When we work out, our brain releases endorphins and dopamine, which are “feel-good” chemicals. Those same neurotransmitters are released during drug use, as well as other experiences our brain interprets as pleasurable. For this reason, exercise is often recommended to support recovery from mental illness and substance use disorders. Exercise is good for your mind and your body, but like anything else, too much exercise can be a problem. Some people do develop addictions to exercise and this is a condition we treat at Cottonwood, in Tucson, Arizona.
When is Exercising an Addiction?
Because it’s more difficult to quantify when exercise becomes an unhealthy habit than it is to define mental illnesses or substance use disorders, researchers have spent some time analyzing the point at which exercise becomes problematic and broken it down into several areas:
- Tolerance – the person needs to exercise more and more to feel the desired effect, which could be a “buzz” or sense of accomplishment
- Withdrawal – if the person does not work out, they may feel anxious, irritable, restless, and struggle to sleep.
- Lack of control – when the person tries to stop exercising or even decrease their activity level, they are unable to do so.
- Exceeding intention – the person spends more time than intended on their exercise activities, including preparation for, engaging in, and recovering from exercise. Because of the excessive amount of time they spend working out, other things they had planned to accomplish, such as socializing, working, or relaxing, may not happen as often, or at all.
- Continuance – the person is having physical, psychological, and/or interpersonal problems as a result of how much they exercise. They know that this is the case, but they continue to work out excessively anyway. They may also struggle to get the support they need from people who don’t understand exercise addiction is real.
In an article printed in the Guardian in 2024, Margo Steines explained how her exercise addiction looked different from someone who was engaging in healthy exercise:
- Exercising 7 hours per day
- Working out to gain a sense of control
- Feeling cognitively fried, instead of refreshed, with symptoms including mania, mental illness, despair, and exhaustion
- Meeting with multiple trainers who didn’t all know about each other, so they wouldn’t bring up the topic of overtraining
- Taking multiple fitness classes
- Lying to loved ones about how much training she was doing
- Physical pain that interfered with sleeping and walking and actually made it harder for her to achieve fitness goals
- Severe food restriction
Co-Occurring Disorders
It is estimated that about 15-20 percent of people with exercise addiction, also have other behavioral health disorders, which may require treatment. Some of the most common disorders that co-occur with exercise addiction include:
- Eating disorders – people with these conditions are about 3.5 times more likely to experience an exercise addiction than people without eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and body dysmorphia
- Nicotine addiction
- Alcohol addiction
- Illicit substance addiction
- Shopping addiction
- Sex addiction
How Much Exercise is Healthy?
There isn’t just one correct answer to this question. A person’s age, health conditions, and the intensity of their workout can make a difference in how much they should work out. For most people, 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise is sufficient. An elite athlete may work out more, but they are also considered to be at especially high risk for exercise addiction, so if there seems to be a problem, the fact that they are a gifted athlete should not prevent them from being assessed to ensure everything is alright.
Common Treatments for Exercise Addiction
As with other types of addiction, exercise addiction is usually treated with therapy. Patients are most likely to respond if the treatment they receive is holistic, providing treatment not only for exercise addiction but for any other behavioral health concerns they might have. It may also be helpful for a patient who has an exercise addiction to work with a fitness professional who is knowledgeable about exercise addictions and can help them change their relationship with exercise. This may be accomplished by helping them re-learn how to interpret their body’s pain and fatigue signals, to make healthier decisions about their workouts.
At Cottonwood, we treat a wide variety of behavioral health conditions, from substance use disorders and mood disorders to exercise disorders and process addictions. Our team delivers whole-person, trauma-informed care, with compassion, honesty, and respect.
