Can you exercise too much?

Exercising – or at least moving your body – is essential to your wellbeing. Yet some people work out compulsively – sometimes up to twice a day – at the expense of their social life, study or career, family and relationships. Pressure created by society and the media makes women want to be skinny with a perfect body and makes men long to have a chiseled torso and perfect 6-pack. While this can be seen as narcissistic posing, it’s actually a serious form of body image distortion, also known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), characterized by a mismatch between the individual’s self-perception and the external reality. BDD often masks insecurities in other areas of an individual’s life.

So how do you know when something’s wrong? Signs include constantly visiting the gym or exercising at home, becoming angry or panicky if one cannot exercise, exercising despite injury or illness, being extremely preoccupied with one’s appearance, consuming large quantities of protein shakes and bodybuilding supplements, and can go as far as depression, anxiety, irritability and mania. All these symptoms are usually hard to admit, especially for Arab men, as struggling with mental health and body image issues is stereotypically – and very much wrongly – considered to be a “feminine problem”.

While BDD can develop as the result of childhood abuse, trauma or bullying at school, or can be a response to the unrealistic expectations created by the modern media, it can entail dire consequences if left untreated. Excessive training can exert a physical strain on the body and can even be dangerous if combined with steroid consumption. Side effects of steroid abuse include mood swings, aggressive behavior, hair loss, impotence, and heart and liver damage. Eventually excessive training will cause mental distress such as depression, anxiety and even suicide. So, if you think yourself or someone you know is struggling with BDD - do not panic but do talk to a therapist about it.

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