Too much exercise, however, had the opposite result. Those who reported exercising more than three hours a day reported worse mental health than those who did no exercise at all.
This is something Adam has seen as the president of mental health services provider Spring Health. “About a third of the people who we screen have signs of eating or body image issues.
“When you look at someone who might be exercising three times a day, relentlessly pursuing a certain physique, it might be their poor mental health that is driving that.”
Dee Johnson, psychotherapist at the Priory’s Chelmsford Hospital, treats patients with signs of exercise addiction. “As with any addiction,” she says, “it’s about having an inability to stop, despite logical or emotionally intelligent reasons why.”
“The pressure of body image is extremely prevalent,” she adds, “so we are seeing more people have exercise addiction as part of their destructive behaviours and low self-worth actions.
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“Judgement and the fear of rejection, not being accepted or fitting in, the pressure to share on social media, including when you visit the gym or are doing a workout routine, adds to the compulsive behaviour.”
For those who think they may be addicted to exercise, Dee recommends other mental health strategies: “Physical fitness is essential for our physical and mental health, so abstinence is not the usual solution.
“It’s about being honest as to what’s really going on. Talk to a therapist – what’s really been underpinning this? Keep an honest diary to monitor how much you are really doing (including the ‘little cheats’ such as doing squats when cleaning your teeth). It helps break the denial and the minimising of what you are doing.”
