Addiction to exercise?

HellonWheels

I'm wondering if I have this problem....I find on my off days, I feel down in the dumps, and do a lot of neg self talk for not working out that day....feeling guilty, lazy, etc....I find myself thinking I am a lazyass like the ppl in the malls if I take even one day off. WHY do I do this to myself? I cant help it!


I get a "rush" from working out (both on my stationary bike and my outdoor bikes), which I realy miss on my days off. I wasn't even taking any days off for a long time until my dr told me to take at least one or two days off per wk. I currently do 75 mins each morning at moderate resistance... 5 days/wk on a stationary, and then evening rides and weekend longer rides. Also some strength training.


Three yrs ago I started this as a habit, and now I find I can't "break" it even when I need to, like days off. I'm scared to death of ever needing surgery that may require me to take more than 1 or 2 days off from exercise. I get REALLY depressed when I have to take a day off, I find myself dreading days off.

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"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

tanggoman

But remember, by taking few days off, you let your body and mind heal. It makes you stronger the next time you go out. If you dont allow your body to heal, you may be headed for trouble as this can easily burn you out and therefore overtrain. And overtraining leads to illness and injury and a whole lot more problems.

Feeling guilty for not working out means you're not pushing hard enough on your previous workout, that's my take on that.

Good luck!

Cowboyathlete

Agreed. I love both mountain biking and bodybuilding, so I have settled for a happy compromise of three days a week to each (today is my off day). I tell myself I need to rest and I am usually OK with it, because I have learned the hard way that overtraining can lead to illness and injury. The muscles and tendons at the back of my left knee feel strained a bit right now, and if they are not much better by Saturday I may not ride. I hate that prospect, but I hate making an injury worse too!

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C_heath

My aunt is the same way, shes in her 50's and looks 20, BUT her doctor told her that the reason for her rigorous training was because she was a hpyocondriac(sp?)

Are you worried that something bad will happen to your body if you dont workout?

That may be an issue

GL

gearshift

I would just say that rest is part of the exercise and getting in shape process. Whenever you start to feel lazy because you didn't work out, just take a look around you and be thankful that you worked out the day before.

As for the addiction, exercising is known to make you feel better, physically, mentally, and psychologically. When you don't exercise, you may feel like your're going to lose that edge. Realistically, you taking a day off is only going to help...

HellonWheels

Thanks to everybody who replied, lots of good thoughts and comments. I think its true that I have to remind myself that rest is PART OF the working out!

__________________
"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

kbs23

sounds silly, but just go for a walk, you get a little excercise so it will make you feel better and it's non strenuous so your body will thank you.

Iona

Walking is a great idea on off-days. I am a little like you, and paid for it when I injured myself running. No doubt, exercise makes you feel better - and numerous studies have suggested that exercise can be just as effective as medication in treating anxiety and depression.... Just take those rest days... otherwise you may be forced to take weeks/months (years in my running case) to get over an injury.

Best,
I

limerickman

I concur with the view about rest.
Rest is essential when training - no one, and I mean no one, can train properly
seven days a week, 365 days per year.
If you are training properly, you need to rest properly.

I suspect Hellonwheels, that your issue is one of routine.
I suspect you are training at a level which isn't taxing you to the extent,
whereby you're enforced to take a rest day.
A good tough training session would condition your body to protest by feeling tired.

All exercise requires your body to repair the exercised muscle.
If you're training every day - your muscles don't get a chance to repair.
Perhaps you need to train longer on specific days - so that rest will be enforced ?

I have read studies that show that rest is as important as physical training.
Lots of athletes sleep/doze after training sessions.
Steve Ovett the great British runner, used to train for two hours, come home and sleep for 4 hours and then train again.

HellonWheels

[QUOTE=limerickman]I concur with the view about rest.
Rest is essential when training - no one, and I mean no one, can train properly
seven days a week, 365 days per year.
If you are training properly, you need to rest properly.

I suspect Hellonwheels, that your issue is one of routine.
I suspect you are training at a level which isn't taxing you to the extent,
whereby you're enforced to take a rest day.
A good tough training session would condition your body to protest by feeling tired.

All exercise requires your body to repair the exercised muscle.
If you're training every day - your muscles don't get a chance to repair.
Perhaps you need to train longer on specific days - so that rest will be enforced ?>>>

I do 75 mins a day, at moderate intensity...plus some strength training. As it is, most ppl think I do too much, so I doubt increasing would help!

For me, exercise boosts my mood among other things, which may be why on days off, I don't feel as good emotionally. I workout for a large number of reasons, most of which are probably not reasons other ppl do it....and this may be one reason why I dont relish days off.

__________________
"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

danielwilgocki

I get the same feeling sometimes. You just have to remind yourself that rest is part of the training process.

spinerguy

I understand that your regimen imposes a great load on your body & personally wouldn't recommend to increase it unless strictly supervised and approved by a physician.

I had syself a medical routine check few weeks ago and wanted to have a heart stress done due in part that I do also have a similar "training" schedule : 80 mins of vigoroulsy pace (20 mps +) daily, some weight training & 40-50 miles every other weekend rides and my age (35 yo) . Funny thing is my cardiologist couldn't belive how thick my left heart side is (pumping side)

Seriously though you don't want to hurt yourself and resting is also as important as training.

HellonWheels

Good advice, we do have a similar workout routine, thing is, I'm female and older than you (44). So maybe I'd better be careful.

__________________
"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

Postie

Hi HellonWheels.

I know I'm a little late on the discussion, but I'd like to add my two cents.

The only time your body gets stronger is when it's resting. The workout process is just the necessary step to stress the body so that it can become stronger after rest for the next time.

I've had to acknowledge this myself many a time. Personally I find exercise is the one thing in my life that I can control. If I put in the time, I get results. Nothing else in life appears to have as simple a formula. However that knowledge can lead me to be over ambitious. Even though I've never been bulimic, I can mildly relate to what it's like to be focused on concentrating on what's healthy and feeling overwhelming guilt towards having that chocolate bar in my belly. That guilt is in my head. It is my dedication to my commitments that make me feel like I should purge a piece of junk food when I'm sworn to being healthy.

As I say, I've never acted on this guilt, but I can understand the feeling. I've gone months at a time without missing a single workout and without eating a single bite of junk food. That's when I know I have to reevaluate. In fact, injury has normally helped me in my reevaluation stages. Dedication is great, but it's important to know when we're really showing signs of lowered dedication and when we're within our means to improve. Hence, I think that the more you focus on the knowledge that rest = improvement, the less "unhappy" you'll be the days you're not working out.

If I were to recommend anything I’d say, take four full consecutive days off every month and see how much stronger you feel on your following workout. The days off will be painful at first, but your performance on your next workout may help you feel better about yourself on the days that you’re not training.

Again, just my two cents.

Cheers.