You may have noticed that student at the gym – the one who exercises for hours a day, switching from one cardio machine to another, weightlifting, then heading off to the pool for multiple laps. Or maybe you are the one who exercised Monday through Friday but can’t imagine missing gym time on Saturday.
Is this healthy or harmful? And where does one draw the line between healthy exercise and an unhealthy compulsive vice?
Guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) for healthy aerobic activity recommend 30-45 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on three to five days a week. Yet for the average student, spending hours daily on physical activity may not necessarily raise any red flags. And in the case of student athletes, or students training for major athletic events such as running a marathon, these recommendations are simply not applicable.
“Someone trying to achieve that personal best may be riding that edge, but for exercise to be compulsive it must be emotionally or psychologically driven and used to satisfy needs that can’t be satisfied in other ways,” said Annie Dochnahl, Health Educator at the University Health Center.
Dochnahl explained that the risks of too much exercise can be placed in two categories: overtraining, where the primary risk is injury, and exercise dependence, where the risk is the psychological cycle of a need to exercise.
“Habitual exercise can be motivating, but someone can take it too far, setting themselves up in a vicious cycle. Students want to look good, feel good and be healthy, so they think if a little bit is good, shouldn’t more be better?” Dochnahl said.
Dochnahl noted that regular exercise that falls within ACSM recommendations has a whole host of benefits. One of the primary benefits is stress relief, which is necessary for most college students. So if students hit the gym to sweat off midterms or to procrastinate on papers, this is one vice that may actually make them healthier.
Sophomore journalism major Mandee Pearson said that she does 30-45 minutes of cardio every day, and some days she goes to the gym twice. She said that she doesn’t consider her exercise habits a vice but that she can’t go without regular exercise.
“It’s my favorite part of the day because it makes me feel better about myself. I don’t think it’s too much,” Pearson said. “I just don’t know what it’s like to not exercise. It’s just part of my routine.”
Making exercise part of a daily routine is not necessarily defined as compulsive exercise, according to Chantelle Russell, Assistant Director of Fitness at the Student Rec Center.
“Compulsive exercise is the point when the body is breaking down and doesn’t have the chance to recover. At that point you are really harming your body,” Russell said. “People should make exercise a part of their lifestyle, but I wouldn’t use the word ‘compulsive.’ People need to find something they enjoy doing that doesn’t feel like work to them.”
For students who want to reap the benefits of regular exercise, the personal training staff at the Student Recreation Center can help establish sensible training programs that include elements of cardio, strength training and flexibility. Russell recommends beginning with a fitness assessment to establish specific goals and then working with a trainer to develop a program that follows the ACSM guidelines.
Along with providing safe training programs, Physical Activity and Recreation Services addresses the issue of compulsive exercise. PARS provides a brochure, “Concerned about compulsive exercise? So are we!” that explains compulsive exercise and outlines steps for a successful intervention. PARS also works in conjunction with the Health Center, the Counseling Center, the Office of Student Life and other campus groups to help students who may combine compulsive exercise with an eating disorder.
“We do everything we can to recognize when someone is struggling, but we don’t want to impose ourselves to prevent a healthy individual from exercising. This is not an illness to be taken lightly, but we are very careful not to overstep our responsibilities,” said Dennis Munroe, director of PARS.
One common misconception is that the 30-minute time limit placed on cardio machines at the rec center is meant to control student exercise habits and prevent compulsive exercising.
“We do not say you cannot exercise more than 30 minutes a day. The habit of spending hour after hour exercising only catches our attention when it is accompanied by a physical appearance of concern: emaciated, weakened, overly thin. The time limit is necessary to keep traffic flowing at the gym and allow for fair usage of the machines,” Munroe said.
If a student is concerned that their own exercise habits or those of a friend have become dangerous, there are resources available on campus to help them examine their habits or support a friend who may be compulsively exercising.
The Counseling Center can help students address the psychological element of compulsive exercise through individual counseling. The counselor may recommend that the student join the Eating Disorders Team, a group that meets weekly to discuss interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, body image, nutrition, appropriate exercise planning and medical issues related to eating disorders. Students can also speak with professionals in the University Health Center’s Health Education Program.
OVEREXERTION: taking exercise too far
Daily Emerald
February 20, 2006
taking exercise too far
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