Exercise Addiction

[Skinnyboy]

Have you ever skipped a workout and felt guilty for having done so, even though you had a very legit reason?

Do you tend to plan your daily routine around your workouts, week after week, with little or no flexability in that schedule?

Your legs feel like lead, your irritable, you should skip the gym, but you force yourself to go anyway. Sound familiar?

I've been there and back. I wonder how many of you have the same problem?

I thought of this subject because I have a cold. First one since last winter. So far I've missed 4 days of running. It bothers me, but not like the days when I trained in the martial arts. Finally, I've learned, the hard way, that it's okay to rest, especially when you're sick or injured. But it still requires effort not to run.

A friend of mine, who used to be a hardcore marathoner, still runs when he's sick. We discussed it recently, training when sick. On one hand he feels it's stupid and he should be more like me and rest. On the other hand he thinks it may be a sign of mental weakness not to run. That's where I used to have my problem.

I once read an article about US Olympian Bruce Jenner where it stated that he rarely took a day off training. In fact, one day when he finally took a day off, it was during Christmas. Even then Bruce supposedly looked out the window and thought to himself "I'll bet the Russians are training right now." Paranoid or tough?

As I said before, at one time it would kill me to give up a workout. Now I realize that there's nothing to be gained by training while sick or injured. Usually, it's quite the opposite. Usually training while down results in slower recovery and worse. There can be exceptions, but I believe it's rare.

Training while sick is a sign of mental toughness? Okay, if you do it once, just to test yourself. But when you do it all the time? Definitely stupid. I keep a runner's journal and I briefly track my training everyday. Anytime I've been sick and missed a week or 2, according to my journal, it's never taken more than a week to bounce right back and start running at the same speed and distance before the illness. Sometimes, the rest results in faster times.

Here's an article that discusses this very subject:

http://www.americanrunning.org/displayindustryarticle.cfm?articlenbr=2172

Do any of you think you're exercise addicted?

[Beachbum]

I am a little, but I've learn over the years to temper it.
Just last week I tore a back muscle REAL bad (couldn't sleep, couldn't drink from a glass, couldn't comb my hair), but still every day I plan my day's workout and everything else I have to do that day, and go so far as get in my wo cloths, get my gear together, and tell my wife I'd be back later. Then I'd have to acknowledge that I couldn't do crap without hurting myself even more and prolonging my injury. Funny you bring it up cuz it's stymied me lately, like what the hell's wrong with my head?!

On the other hand, you just can't stop rolling or punching everytime you get an injury, or you'd hardly ever do it. Then is when the mental aspect comes in for me, and I personally think it does matter a lot. I'm trying to learn what I can & can't do with this and that injury. Some I can baby and still roll with (like an elbow or ankle strain), others are just too involved to jeopardize (this back one). And I'm learning to adjust my wo's to go with the flow. But I do think it's just as important to develop the mental ability to keep on keeping on when your mind says quit, but your body doesn't necessarily have to, as it is to say don't try to be a machoman and go prolonging your injury like some dumbass, and take all the time off you need.

It's true, sometimes the best thing you can do for your body and your head is take a LOT of time off, or at least change things up for awhile. If you never come back then you weren't that interested anyway. Like you said, I've read and it's been my experience that a person can usually recover what they lose faster than most realize.