were allowed to either run in exercise wheels or remain inactive. To simulate anorexia athletica, the researchers divided the active and inactive rats into groups whose members were either given food for one hour a day or around the clock. Rats in all four groups were then given naloxone, a medicine for heroin overdose that produces immediate withdrawal symptoms.

Active and inactive rats responded very differently to naloxone, which was given in proportion to their weight. The active rats showed withdrawal symptoms like those seen in narcotics addicts: trembling, writhing, teeth chattering, and drooping eyelids.

The active rats that had access to food for only one hour a day both ran the most and displayed the most severe withdrawal symptoms. Like people with anorexia athletica, they ran so much that they lost significant amounts of weight. Additionally, the more a given rat had run, the worse its withdrawal symptoms were after naloxone. In contrast, regardless of how much they ate, inactive rats responded very little to the drug.

Because of the way the active rats responded to naloxone, they seemed to have undergone the same changes in the brain’s reward system as rats that are addicted to drugs. “Exercise, like drugs of abuse, leads to the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins and dopamine, which are involved with a sense of reward,” said Kanarek.

Insights into behaviors that trigger the release of the brain’s “reward” chemicals may lead to addiction treatments that incorporate moderate exercise, according to the researchers. The findings also suggest that active rats given limited food may make a good experimental model for studying and developing treatments for anorexia athletica, added Kanarek.