Dependence on physical activity. Sports addiction and training addiction

Every self-respecting man in one way or another tries to keep his body in shape - he goes in for sports at home or, if he has time, goes to gym. We have already said more than once that the main thing in this matter is not to overdo it, although we welcome great zeal and striving for success. But today the habit of going to training has become a dangerous trend. Already in 2012, 0.5% of the world's population became dependent on hiking in Gym. We think that now this figure has increased several times. We all need to know the signs of an emerging addiction in order to prevent it in time and prevent it from ruining us.

How to know if you are addicted

The symptoms of addiction, according to sports and psychology professor Clive Jones, are fairly obvious and easy to recognize. The first and main sign is the obvious anxiety that you experience at a time when you cannot get to the gym for a long time. Irritability also predominates, an inability to consider the importance of recovering the body after a series of grueling workouts. Sports come to the fore, completely controlling the emotions, behavior and thinking of the addicted athlete. It can also lead to great conflicts with loved ones, since the obsession with physical activity puts it in priority over family, personal life or work.

As in the relationship of a drug addict and a prohibited substance, an athlete develops tolerance for the gym. That is, each time, in order to achieve complete satisfaction from training, the load has to be increased. This is a normal practice in sports in general, but you should not go too far. And a decrease in the load can cause an abstinence syndrome, which will lead to great discomfort, trembling in the whole body or some of its parts (can be compared with breaking), drops. Therefore, when starting classes in the gym, remember these symptoms in order to stop them at the first stage.

Psychological and chemical effects

If in women the desire for an ideal body can cause such a disorder as anorexia, then men often develop dysmorphia. This is a mental illness that is caused by excessive concern about not meeting the standards of a beautiful male body in society. A prime example of what this does to people is bodybuilding. According to Dr. Jones, as a rule, addiction to sports can be associated with a low assessment of oneself, one's body, as well as self-doubt.

Another reason for developing addiction in humans is chemicals. As you know, when playing sports, endorphins are produced in the body, which helps a person feel much happier. Plus, it helps to cope with stress, but when there are too many workouts, the trainee becomes dependent not only on them, but also on his hormone of happiness, which he needs more and more, like a drug addict.

What addiction does to your body

Australian professor Aaron Coates says it's hard to determine how long a person needs to spend in the gym before they can be considered addicted. For each, this number will be individual, and a greater tendency to it is manifested in those who do endurance exercises. It is especially dangerous, even from a health point of view, to practice every day without giving yourself proper rest. Also at risk of addiction are men who take on heavy physical activity but do not combine it with diet and proper recovery.

The consequences of sports addiction can be as follows. Firstly, due to inadequate rest, which is almost non-existent, joints, bones and ligaments suffer, which at one moment may not withstand. Secondly, in such extreme conditions, the metabolism in the body can change, which is also not very useful for you. There is also a high risk of hormonal failure, due to which hormones will no longer enter the body in the usual way and in the right amount, which will lead to a decrease in testosterone levels, an increase in cortisol and estrogen. The latter, by the way, can cause the transformation of yours into a woman's. In addition, immunity suffers - you will get sick more often and it will be harder to endure even the most common cold. And the loss of muscle mass that you are so eager to gain will not please you.

How to fix it

Of course, we are not talking about any magic pills, but if you follow some simple rules, it will help you. First, your carbohydrate intake must become adequate. It is the most accessible source of physical energy. Despite the fact that today one of the main trends in fitness is low-carb, you should not forget about them, leaving their usual portion in your diet.

The second thing you must do is change your thinking and behavior. This begins the struggle with a possible or already obvious dependence. To prove to yourself that this is not so, you have to forget the way to the gym for a couple of weeks. And if you are going on vacation and are looking for a hotel where the hall will be located, stop doing it. It is this behavior that gives you addiction.

It's also important to remember that, apart from sports, there are many other things that can lift your spirits and combat your stress. Plus, it's important to make sure that your good mood does not depend only on how well you pumped up your abs today or how much chest pressing you did this time.

And one more thing to remember is the purpose for which you go to the gym. Naturally, many of us go there to keep the body in shape or bring it into it. But we must set goals that are realistic, not going beyond, because of which we will not have to spend in the hall every day, striving for an unattainable ideal. You just have to remember that beautiful body doesn't always mean pumped up. It is time for us to reconsider these stereotypes.

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For three months I rushed about like crazy: after work, I went to the gym and there until night. Waking up at seven in the morning to catch the pool. Completely abandoned flour in favor of vegetables and fruits (see). The mode was worn out, but the kilograms were leaving, so the advice of the instructors to slow down was ignored.

It all ended right at New Year when, dancing the rumba, I suddenly collapsed on the floor: the anterior cruciate ligament was torn, the meniscus cracked. For two months I could not walk. The doctors were perplexed: how in the dance I could get a professional sports injury(about other fitness dangers - in the material)?

It turned out to be very simple. The meniscus was worn out from the loads, and the rumba just became the last straw. Upon learning of my troubles, the fitness instructor sighed sadly: “I got addicted to drugs ...”

What is fitness addiction?

“Addiction is when a person subordinates his life to something or someone,” explains psychologist Ilya Kotlov. “Mania comes first, crowding out all other needs.”

Fitness addiction is easy to recognize: a person hangs out in the gym more often than with friends and family, workouts become more intense and longer. But the "sick" stubbornly ignores the problem, continuing to explain his behavior to himself and his close desire for health.

“During physical exertion, the brain is produced,” says Ilya Kotlov, “so fitness acts like a drug, or gambling. A person goes to the gym for a portion of endorphins more and more. In addition, people often try to heal personal problems with fitness - loneliness, family disorder or divorce.

How to recognize fitness mania?

As with any other addiction, the rule of thumb for fitness mania is hard to recognize in the early stages, difficult to treat in the later stages. And, like any other addiction, fitness mania has several signs.

The first is systematic. Narcologists say that addiction is when a system appears: every day, or once a week, or even less often, a person drinks (or takes a drug). The problem with fitness is that it inevitably involves consistency. Therefore, to a certain extent, everyone who conscientiously goes to the gym three times a week for several years is a fitness addict. But it's not scary.

Much worse when the second sign appears - antisocial. If fitness becomes an obstacle to a full-fledged personal, family or social life, this is already a clear wake-up call. For example, if you prefer training to gatherings in a pub after work, this is a sign of a healthy sports spirit. If you prefer training to a family holiday, there is reason to think. And it’s really bad when you start hiding from family and friends that you prefer fitness to any other vacation.

At this stage, the clinical picture of drug addiction unfolds in all its glory. As the laboratory experts told me physical education and practical psychology of FGU VNIIFK, fitness maniacs experience withdrawal syndrome, that is, withdrawal, after a missed workout: their head hurts, their body aches. From chronic overload, fitness maniacs suffer from a lack of. Often they are nervous and withdrawn people.

How to cure a fitness addict?

Here, as with any other addiction, the main thing is awareness. The sooner it happens, the better.

The second step is to get off the fitness needle and learn to control your passion for exercise. Unfortunately, my story is very typical: only a serious injury can cool the sports ardor of a maniac. But there are other examples as well.

“My patient realized that she had a fitness mania when she began to dream about training,” says Tatyana Titova, sports doctor of the Planet Fitness club network. “I went to a psychologist because I got so involved that I couldn’t stop.”

I, too, would rather go to a psychologist than cripple my leg. Now for me, not only simulators and dancing are over, but even.

Another option is when loved ones are saved. One of my friends, her young man literally cheated with the gym. Naturally, he canceled dates, was late and generally behaved as if he had another girlfriend. The apotheosis was the moment when he declared that he should limit himself in sex, because from this "a man spends a lot of protein." Honestly, that's what he said. After a long and difficult conversation, it turned out that he had no other, he really spends all the time in the gym. The girlfriend acted like a real psychotherapist: she didn’t make scenes and put the guy before a choice, but gradually, day after day, she made him understand that she didn’t particularly like pitching and she loves him not for relief, but for various spiritual qualities. And it worked.

In general, fitness mania is not a disease, but a symptom of a deeper problem. It is desirable to understand which is desirable before you erase the meniscus or break something for yourself.

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There are more and more fitness maniacs. Among them are not only politicians, actresses and models, but also "mere mortals" who devote too much time to improving their own body - so that it turns into an obsession. Everyone knows that physical activity, whether it's a long walk, half an hour of running or fitness, brings noticeable benefits to the body: from weight loss and body improvement to maintaining the cardiovascular system, preventing osteoporosis and other pathologies caused by overweight, and general well-being. Not to mention the beneficial effect on our mood: due to the release of endorphins into the bloodstream during exercise, sport is one of the natural antidepressants.

However, in some situations, going to the gym is not limited to the desire to improve well-being and turns into an obsessive desire to achieve physical perfection. As a rule, women are trying to lose more and more weight and model their body in the image and likeness of stereotypical and unattainable ideals. Men, on the other hand, are chasing an increase in muscle mass and muscle relief. Ineradicable dissatisfaction with one's own body and readiness for any sacrifice for the sake of its improvement is called bigorexia or the Adonis complex.

How to recognize a sports addiction?

An increasing dependence on sports can manifest itself in compulsive behavior or in the need to perform strictly defined actions in order to feel good. For sports addicts, going to the gym becomes an integral moral duty, the violation of which causes a feeling of guilt and a sense of failure.

Why is this happening?

The basis of such behavior is the rejection of one's body, that is, its altered perception, which can lead to body dysmorphia: the inability to objectively assess the state of one's own body. Therefore, in the pursuit of physical perfection, there is a need beyond all measure to increase the number of hours devoted to figure modeling and muscle building. To suffer from bigorexia means to react painfully to everything related to aesthetic perfection, including worrying about the lack of notable results based on the results of training and constantly work on changing your proportions. As a rule, people who are addicted to sports have low self-esteem, and fitness achievements become almost the only reward for their efforts. In this sense, bigorexia can be a manifestation of a protective mechanism: low self-esteem is compensated by the appearance of the body, which is worthy of admiration by others. And if anorexia is usually by everyone possible ways hides and hides, then bigorexia, on the contrary, is flaunted in every possible way.

What to do?

If it seems to you that you also have a similar problem, if you notice that going to the gym has become your daily duty and every skip makes you feel dissatisfied and guilty, try asking yourself: what role does fitness play in your life and what lies behind it dissatisfaction? It is possible that it is better to understand its true causes and solve problems with the help of a psychologist, and not a coach.

For more information, see the Psicologi-italia website.

Anyone can be addicted to sports. Every day the number of people who go in for sports is only growing. It can be fitness, going to the gym or morning jogging. In pursuit of healthy lifestyle there is nothing wrong with life.

Often, excessive training causes addiction to sports. This is due to the fact that the individual seeks to achieve high results behind a short time: men tend to increase muscle mass, and girls dream of losing extra pounds.

Causes

Numerous complexes are the main cause of addiction to sports. Sports addiction appears in those who cannot adequately assess the state of their body. Even huge changes in better side sometimes not enough for a person to stop spending a lot of free time on fitness and in the gym.

Another cause of addiction is bigorexia - the desire to build muscle mass. It arises due to the fact that the athlete is dissatisfied with his body, painfully perceives issues related to appearance, is dissatisfied after and during training.

Starting to engage in a particular sport, a person hopes that after each training session she will be a huge step closer to her goal. But this is a rather lengthy process. As a result, there is a dependency on exercise. Such an athlete every day spends more and more time in the gym, trying to get as close to perfection as possible.

Any person who has even a slight sports addiction has very low self-esteem. Therefore, progress in sports is very important for them. This helps them improve their self-esteem and assert themselves. So the problem arises in insecure people who try to compensate for their complexes. perfect view of your body.

Symptoms

The goal of training for ordinary athletes is not just to improve the body, but also to fulfill a clearly defined plan: they special program perform exercises that keep their body in good shape and bring them closer to the goal. People addicted to sports do not have such a plan. When they achieve one goal, they come up with a new, more complex one. And this happens all the time. If you don't follow the plan, you can hurt yourself a lot.

Increased sex drive can also cause sports addiction. Such people think that perfect body will allow them to win over a potential partner.

Sports addicted people have characteristic behavioral traits:

Any addicted to physical exercise is reverent and patient about sports and every day increases physical activity.
A person who is obsessed with sports constantly thinks about the upcoming workout and is able to put off important things in order to hit the gym.
If you deprive him of the opportunity to play sports in conditions convenient for him, his health will worsen.
When there is no opportunity to visit the gym, the person becomes irritated and conflicted.
The daily routine is complicated in such a way that the individual has time to visit the hall, despite the many urgent matters.

Signs of overtraining

Among professional athletes, there are often those who are already too tired of the sport. They are overtrained, but this should not be equated with addiction. They are forced to do sports every day by the specifics of their work. Many athletes understand that sometimes it is better not to overtrain than to overtrain. Finding this fine line of an effective, but not too intense workout is very difficult.

All people have a different limit of physical capabilities. Often an overtrained athlete needs a long rest. If you feel very tired after a regular workout, this is the first sign of overtraining. Other signs include:

decreased physical activity;
lack of coordination;
rapid pulse;
headache;
gastrointestinal problems;
weak immunity;
lack of appetite;
insomnia;
vulnerability to nervous breakdowns;
feeling of apathy.

If you have experienced several of the above symptoms, you must admit that you overdid it with exercise. At this point, you need to find out when you overtrained and what you were doing at that moment. This will allow you to determine what should never be done again.

Even professional athletes can overwork from constant training, which is accompanied by an unlimited number of loads. Coaches of such athletes usually insist on taking funds that allow them to endure heavy loads asymptomatically. Such funds adversely affect the health of the athlete.

Any sports addict suffers from overtraining. That this did not happen, this should be monitored by the athlete himself, his coach, and his relatives.

Treatment

Exercise addiction is a problem that the patient cannot get rid of on their own. Not the last role in this process is played by friends and relatives of this person.

Close people should distract a person from sports at least twice a week. They should always remember that the addict always has a busy schedule, which necessarily includes intense training. To disrupt his plans, you can distract him to no less interesting, but necessary activities. This could be housework, meeting up with friends, attending events, etc.

In the spring and summer seasons, intensive training can be replaced by river rafting or hiking. At such events, the addict will not get tired, but will not completely lose his passion.

To get rid of addiction, it is enough to “interfere” with the patient for a month and change his plans, preventing him from playing sports too often. If relatives achieve that a person will go to training no more than three times a week, then the addiction will disappear without a trace.

Do you think addiction is only for people with bad habits? Think it can't be about sports? How else can. If you can't afford to miss at least one class, live from workout to workout, it's time to stop and think: maybe you are a fitness addict?

Psychologists and coaches say that sports addiction is no different from other addictions. In many ways, it is similar to food, but it is somewhat more difficult to recognize it.

Therefore, you should understand whether you are really too attached to sports loads, what dangers are fraught with excessive passion for sports and how to recognize how addicted you are.

Is it hormones to blame?

Everyone knows that thanks to physical activity releases endorphins that boost mood. Have you ever wondered why many athletes, leaving the sport, become alcoholics and drug addicts?

But the answer is simple: sports addiction gives way to chemical addiction, since the hormones of joy and pleasure are produced almost the same and the body does not feel much difference.

It has been scientifically proven that in the case of a decrease in loads among zealous fitness enthusiasts, those parts of the brain that are responsible for addiction to cigarettes, alcohol, computer and gambling are sharply turned on. In some cases, against this background, bulimia or anorexia may develop, depression may appear..

Young people who are fanatically fond of bodybuilding and use various chemicals (steroids, anabolics) "build" their body, risking their health.

You need to be able to distinguish between addiction and passion for sports. If a person, for some reason, who didn’t get to training, beats in hysterics, becomes irritable and depressed, he has no other interests besides the gym, degrades in all areas of life, except for sports, this is a typical fitness addict.

Psychology of forever losing weight

"Slim or lose!" is the motto of many modern women. Everywhere you look, eternal beauty and youth, harmony, if not thinness, are promoted everywhere. Slimming Stars Through Diet And Sports Fit Posters beautiful girls Well, how can you retreat and not succumb to temptation?

So our ladies are ready to run around the clock with dumbbells in their hands and spend long hours on weight loss machines. Often they themselves do not give an account of how much they really need it. So accepted, fashionable. You always need to strive somewhere: lose weight, get better, pump up, remove ... The irrepressible desire to be like a movie star or fashion model can be a serious health hazard, but they don’t think about it and don’t back down.

Active lifestyle and sports, proper nutrition really are a great way to believe in yourself to improve the figure and emotional stability the question is at what cost.

If you constantly stick to star diets for weight loss, fall from fatigue in the gym and exhaust yourself in an effort to achieve perfection, you can earn quite serious problems, both with physical and psycho-emotional health.

Think about why you went to the gym? If health is a priority for you, then there is no question of any addiction.. If in the first place your goal is to fit into a swimsuit of the 40th size, an ideal (from your point of view) figure, urgently press the brake.

Questionnaire

To understand what really drives you and recognize addiction, try to answer honestly the following questions:

- The coach goes on vacation, the lesson plan changes. What do you feel?
- How do you feel about a complete change in the training program?
- What is more preferable: to relax in a cafe with friends or go to the gym?
- Is an injury or cold a reason to cancel the workout, or will you just switch to another muscle group (lower intensity)?

Fitness Addict: Distinguishing Features

If you notice at least one of the signs below, think maybe you should stop?

- hard intentions. The constant need to increase loads
- Lack of control. Every attempt to reduce the amount of training is unsuccessful, you are unable to give up training.
- Time. The amount of time spent on training is steadily increasing. Do you think that these are the most important and important hours in your life?

- Eliminate anxiety. Regardless of what unsettled you (you quarreled with your husband or your nail broke), you fly to the gym
- Conflict. The coincidence of an event (gatherings with friends, a business meeting, etc.) with the time of training in the gym causes you only one desire - to forget about everything and run to the simulators.

If you recognize yourself, just sit down and think: what does training give you? Perhaps this is just an escape from reality, and you need to relieve stress and tension in a different way? Or the lack of something acute (impressions, emotions) - find another solution to this problem.

In general, listen to yourself, feel yourself, and everything will be fine with you. The doctor promises!