I try to exercise an hour each day–30 minutes in the morning, 30 in the evening. This is not because I especially enjoy it; I can always think of something I’d rather be doing. But I have type-2 diabetes, and I hate both spending money on pills and taking them; and I hate the consequences of high blood sugar even more.
Anyway, I had to skip my workout this past Friday evening, and again Saturday morning, because of family and workconflcits. In the middle of the day Saturday I found myself feeling jittery; I had a very strong urge to stop what I was doing and work out. I was very tempted to call an early end to the tutoring session I was conducting to do so. The sensation was vaguely familiar, and after a moment’s thought I realized why. I felt just as I did back when I was having sex compulsively and needing to go out and fuck strangers. I was craving the exercise high. I also find that, no matter how much I hate the thought of getting up to run or whatever, once I begin and get into the swing of it I have to force myself to stop, even if my legs are aching from the effort of running; and half an hour after I’m done, I have an urge to start up again.
Oh, sure, most people get addicted to exercise. It gets those ol’ endorphins pumping into you and gives you a mild high, and withdrawal symptoms or a sort if you stop. I almost ran every day for 20 years, and felt horrible if I had to miss a day for any reason. My knee gave out, so after surgery, went to climbing mountains daily (great to be retired!)
About as compulsive as you can get chiming in. I have taken off from work to ensure I get my workouts in and I don’t sit down to the point that it annoys people.
I’m not as bad as you describe, but I can say the moderating effects of exercise on blood glucose has made my workout motivation go waaay up.
I’ve been considering doing my workouts in the mornings in the hopes that it may make it so that I can have a fookin’ piece of toast with breakfast without my blood sugar going sky high. Does it work that way? It sure seems like any carb I put in my mouth before noon puts me all out of whack. Later in the day, not so much. I’m incredibly sick of eggs & meat for breakfast, plus I worry about what a dozen eggs a week is doing to my cholesterol.
Mr. Athena is more like you - he gets goofy if he doesn’t get hard workouts in. But he’s been an athlete since he was a kid, and it’s a way of life for him.
I’ve been doing 100 sit-ups a day since I was 13. I had a gym teacher in 7th grade that harped on the fact “If you don’t excercise every day; you’ll end up a fat sow by the time you’re 30!!”
I’m now 51, and still do 100 sit-ups each day. And chin-ups. And Wii fit for 45 minutes. When are they coming out with a Wii stripper pole? I soo want one!
I’m terrible - running or cycling at lunchtime, gym in the evening. I only wish I could swim in the mornings, too. :smack:
I’ve got to slow down a bit - I know this, but I like the way I am changing due to the exercise. A few more kilos and I’ll try to drop things down a bit. Being able to run 10km or cycle 30ish is a good start at 42, I’d just like to be able to do both in one go
Now that I commute by bike almost every day (about 90 minutes round-trip), I get irritable and mopey on the days when I have to take the train, or when something comes up on the weekend that prevents me from riding.
I ride to university a lot and am slowly developing a feeling that ‘something isn’t quite right’ on days when I have to drive a lot or take the bus.
As for exercise in a ‘work-out’ sense, I have tried a couple of times to establish a regular routine but I am yet to get to the stage where I feel I MUST exercise, though it’s good to know that that stage exists. I hope I can get there so I no longer have to feel like I have to force myself to exercise.
Oh, I still have to force myself to start–at least, to do the day’s first workout. But I’ve found myself reluctant to stop when my schedule requires me to, and I have to think of reasons NOT to exercise in the evening.
There’s something really wrong with me if there are other people in the gym.
I turn into “SuperExersizeWoman” and I go into a stoopid (that’s how to spell it in this instance) workout where I act as though there are cameras on me and I’m the host of a cable workout show.
I’ve done this more than once and I haven’t learned my lesson.
So I don’t go back until the next “first” day at the gym.
My motivation to get out there is strictly cognitive and not physical. I don’t get a “craving” to go exercise like someone feels hunger and decides to eat. I know that if I ever make an excuse to not exercise I’d likely stop forever, so I never allow myself that luxury. I’m compulsive in the sense that I stick to my schedule, but at the same time I don’t feel some sort of urge to get out there and do it, at least not physically. I do it because I know I should and because I know if I didn’t I’d feel bad about myself for making the excuses.
Like cmosdes, my compulsion is a mental one. If I don’t work out, I feel lazy and afraid that I’m going to stop all together and get fat. I can skip a day or two, but beyond that I start to freak out, especially if I’m eating a lot (like on vacation).
I don’t have a clue. I still hate STARTING to exercise; I have to do cognitive-therapy manuvering to get myself to start. Once I get in a groove, though, it becomes hard to stop; and, if I have a successful workout in the morning, I’ll have the urge to do it again later in the day even when I know I should do something else, and feel slightly jittery if I don’t.
Back when I was young and in really good shape, I had this problem, bad. I’d been swimming competitvely year-round, and when I decided to swim on the highschool team the frequency and intensity of the workouts were a bit… lacking. Everyone thought I was nuts for doing so much extra, but it didn’t feel right unless it hurt.
Then I discovered beer, and college, and other distractions. When I got serious again in my 30s – after gaining mucho weight – it took a few years to get close to that mindset again. Still not as bad, but when I’m on a roll I’ll want to work out every day. And in my 40s, that’s not always a good thing. Had to take a week off last month after straining a muscle, and almost strained it again trying to make up the ground I’d lost after I started up again.
Even so, I’m glad of this minor little obsession. It is probably what has kept me exercising – and kept the weight off – for over ten years now. I suspect it’s the endorphin high.
I get it, but like cmosdes says, it is mental. Plus I discovered I like being vain once in a while. Compliments are sometimes appreciated, and for those I have to work out.
On occasion, unless my life is too messed up or I’m incredibly tired, my weekdays consisted of belly dancing, followed by running, then capoeira practice on Mondays, early weight lifting workouts Tuesdays and Thursdays, aerobics Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursday afternoons, running Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and another capoeira pratice Thursday night (after aerobics and running). I would also do weight machines Fridays and Sundays. And also have aerobics after running on Saturdays and Sundays.
That was this semester, which is the most physically active I’ve been, but I started again with being active early on 2007 (increased cardio, weights, and added aerobics). Now it is part of me, and I like how I feel… Plus the compliments.
Do you have 6-pack abs? I’ve always been warned that if you do it every day your muscles never have time to grow. So I do my sit-ups/push-ups every 2-3 days instead.
I have a problem with swinging back and forth to the extremes with exercise. The year I took up rollerblading, I rollerbladed my little heart and soul out, daily. I just started with 30 minutes a day but before I knew it I was up to an hour and a half, two hours daily. I felt terrible, was constantly exhasted, and then quit.
I was then completely sedentary for over a year before I took up running. I tried really hard to keep it on an even keel, but balance has always been a challenge for me. I’ve decided to take the winter off running and just focus on weight training.
When I was in high school I joined a gym with a friend and got obessive about it. I went daily, and the time there climbed from an hour for aerobics class to two hours for aerobics, stationery bike, machine weights, free weights and extra sit-ups.
And then I started making “rules” for myself. Like no food until I’d gotten in my workout (I went after school). Walking to school, biking to a friend’s house, going dancing–those didn’t count as workouts.
What changed things was going to visit my dad for the summer. My new friends were more interested in horsing around in the pool than swimming laps, and the mini-gym in my dad’s apartment building wasn’t enough to give me a full workout. I kept fit, but I didn’t really have the chance to obsess over it anymore. Plus, my dad insisted that I eat…
