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Hypergymnasia

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

So I came across the below article today. Gave it a read and found myself nodding along to many of the authors comments, especially since I see these images on a near daily basis, as I'm sure many of you do as well.

http://reembody.me/2013/09/10/the-6-most-shockingly-irresponsible-fitspiration-photos/

The author mentions "hypergmnasia" or exercise anorexia which I had never heard of before....but it did get me thinking about how mental illness really does evolve and people find other ways to hide unhealthy behavior. This is a clever one, because to "most" people, extreme exercise would be looked at with admiration.

What do you think would constitute hypergymnasia or exercise anorexia? Do you think it's a legitimate concept?

ETA....I 100% believe this is a legitimate concept....just to be clear. I'm just curious on others opinions or if anyone has any experience with this.

Replies

Cherimoose

Yes, exercise addiction / anorexia is legitimate. Like with any addiction, i think it becomes a problem when it interferes with one's health, social life, employment, leisure time, etc.

Great article by the way. Love the analysis of all those "fitspiration" posters.

aliencheesecake

Absolutely I think it is legitimate. As someone who suffers from OCD, I think just about anything can become an unhealthy obsession if you feel "compelled" to do it too much.

HacheraTsarine

I believe it's legitimate. It's closely related to orthorexia, the obsession with healthy eating. Most people won't acknowledge it because we're brought up to believe that eating healthily and doing a lot of activity is a good thing. Now, don't get me wrong, I know it is a good thing. But we're not taught where's the limit. When are you being healthy and active? When are you disorderly obsessive?

wolfgate

I have a friend who qualified for Boston something like 15 years in a row. Took pride in getting his BQ on tough marathon's also - ones in the mountains, that finished way higher in elevation than they start, etc.

Last year he had an injury and tried to run and qualify when every lick of common sense would say rest, recover and come back to fight next year. He made the injury worse and went down in flames, failing to BQ. OK, I can somewhat see that happening when you're trying to keep a streak alive.

So did he then stop and heal so he could get healthy and run fast again? Nope, his response was to try and keep training. Now he's convinced he can keep running and BQ again if he only gets lighter. So this 6'2" tall guy now weighs like 130 pounds (he used to race at 150). His health is going to crap.

He is disorderly obsessive.

CarmenSRT

There's one type of bulimia that involves excessive exercise instead of purging, so as a concept it has a different name than exercise anorexia but it's completely legitimate.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

I have a friend who qualified for Boston something like 15 years in a row. Took pride in getting his BQ on tough marathon's also - ones in the mountains, that finished way higher in elevation than they start, etc.

Last year he had an injury and tried to run and qualify when every lick of common sense would say rest, recover and come back to fight next year. He made the injury worse and went down in flames, failing to BQ. OK, I can somewhat see that happening when you're trying to keep a streak alive.

So did he then stop and heal so he could get healthy and run fast again? Nope, his response was to try and keep training. Now he's convinced he can keep running and BQ again if he only gets lighter. So this 6'2" tall guy now weighs like 130 pounds (he used to race at 150). His health is going to crap.

He is disorderly obsessive.

Oh wow....yeah that sort of obsession is just heartbreaking. I agree with HacheraTsarin.....we are brought up (society not necessarily parents) to do it....that the "obsession" is a good thing.....we are not taught balance as much.

Great conversation!