Every year at this time, many of us make a New Year's resolution to start (and hopefully maintain) a fitness program. Being physically fit is important for everyone, but especially for those of us in recovery. Addiction is a disease that affects the body, mind, and spirit and recovery requires working on all three. Taking care of our body entails regular health checkups, stress management, eating healthy, and regular physical activity.

Daily exercise can be a valuable component of your recovery program and is beneficial for relapse prevention and long-term recovery.  A regular regime of moderate exercise will help improve self confidence, promote a better night's sleep, boost energy levels, act as a relaxant, keep one's mind occupied, and improve overall mental and physical health.

However, those of us who are prone to living addictively need to be cautious about taking physical activity to the extreme as it can become a compulsive activity. Just like an alcohol or drug addiction, people who become addicted to exercise believe it gives them a sense of control over their life, when in fact the opposite is true - they become obsessed with running or whatever the form of exercise and it takes over their life. Often people are driven by a low sense of self-esteem and the image of having a 'buff body' compels them to work out more than what is healthy.

Over-exercising is also a form of escape for people. It can be a way to avoid thinking about or dealing with potential 'problems'. In some cases people experience a 'runner's high' which can occur with strenuous activities such as running, swimming, biking, and grueling workouts at the gym. Experts agree that while everyone gets a boost in feeling better, getting high is not a common occurrence.

Over time many compulsive exercisers will find they no longer find pleasure in exercise but feel it is necessary and they no longer have a choice. When confronted about their excessive behaviour they may insist their performance would suffer or they would gain weight if they didn't keep up their exhausting schedule.  

How can you tell if exercising has become an addictive behaviour for you or someone you care about? Here are some commonly agreed-upon symptoms:

• Exercising for more than two hours every day without  taking a day to rest.
• Fixating on the weight lost or calories burned as a result of each workout.
• Continuing to exercise despite injury, illness, or adverse weather conditions.
• Becoming irritable or depressed if working out is not possible.
• Turning down social events with family and friends in order to workout.
• Wanting more - always pushing harder when running or working out in the gym.
• Signing up for multiple fitness classes in addition to working out at home.
• Working out to the point of pain and beyond.
• Moods vary depending on the intensity of the workout.

Compulsive exercising can become a serious health concern and it may require the intervention of a family member, friend, teammate, or coach. If you are concerned about yourself or someone close to you, give your Cedar's counsellor a call for advice.

Fear of becoming an exercise addict should not be an excuse to choose not to undertake a fitness program. This January do consider making a New Year's resolution to start exercising, whether it is doing aerobics, cycling, running, swimming, weight lifting, yoga, daily walking or ideally some combination of different types of exercise. Just keep moderation in mind at all times. Our goal should be to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle.