Yes. Combine endorphins/dopamine (i.e. the exercise high) with the obsessive pursuit of a goal and you have a recipe for addiction.

Like you, my mood is crap on my days off. I imagine this is due to some down-regulation in the dopamine system or something similar. This, combined with the fact that I feel like I'm not progressing towards some fitness "goal" on my days off enhances the negative mood.

I think you have to be a little addicted to put in the work to be a legitimately serious endurance athlete.

As to whether this "addiction" is as bad as an addiction to candy crush or something, I think it's all relative and becomes more of a philosophical question about what the hell we're all supposed to be doing with our lives.

It's Runner's World for chrissakes

#fakenews

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

It may be, or not, but there are many Ultra athletes who come from addictive backgrounds; essentially, trading the drug of choice

https://www.outsideonline.com/.../drug-addict-ironman

https://ultrarunning.com/...t-another-addiction/

http://www.news.com.au/...cf27f5c6f3467570fa20

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I can quit anytime I want.

My wife say I am OCD on exercise. Does this also make me an
addict?

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I don't think it's all about volume, but rather things like
- how you feel if you can't work out - do you have withdrawal symptoms, get really anxious
- if your exercise interferes negatively with your life (e.g. showing up for work late because you HAD to run those final 2 miles)
- feeling like it is something you have to do rather than something you want to do (that might be more compulsion than addiction)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

possibly, but who cares and/or maybe we just don't know how to do "balance." I also feel better when I workout at least an hour a day, if not more. It hasn't negatively affected me so far in life, save for the occasional ditching of friends or SO to spend a few extra mins on the bike.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

Many athletes are Add/Hd. My self being one I find that riding and racing bikes, is better than any med. Being 63 and living with it since I was 11 years old.

helps me focus...till i run off the road staring at the C130 doing a low pass...I seriously do think better on a bike! And swimming is my meditation

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

The best example and really inspiring: Lionel... such a fan of that guy!

Exercise addiction quiz related to the book The Haywire Heart - https://www.velopress.com/...ction-quiz-athletes/

I scored 21.

We've gotten addicted to labels. The problem is, I would argue a combo of the 1) constant need for doctoral dissertations and tenure, and 2) our culture is turning into a bunch of navel gazing, self-absorbed, no personal responsibility nor self-discipline sorry-ass whackjobs.

Leisure time is a fairly new thing for our species. It started in the realm of only the rich and powerful. They spent that leisure time mostly becoming fat alcoholics. Now the middle class has leisure time. Most of them spend it becoming fat alcoholics too. But some of use get a bunch of exercise which, on the surface would seem to be a good thing. So lets dream up a bunch of ways to criticize it because we're desperate to write papers and have our "ology" taken seriously as a hard science.

Only in our screwed up Western culture could we dream up ideas so screwed up like "the unwillingness to put down those last cookies isn't a self-discipline problem it's a "disability". Oh, but then it's a "disease".

Screw the labels. It takes self-discipline to work out. When I do so, I'm pleased with myself. When I, in a moment of weakness, occasionally skip a workout, I'm pissed at myself for days for being an undisciplined slug. The label one puts on that doesn't matter. Labels, in this context, are just desperate pleas for attention from the author. Screw him (or her). Let him obsess over his own self-discipline challenges and leave me alone.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

I don't think you need to worry about being an exercise addict.

It is a lifestyle. People create goals for whatever reason they want. There is a difference between me, who might get up at 6 on a saturday to head out for a long bike ride vs the other 20 something year old that is looking for a new place to "brunch" in Nashville. Sure, I like to go out and stay out late every now and again but it is all in moderation. If people are worried about others working out too much, this is a effed up society.

Are most people that go out every weekend alcoholics? maybe, functional? sure. Healthy? maybe.

Are most criminals going to become repeat offenders? yes. Because I see it everyday. Go to a courthouse on a Tuesday morning at 9am and you'll see the same person in every city. But doctors are worried about people doing something healthy. (I know this is off topic but its annoying the docs are writing articles like this)

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach

That article sucks. It's comparing average nonathletes to competitive serious runners.

You don't have to be an addict to fulfill all their weak criteria. I check all their criteria but there is no way I'm an addict.

 

Your day off 'issues' are not due to lack of exercise in the way that you have perceived it.

When your body goes into repair mode (on your off day you are giving it a chance to do that) you will feel crappy. I can't think of a great analogy, perhaps taking a car into a garage, but it's a bit like a mini version of feeling unpleasant to make you rest while your body recovers from illness. (which is a function of the symptoms of illness)

Possibly. Certainly many long term endurance athletes that I know are pretty habitual exercisers who rarely miss a day and can get pretty obsessive about fitting in exercise and be pretty grouchy if they can't exercise.

Is it an issue? Not unless it goes to extremes e.g. forcing yourself to train when you're sick or injured, or becoming so obsessive about performance that your diet, sleep, training, etc take front and centre in your life to the detriment of everything else.

Agreed, their comparison is nonsense. What would you hope to learn about exercise addiction by comparing the proportion of instances in runners versus general population?
Since a minority of the population are, or have been involved in regular exercise, only a small proportion of the general population will even capable of fulfilling the addiction criteria so of course the figure is much smaller. Without first presenting figures for the number of participants involved in other forms of exercise on a regular basis, this data is worthless. Obviously someone who doesn't exercise regularly is not going to be classed as an exercise addict. I mean how do you think they'll answer the question "Is exercise consuming all of your time?" Hmmmmm. Let me think.

It's like saying 25% of those who use cocaine are hard drug addicts versus 0.3% of the general population.
Would anyone be surprised that those using a hard drug are more likely to be addicted to it? Duh!

There's a whole lot of "research" that's either stupid or more often simply being reported stupidly and out of context. This seems to be most prevalent in the fields of medicine, psychology, sport science, and nutrition. Obviously there's a big overlap between these too. In most cases I think it's the fault of reporting that tries to find something exciting to say and misrepresents the intent, context and findings of the studies they're referring to.

No, I'm not an addict.
Why?

Because , while I do enjoy it for the most part, it often takes an effort to keep going. It takes very little effort to stop. It's the conscious displeasure with having abandoned something I wanted to do that upsets me if I skip a training session or two. But if I planned a rest day or a rest week for that matter, I manage just fine!

I'm sure there are plenty of you who are exercise addicts (I've suspected as much for a long while) but it's certainly not a prerequisite for being an endurance athlete.

If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. As the saying goes.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

Maybe... not worried about it, I'm enjoying what I do and try to do my best to balance life.. family, work, church, me time. I don't do a lot of social stuff because I lean on the introverted side, love my quiet moments training. This predates my rediscovery of being active. I'm much more complex than simply being called an addict.

Step number 1: "Admit I am an exercise addict"
Step number 2: "Now I need to manage the addiction such that it is additive to my overall life and those around me"
Step number 3: "Implement Step 2"
Step number 4: "Embrace It"
Step number 5: "Enjoy it every day"

This should solve if there is any "problem".

I have not raced in 2 years and still training 800 hours per year for no good reason other than the daily exercise gives me life and a reason and a purpose outside the others of being dad/husband/career idiot.

A therapist told me that if you don't get an anxiety attack, it's not OCD

Relating alcoholism, I can offer this word of thumb, to adapt as necessary

I think it was Warren Zevon [or maybe Alice Cooper?] that said: "An alcoholic knows exactly how much there is to drink in the house and precisely how long it will last"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Oh bullshit.

Humans are complicated. You can't read a couple sentences re. someone being grumpy and state "here's the cause". Maybe it's repair mode, maybe she's grumpy because she's simply annoyed with herself, maybe she's grumpy because no exercise means she doesn't get to eat ice cream today. Deep thinkers have been trying to understand the root cause of human feelings for millennia. Some ideas seem to make sense, others seem silly. Anyone who thinks they have a perfect understanding of the causes of their own "issues" is fooling themselves, much less a perfect understanding of someone else's issues.

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Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart

sorry, don't agree.
This is physiology, not some existential concept about thoughts and feelings.

Like I said ... It's Runner's World for chrissakes

They should subtitle it: The Worldwide Journal of Hobby Joggers

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Why not race? You clearly love the sport! Even if you're not setting personal PRs or burning down the house, racing in itself is fun and motivating!

Sure, I'd train close to as hard without a race since I value fitness and discipline in itself, but for me, having the race is almost like an annual doctor physical checkup - it's very reassuring and satisfying to see that my times are pretty stable and minimally declining despite age. For sure, if I was working out a fair amount but suffered a big dropoff, I'd be worried!

Why am I grumpy on my day off? Because I physically feel out of sorts. Can't explain it. But all my joints and muscles feel stiff. I am not a morning person, so it takes me a while to feel awake and be a happy mom to my kids. If I run in the morning, I am totally ready to "take on" the kids and truly enjoy their company. It's like physically my body needs a kick in the ass (via running) to get going. And mentally, I need to be in my own space before I deal with others.

Obviously this is different during weekdays when I am at work. I slowly wake up as I sit in front of my computer and work and dealing with other adults is less emotionally demanding. But I still need my lunch run or else same thing will happen, I will be totally miserable by the afternoon.

I don't run to "treat" myself to ice cream or stuff. That being said, I do eat a muffin for breakfast if I know that I am going to run (otherwise I wouldn't).

Do I sacrifice social time with others in order to exercise? Heck yeah! I do NOT enjoy sitting on my lunch break at the food court and talk to people that have nothing in common with me. I feel drained and guilty after that. I would rather just walk around the shops at the very least. I DO enjoy running or swimming or working out with people from my gym at lunch (more than doing it by myself). But this is maybe because over the years I have come to realize that contrary to my desire, I am actually an introvert and I think as I get older, I get more introverted. Same with my hubby, so he gets me.

If you engage in the activity to the detriment of other important aspects of your life- spouse, children, job, health, etc- then I'd say yes.

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I read Haruki's book on running about 3-4 yrs ago and he exaggerates greatly, i.e. he does NOT run every day as the above quote would imply but rather only 3-4 days/wk. Further, he doesn't even bike or swim either so about half the days of the year he does not do anything other than maybe walk from the subway to his office.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

No, just doing the bare minimum. But those 'ultra' folks, they've got problems.

Nor am I an alcoholic (hiccup), because I don't go to the meetings.

And before you ask, no I'm not in denial. I would know if I was.

And I'm definitely not a perfectionist, because that would be a flaw.

---

Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)

We're engineered to move steadily for hours at a time -- fulfilling this need isn't pathological.

Not all addictions are bad.
I don't see an issue here.

I look forward to my rest days btw because I understand rest is integral for me doing this well and for a long time. Plus I am damn tired going into it.

Which just proves the quote: "All Runners are Liars" - Bart Yasso

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

"HEY! I never said that!"

Well, Bart, I would say one of us is lying about that

Oh yeah, how's your buddy Mike Rossi doing these days?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I really enjoy racing but not when body parts are broken. I have a disc/nerve issue that makes running and cycling problematic and very unpredictable as I lose complete strength and coordination in my left leg due to this. Thus I am swimming a ton, doing weights/core training, treadmill jogging (running on the road is not on) and when things work some riding. In any case, I get my 2 hours of exercise in regardless with no racing target.

I could do some swim racing, but honestly, I am more interested in improving at all 4 strokes. My metric has moved from race times to doing the sport properly. Perhaps similar to the addict downhill skier who is trying to perfect carving turns coming down the mountain and improving the craft technically. Plus I view all of this as an investment if I get to race again. But if I do not, while I am not entirely OK with not racing again (but gradually accepting this is a strong reality), I am just returning to my DNA from being a teenager, just enjoying doing sport every day just for the sake of doing sport. That's what I am wired to do.

If it costs you a relationship.......or a job......or (___________).....does it really matter how they label it?

My whole career (retired 3 weeks ago -- woohoo time to get more training in) involved constant interaction with patients --- talk talk talk --so I also valued the quiet time of exercise.

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RayGovett
Hughson CA
Be Prepared-- Strike Swiftly -- Who Dares Wins- Without warning-"it will be hard. I can do it"

Interesting, have not heard that quote before. In a few races, I've had people lie to me straight-faced after the race, even though they know, or should know, that I can very easily check their time. This always kind of amazes me.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

But you're thinking about it now, aren't you?

"Hmmmm, there was that time I ... I guess I kinda fibbed about that; I mean so I rounded a little? And then, well, I said I'd TRY TO do between, 8 & 10; so pulling the plug at 6, wasn't .... a lie?

"Maybe Randy's onto something here"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

If I weren't addicted to endurance sports and structuring my life from race to race, I'd be addicted to drugs, bouncing back and forth between rehab and relapse. I'll go with the former.

"You know, if you stopped drinking beer, you could probably run further & faster"
"But if I stopped drinking beer, why would I bother to run at all?"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Dev, much respect for your attitude regarding your physical issues. Are you doing any OWS?

Mark, I could do some open water swimming, but I have just been mainly in the pool. I have only done 3 wetsuit swims in 2 years (it was a month ago.....72 minute swim, 90 min swim on back to back days and then on Canada Day I did this beach to beach out and back across the local lake 2x4K. Someone posted on the local forum that a variety of people were doing anything from the 2K to 3K to 4K to 8K options. So that morning I decided to try the 8K (which would be the longest single swim of my life) and I showed up and I was the only one doing it, so went for it. I want to do a 10K swim, maybe when I am on family vacation in Tremblant. I need to map out a 4x2.5K course so I can top up on fuel in between loops. I might have to go for a test run with my massive Garmin Fenix 3 (I hate swimming with any watch) just to measure out an accurate 2.5K loop and then give it a go from there the next day.

In any case, as a lifelong exercise addict, you just create new challenges for yourself. Last summer I learned how to do Butterfly stroke (never could do it in the first 50 years of my life) and then I built up and did a 1000m TT as 50m fly/50m free x10 continuously. My time was 18:34 in Feb, so once I return to the "faster" indoor pool in Sep, I am going to see if I can get this down to break 18 minutes. That 1000m as 50/50 was the single hardest 20ish minute aerobic thing I have done...maybe harder than my last 20 min on an personal ITT up Mont Ventoux on a crazy 40C day in 2004 trying to break 90 minutes (I did it with seconds to spare)....in any case, I suppose I have always been about self generate challenges whether inside a formal race, or creating my own.

I was just talking to a work colleague who built up to 40 minutes on a Jacob's ladder continous. She's trying to get me to try this. Next she plans to build up to 40 min this time with ankle weights and a weight vest. It's just a personal challenge she has generated for herself. I can respect that. I have no clue how hard that is as I have never been on one of those things! She's trying to get me to give it a try and I just may if it works with my maimed body parts (well minus any weight vest of ankle weights and maybe start with a few minutes).

Our brains have a remarkable and scary capacity to become addicted to anything that involves a reward cycle. Endurance sports offer physiological rewards (dopamine, adrenaline, fitness) as well as social (status, achievement, power) among others (feel free to chime in). Those of us with addictive tendencies feel the pull strongly! To give up our sport sometimes seems like it would be worse than not living. To miss a training activity feels like a massive blow to our mood and psyche and we fight tooth and nail to keep those times we carve out of our days sacred. It becomes the thing we fight hardest for and treasure the most in our lives--even though it doesn't advance our career or our family. Even when we go on vacation we can't help but think about whether or not there will be time to slip away for a quick ride or run.

I would posit that while an addiction to a sport might not be as physically detrimental as some other addiction, the effects on a person's relationships, mental health, and happiness could still be negative. People lose jobs, marriages, kids, houses, relationships--over these sports. We hide sport-related purchases from our spouses. We sneak away from work to train (or browse ST... hehe). We skip family vacations or get-togethers. We schedule everything in our lives around our races or training plans. This is not an accusation or finger pointing, it's just what I've seen. And who I've been. And am.

I'm just a millennial who is trying to figure out how to do life well, and enjoy the things I love doing without being compulsive about them. For me, the struggle is real.

I'd love to hear more of your thoughts/responses/experiences.

It seems wise to differentiate between passion, obsession and addiction.

All three things might take over ones life in an "unhealthy way."

But obsessions and passions eventually burn out on their own.

Triathlon is currently a passion for me.
I WISH triathlon were an addiction. Then I could keep at it forever.

But alas....
"Triathlon is handsome and triathlon is kind.
Gay as a jewel when first it is new.
But triathlon grows old and waxes cold.
And fades away like morning dew."

Triclimbski - you have actually seen people lose their relationships, houses and jobs over their exercise addiction? I never realized it can get THAT serious. I mean, I see how it can negatively impact relationships and work, but at some point, one would imagine there is always a "wake up call" before it gets that bad.

I can totally relate to the point about vacation with family and thinking about how I can squeeze in some running. I always do because my rationale is - I am taking a vacation day away from work to spend time with my family, but also to "treat" myself to some "me" time because I earned this vacation day (at my work). My "me" time is always a run or a swim. I can sacrifice sleep for it, which is usually what happens - I wake up extra early during the "vacation" day, when the kids are sleeping. By the time I come back from a run, everyone is just waking up, so I don't feel guilty for missing out on anything.

I've seen a couple IronHubbys / IronWifeys become IronExes, yes

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

This is sounds s little dumb.

"It is not that I am bored with my marriage. I am an exercise addict I can't help myself."

"It is not that I am a self centered asshvle, who thinks that my spouses life should revolve around me.... no that's not me.... She/he has developed an exercise addiction and is not spending enough quality time watching my favorite TV shows and shopping for shoes with me."

Not really how it went down, but let me just say the priorities and focus got skewed

Granted, there probably were issues with the relationship(s) beforehand, and deflecting or running away from those by spending so much time training didn't help, and maybe made things worse

If there was a wake-up call, it probably came before 6AM, when they were already on the road, and they simply missed it

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I freely admit that I am too busy with work, kids and triathlon to date.

But honestly, if relationships were THAT great in the first place.......I would probably find the time.

Triathlon and work be damned.