What Is Compulsive Exercise?
Compulsive exercise (sometimes called exercise addiction) happens when a person is driven to exercise too much. Injury, illness, going out with friends, or bad weather will not stop those who compulsively exercise.
Why Do Kids Exercise Too Much?
Regular exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. But athletes may be driven to exercise more and more to improve their sports performance. Personal goals, coaches, teammates, or parents may pressure athletes to push themselves too far.
Compulsive exercising and eating disorders often go hand in hand. In addition to extreme dieting, someone with an eating disorder may workout excessively to lose weight. Someone with bulimia may use exercise as a way to compensate for binge eating.
Some people believe they can achieve an impossible ideal body type if they keep exercising.
What Problems Can Compulsive Exercise Cause?
Compulsive exercise can lead to:
- Injuries, including overuse injuries and stress fractures.
- In some girls, female athlete triad.This means they lose a lot of weight, have irregular periods or no periods (called amenorrhea), and lose bone density (osteoporosis).
- Unhealthy weight loss behaviors, such as skipping meals or drastically reducing calories, vomiting, and using diet pills or laxatives.
- Social isolation, because working out always comes first. Compulsive exercisers may skip homework or time with friends and family to exercise.
- Anxiety and depression. Performance pressure, low self-esteem, and lack of other interests contribute to emotional problems.
What Might Parents Notice?
Parents might notice that their child:
- won't skip a workout, even if tired, sick, or injured
- can’t take time off and seems anxious or guilty when missing even one workout
- is preoccupied with his or her weight and exercise routine
- has lost a significant amount of weight
- exercises more after eating a lot or missing a workout
- eats much less if he or she can't exercise
- skips seeing friends, gives up other activities, and abandons responsibilities to make more time for exercise
- seems to base self-worth on the number of workouts completed and the effort put into training
- is never satisfied with his or her own physical achievements
- has irregular periods or stress fractures
How Is Compulsive Exercise Diagnosed?
It can be hard to diagnosis compulsive exercise. There is no agreement on how much exercise is too much. A person who continues to exercise in spite of injury, health problems, or poor relationships may have an exercise addiction.
How Is Compulsive Exercise Treated?
A therapist can help someone with an exercise addiction change unhealthy behaviors, work on exercise moderation, and find coping strategies.
Treatment will focus on:
- treating injuries
- resting or reducing exercise
- alternative exercise plans
- nutrition counseling
- keeping a healthy weight
- treating conditions, such as eating disorders, depression, or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
What Can Parents Do?
Parents can do a lot to help a child who exercises too much. They can:
- involve kids in preparing nutritious meals
- have fun being active together as a family
- be good body-image role models and not fixate on their own physical flaws
- not criticize other people's weight or body shape
- ask if their child is under a lot of pressure
- help kids find new ways to cope with problems
If you think that your child is exercising too much, talk to your doctor.
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
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