Your body loves movement. It’s good for you. But did you know that when your fitness routine becomes obsessive, it actually works against you? I can speak form personal experience that I’ve hit every point on this list over the last 8 years. My newly found love for fitness quickly turned into obsessive unhealthy habits and it’s taken me quite a few years to bounce back from the damage. I want this blog to serve as a warning to those who might be going overboard with their health and wellness routine.

Here are the 5 Dangers of Obsessive Exercise:

  1. Metabolic Damage
    Your body has a system of checks and balances. So when you’re throwing it into excessive exercise, it may cause your weightloss to plateau or even cause you to gain weight. Your diet will play a big factor in this as well. Once your body stops trusting you, it’ll start holding on to every calorie you give it.
  2. Injury
    When you don’t give your body time to rest the muscles and joints, they start to beak down. (Remember, muscles builds and recovers on rest day) Working overly fatigued muscles may leave you hurting down the road.
  3. Burnout and Mood Swings
    While exercise can be a great natural anti-depressant, excessive psychical activity can lead to burnout and that sudden stop in routine may result in mood swings. (I’ve found that even missing a workout in a vigorous routine/schedule had a negative effect on my mood.)
  4. Trouble Sleeping
    If you have a normal workout routine, it should help you sleep like a baby, but like they say — too much of a good thing is still too much. Too much exercise may make your limbs restless and your mind race. Even if you’re exhausted, you may not be able to fall asleep or stay asleep.
  5. Sporadic Menstrual Cycle
    If you’ve been overdoing it, you may notice that your period is becoming lighter, sporadic, or inconsistent. Excessive exercise may also lead to something called Amenorrhea, which is the absence of your cycle. When this happens, your estrogen drops. Low estrogen can lead to bone loss.

My advice is to keep your workouts light (meaning, don’t workout out more than once a day), work in 1-2 rest days, do a healthy mix of weights and cardio, and don’t be hard on yourself if you miss a day. Listen to your body. Workout because you love yourself, not because you hate yourself. The wonderful thing about your body is that if you treat it with respect and trust, it’ll fall into a healthy place without much effort. Diet is 70% of the battle. Your workouts make up the other 30%. Eat right and move a little. It’s that simple.

Look out for little signs that you may be over doing it! Also check out this video where I explain some ways you can help fix metabolic damage.