[gvntofly]

I have worked out the past 8 days in a row. I have been sitting here on the couch, dressed to exercise, struggling with myself mentally, for the past few hours.

I feel that I should enjoy today and let my body rest but at the same time as soon as I think that I get a feeling of guilt if I think about not exercising today.

It's Friday, the day of the week I get a babysitter for the night and DH and I enjoy some time together without the kids. We usually make a nice dinner, always healthy, but more expensive cuts of meat or fish. Basically things we enjoy but don't want the kids to waste. Then we go out for a few drinks. I am very strict on my eating throughout the week to enjoy my Friday nights.

So why am I feeling so guilty for wanting to not exercise on Friday's, even though I exercise the other 6 days of the week. Is this what being addicted to exercise feels like?

[dewdrop1970]

I know the feeling! I am interested to see what others write. My sister believes I am addicted to exercising. Sometimes I am near tears worrying about if I will have time to complete my "routine".

[JayLei]

I now have to schedule a rest day (who would have ever thought, how many years was it the reverse?), and even then, I just get fidgety and have to replace the activity with housecleaning and pushing the mower around.

Try making your rest day a different day of the week, then you won't have the mental thing that you have completely dropped off for the day.

[belezura]

I don’t know if it is addiction or not, but just like you I can’t miss a day at the gym... I only skip it if something REALLY good or bad happens...
Sometimes I turn down social situations just so I don’t have to miss my gym. I work out 7 days/week. My rest day is just cardio. the other days I alternate between arm and legs weight.
I don’t want to change it because if I miss the gym I feel terrible, so I don’t think it worth the rest (which is not really a rest because I keep thinking that I missed the workout)
I don’t really care about what pp think. I do it because make me feel great. I do have hard time getting at the gym and when I am at it, but the feeling I get afterwards is so rewarding!
Hope you find your own answer for it.
Maybe you don’t need to miss the whole thing, but just had a short exercise day on Friday and try to incorporate both activities (gym and your night with DH).
Good luck to you!

[LindseyLou]

I think it's a fear of losing control thing. I feel the same way if I veer even a tiny bit off plan or don't exercise when I said I was going to. I feel extremely guilty! I think we get in our routines and if we don't exercise (or go slightly off plan) we think tomorrow, and the next day, and next week we might do that same and get out of control and maybe get back to where we were before. Just my two cents.

[kat999]

Physiologically, exercise addiction doesn't start raising red flags until you start to exhibit symptoms of overtraining. A very, very long time ago, I was working out too much, at first just because I enjoyed it and then it became something I felt like I needed. My gym buddy gave me a stern talking to when she found out I was exercising four hours some days. That's way too much, and my knees were getting very sore because of it! I certainly don't exercise to that extent anymore and try to maintain a steady amount of 450 minutes a week, not much more, not much less.

If your body is starting to feel like it's giving out on you, if you're getting depressed and tired a lot, if you're experiencing pain that isn't normal exercise muscle soreness, then you may be overtraining to a physical detriment. But any amount of true addiction to exercise can certainly be detrimental psychologically if you feel it's interfering with your ability to take enjoyment from your workouts.

There's no magic number, but most trainers do recommend rest days, especially if you're doing heavy weight work. I don't build rest days into my regime now, but if I start to look like I'm going to go way over my 450 minute limit, I just naturally rest the next day and skip a session.

[joyfulloser]

Just listen to your body. Every now and again it is good to take a rest day (NO workout at all), but no need to take a rest day every week IMHO.

[BlueToBlue]

I work out every day and I don't worry about it. It's just easier for me if it's part of my daily routine. I've done this for most of the past four years.

I usually alternate between cardio and weight training (cardio one day, weight training the next) so that I'm not doing the same thing every day. I also usually do lighter routines on the weekends--on Saturdays I swim, which is zero impact and easy for me and on Sundays I do a shorter cardio workout than normal.

Having said that, there have been a couple of periods where I did take a rest day once a week, for a couple of months. In one case, I was recovering from an overuse injury and I thought the day off would help. But, more importantly, in both cases, I just didn't feel like working out every day and I thought six days a week was enough. Eventually, I felt more motivated and got back to my regular seven day routine. I never felt guilty about the day off; it felt right to me at the time.

Do what feels right to you. If you want to take a day off, take a day off. If you don't want to take a day off, don't--but maybe do a lighter routine once or twice a week. And be reasonable about it; don't exercise for four hours a day or to the point where you start to get sick a lot or start experiencing injuries.

[bronzeager]

Taking days off is FINE. Even if you don't need them physically, but socially. They do not have to make you feel bad, or cause you to fall off the wagon. You are in control, and being in control means also being able to let go once in a while and know that that's OK too.

[gvntofly]

Thanks everyone! I feel better knowing that it is fine for me to workout daily. I did still workout yesterday! As I could see no real reason for me not too. It was a great decision now in hindsight since I ran into some old friends I haven't seen in years and stayed out later than I had planned.

Today I am really tired and I am not planning to workout, I'm going to take a nap instead!!!

[Jojo381972]

Good to hear that you are going to take a rest day. You definitely need time for your muscles to rebuild and rest, so you will feel stronger the next time you work out. You should not work out the same muscle group two days in a row, because rest is vital to building muscle. If you overwork yourself, you may become run down and get sick.