Compulsive Exercise and Exercise Bulimia

Normally people are not inclined to exercise. If you have been sedentary and have tried to incorporate exercise as a healthy habit you probably know what I am talking about. But did you know that there are people who can not control they urges to exercise? People to whom exercise is an obsession? Yes there are issues with exercise as there are with food eating. This article deals with two behavioral problems: compulsive exercise and exercise bulimia.

People suffering from compulsive exercise are those that their whole lives revolve around working out. They really fell bad if they miss an exercise session or if they can not exercise. They usually feel that have not exercised enough.

Exercise bulimia involves in addition to exercise excess binge eating. In this case people who suffer from this behavior will eat enormous amounts of food in a short period of time and then will exercise obsessively to make up for it. It is like they punish themselves (with exercise) for their binging. They also use exercise as a way to "eliminate" the perceived wrong food from their diets. That is, if thy eat a fatty food then they will use obsessively exercise to eliminate that food from their bodies.

The appropriate amount of exercise for somebody will according to many factors including your fitness level, lifestyle, current health status and more. Professional athletes may exercise many hours per day without any problem. For a fit person exercising for up to 1 -1.5 hours, most days of the week is reasonable and healthy.

Compulsive exercise and exercise bulimia has more to do with attitude rather that a specific amount of time. If you feel that you should punish yourself for eating too much you may have a behavioral issue related to exercise. But if you feel comfortable doing 2 hours then that is OK.

What are the problems associated with compulsive exercise and exercise bulimia? Usually exercise is a good thing for your health but too much exercise has its heath related problems. Compulsive exercise and bulimia exercise can produce the following issues : chronic fatigue, amenorrhea (lack of menstruation), hearth issues, dehydration, arthritis, osteoporosis, stress injuries and bone injuries, fractures, and sprains, Kidney failure, or suppressed immune system

If you feel you are exercising too much please ask your doctor. You may be suffering a behavioral issue related to too much exercise.