Exercise Addiction: A Literature Review

Introduction

Exercise addiction is a complex phenomenon that has garnered increasing attention in recent years.
As individuals strive for health and fitness goals, some may develop an unhealthy obsession with
exercise, leading to detrimental physical, psychological, and social consequences. In this literature
review, we delve into the depths of exercise addiction, exploring its definitions, prevalence, risk
factors, consequences, and potential interventions.

Defining Exercise Addiction

Exercise addiction, also known as compulsive exercise or exercise dependence, is characterized by

Prevalence of Exercise Addiction

Estimating the prevalence of exercise addiction is challenging due to variations in definitions and
measurement tools across studies. However, research suggests that a significant portion of the
population, particularly individuals involved in competitive sports or fitness-related activities, may
be at risk of developing exercise addiction. Moreover, societal pressures to achieve unrealistic body
ideals and the rise of fitness trends on social media platforms may contribute to the normalization of
excessive exercise behaviors.

Risk Factors for Exercise Addiction

Several factors may predispose individuals to develop exercise addiction, including personality traits
(e.g., perfectionism, neuroticism), psychological factors (e.g., body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem),
social influences (e.g., peer pressure, cultural norms), and biological factors (e.g., genetic
predisposition, neurochemical imbalances). Understanding these risk factors is crucial for early
identification and intervention.

Consequences of Exercise Addiction

Exercise addiction can have profound consequences on physical health, including overuse injuries,
hormonal imbalances, cardiovascular complications, and compromised immune function.
Additionally, excessive exercise may take a toll on mental well-being, contributing to anxiety,
depression, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and social isolation. Furthermore, individuals with
exercise addiction may experience disruptions in relationships, work, and academic performance.

Interventions for Exercise Addiction

Addressing exercise addiction requires a comprehensive approach that addresses both the underlying
psychological factors and the behavioral patterns associated with excessive exercise. Treatment
modalities may include cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, mindfulness-based
interventions, and support groups. Moreover, establishing a healthy relationship with exercise
through moderation, balance, and self-awareness is essential for long-term recovery.

Conclusion

In conclusion, exercise addiction poses significant challenges to individuals' physical, psychological,

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Other major benefits of exercising while recovering from addiction are that the heart is strengthened,
and hypertension is reduced. In view of the key role of dopamine in the process of addiction, the
mechanism of exercise’s influence on dopamine signaling in the reward pathway can obviously be
used as an adjuvant treatment for dependent behaviors. It is concluded that there is the need for
consistent terminology, to follow-up results derived from exercise addiction instruments with
interviews, and to follow a theory-driven rationale in this area of research. In secondary exercise
addiction, the situation is compounded by a desire specifically to control body weight. Illegal
Substance use disorder, a serious social problem, urges researchers to innovate methods for
rehabilitation. However, aspects of athletic training might also have secondary stress-mediating
effects in this population. For example, Levit et al. ( 2018 ) reported that competition status
(professional and amateur) was not a significant predictor to the risk of EA when examining a
sample of mixed athletes and exercisers. Exercise intervention tends to cultivate long-term exercise
habits or exercise lifestyle. However, elite athletes may assign a different interpretation to the
assessment tools than leisure exercisers. There is at least one study reporting that the questionnaire
data can project an artificially high risk of EA, which is not supported by the interview record
(Szabo, 2018 ). The prevalence of the risk of exercise addiction has mostly been assessed in leisure
time exercisers such as runners, fitness attendees and cyclists. Your muscles will need to be trained
over time in order to. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edn. It is a good
solution to evaluate the efficacy of exercise intervention program on individual indicators through
meta-analysis. The detailed resistive switching characteristics of CuOx nanowire systems have been
investigated and possible switching mechanisms are systematically proposed based on the
microstructural and chemical analysis via transmission electron microscopy. Moreover, social
acceptance of sport as a behavior strongly positive for health ( Forrest et al., 2016 ), even for those
people with a high risk of becoming addicts ( Lichtenstein et al., 2017 ), makes it more difficult to
understand that exercise can be an addiction. Finally, athletes at risk of EA had more maladaptive
beliefs than those who were not at risk. The message of these findings is that the higher the level of
your (the elite athlete’s) athletic competition, the more likely you are to develop morbid exercise
patterns. DevGAMM Conference Barbie - Brand Strategy Presentation Barbie - Brand Strategy
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There are several tools used to assess exercise addiction. Among the factors chosen to check on
possible relationships with addiction, the most prominent were motivation (five articles), training,
well-being and anxiety (three articles each), and gender (two articles). The goal of this study was to
determine if physical exercise could serve as an alternative habit to replace habitual substance use,
and whether this exercise intervention methods differed for opioid vs. These findings are in discord
with the definition and conceptualization of exercise addiction, which, according to previous calls,
begs for the urgent clearer conceptualization of exercise addiction. Lane and Wilson (2011) found
that runners underwent significant changes in their emotions during runs, besides demonstrating that
emotional intelligence correlates with pleasant feelings in the course of such events. Because of the
plasticity of midbrain marginal reward pathway, the formation of exercise habits may help to reduce
drug abuse dependence and change the reward effect of drug abuse, which may help to reduce the
incidence and severity of drug abuse disorder and help to cope with stress successfully ( 46 ).
However, the idea underlying most of them is that exercise has the power to constitute a positive
reinforcement, besides its ability to act as a stress-reduction strategy. Characteristics associated with
lower exercise addiction scores included: a higher BMI, reporting a life-limiting illness, and ethnicity
(black vs. High-intensity interval training in patients with substance use disorder. The most
extensively studied type of sport was long distance running (28%), followed by marathon (20%),
triathlon (8%) and cycling (8%). At present, there are many theories about how exercise produces
beneficial effects.
In addition, exercise can alleviate sleep disorders, increase self-esteem and reduce stress response,
which may help reduce the risk of relapse of drug-dependent patients, so exercise is used as an
intervention measure to prevent relapse of Substance use disorder ( 15 ). The treatment for this kind
of substance use disorder costs a lot every year. Exercise dependence among elite Australian athletes.
To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds
to upgrade your browser. Prevalence rates differed largely according to eating disorder status, with
participants with indicated eating disorders yielding more than double the prevalence rates than those
with no indicated eating disorders. This is especially important once you are outside the relative
safety of a rehabilitative center. Mindfulness practice presents a radically different approach to
working with discomfort, cultivating a curiosity and willingness to “lean in” to the experience, rather
than to “fix” or avoid it. These influential factors are worth considering when planning preventive
interventions addressing ED for both amateur competitors and non-competitive recreational athletes
as well as when promoting sport as a healthy activity. Of these, 701 were excluded because they used
animal samples, concentrated on the analysis of physiological variables (hypertension, arrhythmia,
cardiovascular damage) or addressed substance addiction. After removing 15 duplicates, 277 articles
were screened based on the title and abstract, which resulted in the exclusion of 257 articles. Studies
show people who become addicted to exercise are more likely to engage in other addictive behaviors
such as overuse of alcohol, drug use, or gambling. Through all of these practices, the target is to
ensure a person becomes more aware and accepting towards their actions. Although this could be
interpreted as “psychological health” on the Interactional Model, it also could be dealing with a
sudden or progressively intolerable life stress, such as depression or anxiety, which would place this
variable into this part of the model. In contrast, athletic training is constructive, and it is performed
according to a carefully designed and scheduled training regimen. People who are exercise addicted
know no moderation. Finally, athletes at risk of EA had more maladaptive beliefs than those who
were not at risk. A munkavallalok egeszsegenek es testi epsegenek vedelme Europaban reg ota a
munkaltato at nem harithato (objektiv) feladata es felelossege. In 1984, Sachs and Pargman
introduced by first time the concept of addiction to exercise, under the name of running addiction, to
describe the source of a set of withdrawal symptoms that surface during periods of running
deprivation Sachs and Pargman (1984). Research examining exercise addiction is primarily based on
self-reports, obtained by questionnaires (incorporating psychometrically validated instruments), and
interviews, which provide a range of risk scores rather than diagnosis. Exercise preferences of
patients in substance abuse treatment. Based on the psychological and social mechanisms, Weinstock
et al., recommend exercise as an adjuvant therapy for opioid treatment ( 1 ). Team sports provide the
body with the stimulation it needs to make exercise effective. Gossop and Eyensck (1980) examined
whether there is an addictive personality type and many studies have been conducted looking at the
relationship between personality and exercise dependence. Mindfulness practices, while supporting
healthy development, also reduce stress, improve well-being, and provide emotional balance. There is
at least one study reporting that the questionnaire data can project an artificially high risk of EA,
which is not supported by the interview record (Szabo, 2018 ). Not having access to a substance of
choice can also induce stress, and the emotions and physical reactions tied-in can make it even harder
to abstain from using. The wrong interpretation of these scores may unfairly pathologize healthy and
respectable athletes. Long-term studies have shown that for female individuals who rely on
amphetamine type stimulus, Taijiquan exercise may change their lifestyle and improve their
abstinence ability ( 14 ). The effects of regular exercise on anxiety, depression and quality of life in
adult alcohol and drug dependents in addiction treatment. Although this concurs with several studies
that have shown that negative self-body image is positively correlated with exercise addiction ( Klein
et al., 2004; Ertl et al., 2018 ), this is the first study to our knowledge to show that this is not the case
in populations with indicated eating disorders.
However, many specialists conclude that it is a very real condition. Thirdly, the variables accounted
for a low percentage of the total variation. Perhaps the most crucial point of the mindfulness-based
relapse prevention program, unlike other therapies, is that labeling in any manner is not performed.
The aim of this systematic literature review was to analyze scholastic papers on exercise addiction in
athletes with a special view on their focus and prevalence estimates. Competitive runners show a
greater number of symptoms of addiction when compared to non-competitive, regardless of their
sex ( Smith et al., 2010 ). In any case, effort in future research in this field should be focused on
conceptualizing, delimiting, unifying and studying the role of various different factors in the
development of addiction to exercise ( Cook et al., 2015 ). The aim should be an attempt to guide or
divert sports activities in the direction of health ( Smith et al., 2010 ). After the dependents use
illegal drugs, the drugs directly stimulate the nervous system, which makes people feel very happy
and temporarily get rid of or forget the troubles in reality. Similar findings surfaced from a study on
competitive and non-competitive runners (Smith et al., 2010 ). Weinstein et al. ( 2015 ) reported that
professional athletes scored higher on the CES than leisure exercisers. Furthermore, body
dysmorphic disorder was highly prevalent in subjects without indicated eating disorders, and could
be a primary condition in which exercise addiction is a symptom. A munkavallalok egeszsegenek es
testi epsegenek vedelme Europaban reg ota a munkaltato at nem harithato (objektiv) feladata es
felelossege. We may have missed studies that examined athletes but called them in sport context
names. Other major benefits of exercising while recovering from addiction are that the heart is
strengthened, and hypertension is reduced. This can be abated by treating addiction with exercise,
alongside the other therapies and supports required by the recovery process. But you can send us an
email and we'll get back to you, asap. This is why the development of an exercise routine during
treatment is so valuable, as it provides a method to alleviate cravings and a useful distraction for
when temptation arises. Instead of people experiencing the worth of being forgiven, people are
required to only observe and accept. These individuals consciously limit energy intake, almost
inevitably developing the full clinical syndrome described in RED-S, dragging them down to the
position indicated by the dotted blue line on the chart. Results showed that both features had a
strong effect on ED. Studies that did not use the word athlete, or one of its derivatives, were
probably missed. First of all, exercise can help people experience positive emotions, and depression
symptoms are associated with poor treatment results. The data were categorized into two main
themes: prevalence of EA and correlates of EA. Studies show people who become addicted to
exercise are more likely to engage in other addictive behaviors such as overuse of alcohol, drug use,
or gambling. The aim of this systematic literature review was to analyze scholastic papers on exercise
addiction in athletes with a special view on their focus and prevalence estimates. It is at this point
that running and endurance sports have a differentiating role, being seen as types with an
antidepressant capacity which have the potential to reduce psychological distress through pleasure
induction by activating endogenous opiates ( Weinstein and Weinstein, 2014 ). Therefore, it is
feasible to replace drug abuse habits with exercise habits. The aim of the present study was to
compare characteristics related to exercise dependence (ED) between recreational exercisers and
amateur competitors. Affected individuals exhibit symptoms of salience, conflict, mood
modification, withdrawal, tolerance, and relapse, which comprise the Components Model of
Addiction (Griffiths, 2005 ). Of these, 701 were excluded because they used animal samples,
concentrated on the analysis of physiological variables (hypertension, arrhythmia, cardiovascular
damage) or addressed substance addiction. This means that the latter often appears in conjunction
with other types of psychological dysfunctions such as anorexia, bulimia, or both ( Bamber et al.,
2000; Blaydon et al., 2002 ). Although the causes of this phenomenon are very complex, drug abuse
is obviously a comprehensive physiological and behavioral response of the dependent ( 42 ). These
influential factors are worth considering when planning preventive interventions addressing ED for
both amateur competitors and non-competitive recreational athletes as well as when promoting sport
as a healthy activity.
Exercise can be used as an alternative non-drug reward to compete with drugs and reduce the
possibility of their use ( 9 ). It is worth highlighting the fact that one of the articles compared runners
at risk displaying symptoms of addiction with others not showing these symptoms. It is also
important to understand the athlete’s behaviour of exercise addiction in relation to mood changes
that will occur. Results showed that 6.5 % of participants identified themselves as amateur
competitive exercisers. These findings are in discord with the definition and conceptualization of
exercise addiction, which, according to previous calls, begs for the urgent clearer conceptualization
of exercise addiction. Survey methodology indicates that the prevalence of risk for ex- ercise
addiction is approximately 3 percent among the exercising population. RELATED PAPERS Role of
Avian Hosts in Spread and Maintenance of Borrelia Spp. Exercise intervention, which is an
inexpensive and direct strategy, may have multiple benefits for mental and physical health. Results
obtained from studies carried out on endurance sport practitioners, especially those taking part in
marathons ( Allegre et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2010; Modoio et al., 2011; Salas et al., 2013 ), have
shown that they have higher probabilities to be in risk to suffer addiction than other sports folk.
Absurd! Such a conjecture simply does not make sense. Evidence to support these differing exercise
motivations, however, has not been explored to date. Scheduled behaviors are difficult to become
“addictive” because urges and cravings cannot be scheduled. An additional search was also
conducted on Google Scholar. Studies in other addictions have suggested that the endogenous opioid
system is a key factor in generating addictions ( O'Brien, 2004 ). In California and other locations on
the west coast, stimulants directly cause one third of all admissions to rehab facilities. In the current
review, we also found several correlates of EA in athletes. Training professionals in accordance with
the new legal framework is still a problem in many areas. Sport participation and alcohol and illicit
drug use in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review of longitudinal studies. However,
another study found the incidence is almost 7% among university and college students who engage
in certain sports or who are majoring in some aspect of sports science. Nonetheless, despite the large
number of terms used, there is general agreement that when a regularly exercising person loses
control over her or his exercise behavior, that is, when the behavior increases in frequency and
converts in a necessity, it can result in detrimental effects. Homoscedasticity was as assessed by
visual inspection of a plot of studentized residuals vs. A total of 455 participants (261 sports science
students; 194 controls) completed the Exercise Addiction Inventory. This literature review is
conducted in accord with the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
(PRISMA; Liberati et al., 2009; Moher et al., 2009, 2010, 2014; Shamseer et al., 2015 ). Methods
Literature Search The search was delimited to articles written in English and published in peer-
reviewed journals. It is proven that people with SUDs are more likely to have co-occurring mental
health and physical problems because of their use. In the case of an athlete where low body weight is
an advantage, it is easy to appreciate how this could become a secondary exercise addiction, where
the motivation for exercising becomes more driven by the desire to control weight, rather than
performance. Exercise has numerous benefits on all these aspects. Another variable that had one of
the strongest associations with EA was exerting to modify mood. Levit et al. ( 2018 ) found no
difference in the frequency of EA between the sexes. Moreover, the sample was restricted to health
club users who were recruited via social media, making the generalization of the findings across
populations difficult. Physical activity and special exercise are a potential non-pharmacological
therapy for addiction ( 2 ).
This painful experience has formed negative reinforcement. This is an open-access article distributed
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). Excessive practicing can
lead to adverse physical and psychological effects seriously prejudicial to health, to the extent that
individuals are unable to control this behavior. Behavioral research shows that the influence of acute
exercise on cognitive performance and brain response varies with different exercise intensity: in
general, the smaller the exercise intensity, the better the improvement effect ( 37 ). Author
information Author notes Ignatius Darma Juwono, Nora Tolnai and Attila Szabo contributed equally
to this work. Still, there are insufficient results in athletes concerning the relationship between the
risk of EA and passion. Most recently, Egorov and Szabo (2013) updated the Cognitive Appraisal
Hypothesis with their Interactional Model of EA ( Figure 1 ), which describes a broad range of
variables being conducive to developing EA, along with the acknowledgment that several variables'
connection may be two-way. Based on this “habit” mechanism, exercise can complete the
substitution of material dependence. Risk of exercise dependence according to motives for practice.
This leads to the death of cells and brain atrophy. Investigation shows that during early rehabilitation,
the rate of regular exercise is low, and the level of interest in sports is high, so the exercise program
can be made according to individual’s unique preferences ( 40 ). Affected individuals exhibit
symptoms of salience, conflict, mood modification, withdrawal, tolerance, and relapse, which
comprise the Components Model of Addiction (Griffiths, 2005 ). They may expand the duration of
their workouts, work out more than one time daily, and greatly exceed the amount of recommended
exercise time. In turn, it has been noted that the genes which control a liking for drugs are also
responsible for naturally gratifying behaviors like exercise. That’s why it’s important that alcoholics
develop coping mechanisms to deal with triggers and situations that will make them want to drink.
Methamphetamine addiction is now more common that alcoholism. Exercise helps produce chemicals
like serotonin and dopamine, which are important during recovery. Az egeszseg es a munkahely mai
kapcsolat- es szempont- es eszkozrendszere azonban mar lenyegesen tulmutat a munkahelyi egeszseg
es biztonsag hagyomanyos teruletein. Clinical studies have shown that exercise can be used as a
potential intervention tool for substance use disorder, producing beneficial and durable protection in
all stages of substance use disorder. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.
People who are exercise addicted know no moderation. The former had a significantly higher body
mass index (BMI) than the latter. Physical factors alone are insufficient: all those engaging in high
levels of training can experience overuse injuries and disruption in Endocrine, metabolic and immune
systems. Equally, in all these exercising individuals, overtraining can result in underperformance. The
included studies examined participants from different sports. Recognizing that exercise addiction is
still a controversial concept, the aim of the present review is to analyze the state of research into
addictive exercise behaviors, specifically centering on running and endurance sports. While non-
athletes can engage in escape behaviors, including exercise, when the urge arises, athletes train by
following a rigidly (and often externally) controlled schedule that requires their personal life to be
scheduled around their training regimen. It has been generally accepted that physical exercise is
beneficial to health, the benefits of physical exercise to the brain have also attracted people’s
attention. To understand the differences Friemuth’s (2008) developed a model for distinguishing
phases of addiction. It is a good solution to evaluate the efficacy of exercise intervention program
on individual indicators through meta-analysis. If material is not included in the article's Creative
Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the
permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.