As far as our health goes, exercise is often a one-size-fits-all solution. Whether you want to boost your cardiovascular fitness, strengthen your bones and muscles or improve your mental health, exercise can provide benefits for almost all areas of health.

But despite what they say, you can have too much of a good thing. Exercising regularly is all well and good, but if you’re pushing your body too hard in sessions or failing to recover adequately, it can quickly take its toll. The risk of injury aside, over-exercising can lead to chronic stress, rapid weight loss and a condition known as relative energy deficiency in sports (or RED-S for short) – a syndrome that occurs when the amount of energy being consumed through food is not sufficient to support the energy expenditure.  

There are, of course, various reasons why someone might overtrain: in some cases, it’s simply a case of over-ambition or a mismanaged schedule. But for some, it’s the result of exercise addiction: when working out becomes a compulsive behaviour.

Exercise addiction is dangerous because it’s often impossible to control – once you’re swept up in the compulsions, the drive to keep working out can drown out any other voices. It also tends to be treated less seriously than other addictions, partly because exercise is good for you if you don’t take things too far.

However, if you’re struggling with exercise addiction – or know someone who is – it’s important to seek help from a GP or mental health professional. The idea of cutting down will seem scary at first, but working out at such a high intensity for so long can be damaging. The tricky bit is identifying whether someone has a problematic relationship with exercise in the first place, especially if you don’t see them that often. How can you tell when things have gone wrong? 

To give you the tools you need to spot exercise addiction in yourself or someone close to you, we asked Karen Howells, senior lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University, and Sarah Cannon, a psychological wellbeing practitioner at Living Well UK, to share their insight. Here are seven signs of exercise addiction to look out for. 

1. An unwillingness to take rest days

While excessive training is the number one sign of exercise addiction, there’s no specific ‘amount’ of exercise that makes someone’s relationship with working out problematic – instead, it’s everything else that comes with it.

In this way, an unwillingness to take rest days – alongside an intense workout schedule – can be a sign that something is wrong.

“While some sports require a large amount of training, a well-planned training programme that includes days of rest combined with a harmonious (rather than obsessive) passion for the sport would not be considered excessive,” Howells explains.

“However, a drive to increase training load, reluctance to take rest days or training despite external factors, such as injury, may indicate the volumes are problematic.”

2. Neglecting other activities

If exercise starts to get in the way of other responsibilities like work, socialising or life admin, then that’s a clear sign that it’s becoming a problem.

“The desire to exercise means that an individual’s work, social life, important relationships and responsibilities may be impacted as they continue to exercise over attending work or social engagements,” Cannon explains. “They may even stop these other activities and withdraw from these responsibilities altogether.” 

3. Overwhelming guilt and anxiety caused by missing a workout

We all have those days when we can’t make it to the gym due to work or other commitments, but most of us don’t think twice about rescheduling a session. For someone with exercise addiction, however, needing to skip or cut down a workout session tends to be a source of guilt and anxiety.

“People with exercise addiction may feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety or guilt if they skip a workout, even if their body is signalling a need for rest and recovery,” Cannon says. “And although they might be in pain, feeling tired or generally unwell, they may feel compelled to push through, often believing that missing a workout would be far worse than exacerbating their current condition.”

4. Disordered eating

Many people with eating disorders often end up addicted to exercise as a way to lose weight and burn calories, so if excessive exercise is combined with disordered eating habits such as underfuelling, skipping meals or only eating certain foods, then exercise addiction could be the culprit.

This kind of exercise addiction is known as secondary exercise addiction, Howells explains. “In this case, it is not the exercise per se that is the issue, but how it is used as a means to control weight,” she says.

5. Lack of control

One of the most common signs of addiction – no matter what the person is addicted to – is a lack of control surrounding the subject of the addiction. In this way, people with exercise addiction will likely find it hard to control their relationship with working out.

“Someone with exercise addiction may feel unable to cut down on their exercise despite recognising the negative impacts on their physical health, social life or overall wellbeing,” Cannon explains. 

“The compulsion to exercise becomes overwhelming and can start to dictate schedules and decisions, which makes it difficult to stop even if you want to.”

Howells echoes this point. “We may consider that exercise addiction is present if it appears to family and friends that exercise controls the individual rather than the other way round. For example, an individual experiencing exercise addiction may be unable to attend important family events or engage in ‘normal’ family activities as they have to exercise.” 

6. Thinking about exercise all the time

This one likely seems quite obvious, but if you can’t stop thinking about exercise when you’re not in the gym – for example, at work or around the home – then that’s an issue.

“People with exercise addiction might experience both a mental and physical urge to exercise, where the need to exercise overrides any logical consideration of the consequences,” Cannon says.

7. Keeping workouts secret

If you or someone you know feels the need to hide their exercise habits from friends or family because you’re aware of its excessive nature, then that’s definitely a red flag.

“Someone may attempt to hide from others how much they are exercising from friends or family, aware that their level of commitment might be seen as excessive or unhealthy,” Cannon explains. They might exercise in private, downplay the amount of time they spend working out or lie about their activities to avoid concern or intervention from others.” 

If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, you can find support and resources on the mental health charity Mind’s website and NHS Every Mind Matters or access the NHS’ list of mental health helplines and services.

If you are struggling with your mental health, you can also ask your GP for a referral to NHS Talking Therapies, or you can self-refer.

For confidential support, you can also call the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In a crisis, call 999.

Images: Getty