It’s no secret that physical activity is good for your health. Not only does it help our bodies remain strong, mobile, functional, and injury-free, but movement also has the ability to improve mental and emotional health, thereby increasing overall wellness. However, we are seeing in popular culture and on social media the disturbing trend of exercise becoming an obsession. The fact is, while using fitness for stress management is a healthy behavior, developing a workout obsession can actually tank your health.
Exercise, in the public eye, has turned from a means to reduce stress and depression into an aspirational, pressure-filled gauge of morality. The popular messaging that working out makes us ‘good’ and not prioritising exercise makes us ‘bad’ has seeped into our collective consciousness, having the potential to turn fitness into a destructive behavior. Exercise addiction, when exercise becomes a priority over social and physical wellness, is a real condition that is mostly encouraged by the toxic ‘no pain no gain’ messaging in the widespread fitness world. It has turned into a stressor rather than a form of stress relief.
But exercise is good for us, right? Why would choosing exercise over dinner with a friend be a bad thing? Well, mainly because stress caused by obsession is terrible for our health. Continuing to stress about when to get in a workout, how to jam movement into your schedule and what you have to cancel to make sure you can stick to a strict workout schedule, leads to prolonged psychological and physical stress, which has negative effects on the body. Such stress can lead to mental health issues like depression and withdrawal. Those two things are not good for overall wellness.
Personally, I am no stranger to exercise obsession. I spent years convincing myself I was using fitness for stress management and health when I was really using it to distract myself from issues with self worth and to try to reach a societally ‘ideal’ aesthetic. Exercise obsession left my body image spiraling downwards, my social life strained, and, as a result, my overall wellness in a bad place.
Now that I continue to do work to dismantle my preconceived notions about what and who exercise is for, I can really work to help myself and my clients reap its benefits. Some things that I do to make sure workouts are benefitting me and my clients include:
Finding movement that makes us feel powerful.
Finding times to fit it into our schedules rather than forcing our schedules to fit around it.
Being flexible with our schedules and kind to ourselves.
Focusing on how the movements we do make us feel.
Practical ways to fit the above into a workout routine include:
Journaling about how you feel before and after movement,
hiring a coach,
paying attention to your mood and sleep,
slowing down during movement and connect with how your muscles are feeling, and
clarifying your intention behind each workout.
Exercise can be a wonderful tool to put in your self care toolbox, but not if it’s adding extra stress into your life. By being flexible in your workout schedule, listening to your body, and trusting yourself, you can make sure your relationship to exercise is benefiting your health instead of harming it.