Overexercise
A newsletter all about what counts as overexercise, how to recognise it, and how to stop.
Exercise is something which is typically hailed as a healthy, positive behaviour. Exercise is something we do when we care about our bodies and our health. Doing exercise means that you’re succeeding. These views are too simplistic. Like many things which involve our bodies, our relationship with exercise is just as vulnerable to disorder as anything else.
In the past year, it’s often been the case that the only reason for going outside is to exercise. For some, this has been an opportunity to set aside the time to exercise and build a more positive relationship with moving their bodies. For others, it has meant that exercise has become tied to even more requirements, feelings of deserving things or not, and guilt. It is in this context that we’re exploring the subject of overexercise in this newsletter.
This newsletter includes a guide to exercise (and avoiding overexercise) from personal trainer Iona Bruce, some restorative stretches, tips for nurturing a positive relationship with exercise, a look at exercise vs. overexercise, what to do if you think you might be overexercising, a reflection on diet culture and exercise, and some who to follow recommendations.
Iona Bruce
For this section of the newsletter, GUFAB’s Isabella Sumsion collaborated with Iona Bruce Fitness. Iona Bruce is a personal trainer and fitness coach who is passionate about making exercise accessible and enjoyable for everybody. She is especially passionate about making gyms safer spaces for women.
Good nutrition and regular physical activity are important for our mental and physical health, but it’s not always so simple as that. Isabella chatted to Iona about what counts as overexercise, how to know what overexercise is, the dangers of overexercise, and how to make sure you’re not over-exercising.
@ionabrucefitness is a great personal trainer and fitness expert who advocates for really healthy and fun relationships with exercise and food. Check her out on Instagram here.
How much is too much?
This totally depends on you and your goals. There are several things to consider in terms of how much exercise is too much exercise for you.
The frequency of the exercise you’re doing is the first thing to consider. If you're new to exercising the usual limit is 3 sessions a week. If you've been working out or doing some specific training for a while, this might be slightly higher. Unless you're training for a specific sport it's not recommended that you do more than one workout per day. The type of exercise you’re doing is also a factor. Doing something like HIIT everyday, particularly if you're using the same muscles or workouts is likely to put too much stress on your body and joints in the long term.
Your wider lifestyle will also come into this in two main ways. 1) are you fuelling your body with enough nutrient dense food every day and 2) what do you already do on a day-to-day basis? For example, if your job is very physical you might have less energy to exercise than someone who has an office job.
Additionally, your medical history will play a part in this too so if you're in any doubt please get advice from your doctor or a qualified personal trainer.
Mental and Physical Signs of Over Exercising
There are various different signs of overexercise. Knowing these and keeping an eye out for them is a way to look after yourself and make sure you’re not doing too much.
In terms of mental motivations, it’s important to check in with ourselves and why we’re exercising. Exercise should never feel like it is compulsive (for example, you have to complete a workout or something bad will happen) and you shouldn't feel like you have to do it in secret. Both of these are signs of over-exercising.
Secondly, from a physical perspective you might start experiencing negative effects from exercise. These could include (but aren't limited to)
Getting injured more often and more easily
Feeling tired more often or exceptionally tired after workouts
Difficulty sleeping
Increased resting heart-rate or "skipping" feeling in your heart
If you have any of the above, even just every so often, or anything else you're worried about, please speak to a doctor before continuing to exercise.
The Dangers of Over Exercising
Besides the mental health dangers associated with overexercise, there are plenty of physical dangers too. There are many different aims you may have in doing exercise, but a lot of these aims are endangered when you exercise too much. If you do too much exercise you're going to stop your body making progress, get sick, not recover properly, injure yourself and just feel rubbish!
Like we mentioned earlier, people experience over-exercising in different ways and after different amounts of exercise. However in the long run, over exercising can lead to…
Hormone imbalances and dysfunction including missing periods (if you get them)
Physical burnout or extreme fatigue
A negative impact on your mental health
Heart problems
A lower immune system
A decreased metabolism
Repetitive injuries
How to get a good balance and make sure you’re not over-exercising
First and most importantly - listen to your body. If your muscles are aching, you’re physically fatigued, or you're not feeling great, you need to rest.
Secondly, make sure you schedule in rest and recovery. I always recommend that you have at least 1-2 rest days per week where you’re not doing any strenuous exercise (and more if you're new to exercising). Again, listen to your body on those days and if you do feel like moving then go for a chilled walk, maybe a gentle swim or even a super mellow stretch session.
It's also less likely that you'll over-exercise if you mix up what you're doing – variety is the spice of life! You could do a workout one day, and a brisk walk the next, and a boogie in your kitchen at the weekend!
It’s about looking after your body, not punishing or changing your body! To be doing any exercise the KEY is to make sure you're eating enough each day - if you're exercising more than normal you might need to eat more than normal. This should look like a good balance of proteins, carbs and fats* to help fuel your body and get you ready for that next workout session! P.S. at least 2.5 litres of water per day too (at a minimum)!
Tips to be kind to your body in relation to exercise:
stretch more
foam roll
a sports massages - if you can afford it – you can also rope in a friend for an amateur massage!
*At GUFAB we believe health, particularly in what we eat, can look different for everyone and is affected by lots of different factors. Making sure you’re not eating in a way that is dictated by mental factors is an absolute priority. That said, if you’re exercising, it’s important to make sure your body is getting what it needs to continue that level of activity. If eating and nutrition becomes obsessive, even if this is motivated by exercise, this is something you should address. BEAT eating disorders run a student line: 0808 801 0811
A Restorative Stretch
By Isabella Sumsion
A stretch can do all the good in the world. If you have been hunched at your laptop all day and your body feels like it needs to move but you are lacking energy then there is absolutely no requirement to force yourself to do anything intense. A gentle stretch can move your body and help you relax and is so beneficial for all aspects of health - both mental and physical!
Spend 3 golden minutes in each of these stretches, maybe put some chill music on to zone out to and give your body a rest – bodies need rest and time to restore JUST as much if not MORE than they need movement.
Child’s pose
Pigeon pose (both legs – great for release of emotion and tension that we tend to store in our hips!)
Supine butterfly
Supine twist on both sides
Tips for Nurturing a Positive relationship with your body and exercising in it
by Isabella Sumsion
Having a positive relationship with our bodies isn’t easy these days, so I’ve put together some tips for feeling good about our bodies - particularly when it comes to exercise.
Tune out from what others are doing – it’s not a competition, and it’s not the Olympics. Everybody is different and so comparisons between people are completely arbitrary. It’s about meeting the needs of your body and doing what feels good for you, not meeting the expectations set by someone else in a completely different body
Exercise does have health benefits but it should be done in the form and way that FEELS good for you
As with most things, there is no ONE SIZE FITS ALL
It’s important to shift our view of exercise from being a compensatory behavior, or a way to punish or change our bodies, to a way of loving and caring for our bodies
Try picking a form of exercise that is FUN, RELAXING, ENERGISING, and FEELS GOOD and try practicing it as a form of selfcare
For some people exercise isn’t appropriate at all and that is totally okay too. For people with underlying health conditions or perhaps suffering from or recovering from disordered eating, exercise can do more damage than good
It is important to remember that exercise is not inherently good and pure and virtuous. Exercise can damage your body if it’s not appropriate for you or if it’s not undertaken consciously and mindfully by listening to what your body needs
A healthy relationship with exercise: some comparisons to consider
by Isabella Sumsion
While healthy vs. unhealthy exercise is not always a simple binary, the table below indicates some of the ways in which these things might differ. For a plain text version, check out this google doc.
What to do if you think you might have an unhealthy relationship with exercise?
by Isabella Sumsion
Go cold turkey for a bit: sometimes if you have an anxious obsessive relationship with exercise it is best to stop any intense exercise for a while and let your body reset to its natural rhythms and cycles. After that you can tune in and see what actually feels good for you. Cut out intense workouts for a bit and just enjoy some gentle stretches and walks in the park.
If you think you might be over-exercising but the idea of stopping completely seems insurmountable, try reaching out to someone for support. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with telling someone that you have an unhealthy relationship with exercise. Find someone who you trust and who you think will be supportive and let them know what you’re going through. If you feel able to, reach out for professional support.
Societal Rewards
One difficulty with breaking out of cycles of compulsive exercise or restrictive eating is that we’re often told that these are virtuous, good behaviours. Having the ‘motivation’ to exercise consistently is something which we are supposed to prize. The issue with seeing exercise as an exclusively beneficial behaviour is that doing so glosses over all the other motivations someone might have for exercising. To uncritically accept the idea that exercise is a sign of caring about your health is to erase all of the reasons we might feel pressured to exercise. The danger in viewing any external action as objectively healthy or good is that this obscures the internal feelings of the person doing that thing, plus the external pressures which may have caused them to do it.
It can be particularly difficult to acknowledge that you have an unhealthy relationship with exercise because we are constantly rewarded and praised for doing it. The more, the better. This view comes from a simplistic idea that there are good, deserving bodies and there are others which aren’t. This is false.
Whatsmore, because we all have our individual feelings about, and relationship to, exercise, it may be difficult for other people to intervene. If somebody is really into exercise, maybe that’s just their hobby or way to feel good. Or maybe it’s a compulsive behaviour that is tied to ideas of success or feelings of guilt. As an external viewer, it can be difficult to feel as if you’re justified in challenging what is widely taken as a good activity. This is why it’s so important to engage with our motivations for exercise and recognise that we’re worthy whether we exercise or not.
Exercise can be good for you, but this is not always the case. To believe that exercise equals good and always will, for everybody, is an over-simplified idea.
Who to follow
Renee McGregor - @r_mcgregor - Okay so my Mum (a woman absolutely obsessed with exercise) told me to follow Renee, and after a quick squizz at her Instagram I actually support this recommendation! She’s a sports dietitian, and one of the areas she specialises in is eating disorders. This means that she has an awareness of all the factors which may intersect with exercise and our relationship with food. Really recommend giving her a follow!
Poorna Bell - @poornabell - is an author, journalist, and, among other things, a powerlifter. She has also appeared on many of my favourite podcasts! One of the ways she uses her Instagram is to show her ‘journey of physical strength through grief and illness’. She does this while maintaining an awareness of her relationship with her body image and how that is affected by the exercise she does or doesn’t do. If you don’t fancy following her, check out if she’s appeared on any podcasts you like!
Tiffany Crociani - @tiffanycroww - creates a safe space on their Instagram for fat people to practice yoga. Tiffany posts videos (also on TikTok) of yoga poses specifically targeted at fat bodies. As someone that loves yoga, I’m glad that Tiffany is challenging the idea that it’s only for certain skinny bodies.
If you’re worried that you’re exercising too much, or that your relationship with exercise is unhealthy, please reach out for support. You can contact BEAT’s Student line at 0808 801 0811. You deserve to enjoy moving your body and to do so in a way that is both mentally and physically healthy. Healthy relationships with food and exercise do exist (although they’re not a given or necessarily easy) so don’t feel as if there’s no other way to maintain a standard you feel you must attain.
This newsletter was written by Isabella Sumsion, with contributions from, and edited by, Thalia Grou.
Our next newsletter is about Media, and we’ll be hosting an accompanying event which we’ll talk about in our next newsletter. We’re also hosting a workshop with Successful Women At Glasgow for International Women’s Week on the 9th March! Like SWAG on Facebook to stay updated about the event!