Disorder is running rampant in health clubs. It's called exercise abuse, or what most people discard as extreme devotion to fitness.
Meet Dana, a 20-year-old who could be standing in the front row of your fitness class. Today, although she's gained some control over her compulsion to exercise, she's scared she'll always have to fight her obsessive drive.
For example, when Dana eats too much for dinner, she places a sign on her alarm clock that reads, "You are fat." When her alarm rings at 4:45 a.m., she forces herself to remember what she had eaten the night before; this gives her incentive to exercise at least twice a day.
At work, when sales representatives ask her out for dinner, she always declines, making up excuses so she can exercise instead.
Dana also works out frequently when injured or sick. After a stress fracture confined her to crutches, she still exercised. Even when a powerful pain medication for an ear infection prohibited her from working or driving, Dana made it to the gym. She was dizzy and disoriented, but she chose to exercise.
What was her motivation? She wanted to prevent weight gain.
"No matter how much I exercised, everyone else was thinner and in better shape," she said. "I just wanted to do more so I could look like them."
Dana isn't alone. Unfortunately, no one knows how many people abuse themselves with exercising. There's also little recognition of the problem, largely because exercising is considered "healthy."
"The individuals that do suffer from exercise abuse, a lot of times don't see it as a problem because they see exercise as positive," said Kristen Dudley, R.D., M.P.H., registered dietitian specializing in the treatment of eating disorders and weight preoccupation.
According to Dudley, exercise abuse is characterized by one or all of the following symptoms: Excessive reliance on exercise, exercising when injured or sick, and experiencing withdrawal symptoms when exercise levels are decreased or temporarily halted.
"For exercise abusers, it's never enough," said Dudley. "They can't get themselves to stop exercising and when one workout is finished, they are thinking about the next workout."
Not everyone who exercises becomes obsessive about working out. What separates healthy exercisers from those who abuse exercise is their attitude. For addicts, exercise encompasses their thoughts and moods and dictates their lives.
Exercise is the number one priority in life for exercise abusers, and all activities are scheduled around it.
"They make certain life choices based on their exercise routines," said Bruce Fujie, a personal trainer in Honolulu.
Exercise abusers may even lie about their exercise patterns. Maybe they weren't able to exercise in the morning, so they make up some excuse and cancel a date that night so they can work out. The more involved they get with exercise, the deeper their addiction becomes.
They often feel a loss of control and become so dependent on their workouts that they can't find and won't stop, regardless of the cost. In many cases, their dependency on exercise isn't evident until their job, family, injury, etc., interferes with their routine.
Exercise abusers also tend to disregard sickness and injury. No matter how sick they feel or how much they hurt, they continue to push themselves.
"Sometimes, the consequences of exercising while injured can lead to permanent physical disability which prohibits future exercise," said Fujie.
Like addicts who abuse drugs and alcohol, when exercise levels diminish, exercise abusers experience withdrawal symptoms. Even casual exercisers who don't abuse exercise experience withdrawal symptoms when they can't work out.
They may feel antsy, irritated and sometimes become severely depressed. They may also experience sleeping problems, muscle soreness, changes in appetite and mood swings.
Fujie said he believes society is partly to blame for what he believes will be an increase in exercise abuse.
"It's just another example of our society being completely out of balance," he said. "It's like people going from low fat diets to nonfat diets. We are an extreme society."
Society also breeds extreme fitness professionals.
"People who become instructors often do everything to the extreme," said Carla, a 31-year-old fitness instructor who has finally come to terms with her own addiction to exercise.
"When you teach, the adrenaline takes over and the energy is endless. More feels better," Carla said.
More really isn't better. However, getting fitness professionals to understand that message may be a challenge. It's a challenge the fitness industry should be willing to undertake so people can achieve a healthy balance between exercise and healthy living.
"Exercise is important, but there are other things just as important," Carla said. "Life should be fun, and what fun is life if you are controlled by an obsession?"
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