Community Profile - Excessive Exercise

    She was always the first to get to the weight room, and by time we got there I bet she had already used every single machine in there. “I like to work out by myself, it helps me concentrate and go even harder at it. When I have the gym to myself it is the best feeling in the world” she told me. While I started out with an easy warm-up like the bike for cardio, she skipped the warm-up and got right to it. She loves to work on her legs, they’re pretty impressive. Sometimes when she used the machine for calf raises, she could carry all the weight (about 240 pounds) on those legs. “Sometimes when the guys are in here, they’ll want to challenge me and see who can lift more weight. I always win, I am very proud of my progress” she said proudly. She always left cardio for the end of her long workout, but that did not mean it was an easy cool down. She worked on each machine for about 20 minutes at some of the hardest levels that they had. She would start out with the treadmill, and increase the incline to the highest level possible and do lunges for about 10 minutes and then sprint the next 10 minutes. I know this because I work out right next to her and to me that is just insane, she has some great endurance and determination. Then, drenched in sweat, she would go to the elliptical, up-right bike and regular bike and finish with the stair climber. Sometimes after her workout, she would be so exhausted that she would just drop to the floor and lay there for a couple of minutes and then find her body imprinted on the floor because of how much she would sweat. “I have lost 30 pounds from March to April, I wouldn’t say I am obsessed with exercising, I just want to look and feel good for myself, no one else” she said. For some people, like my friend, exercising is something that helps them escape from reality. During the interview she mentioned that when she works out she feels “unplugged” from reality and forgets all about the problems going on in her life. So besides exercising her body, she is also relaxing her mind while doing it. In this moment I understood why so many people exercise, including myself. Exercise can be a stress reliever, and for many it is an escape from reality. Although some may become obsessed with exercise, it may be a way of tuning out from the real world for a couple of hours. Still, I mentioned to her that I wanted to help her maybe lower the amount of hours she went to gym and replace that with something besides exercise. “I do admit that I have been disconnected from my family and friends, and it may be time to cut back on the gym and work on getting some of my life back” she said. I was very glad to hear that and I was more than willing to help her get through this situation.