Obsession with sports is a physical addiction similar to drug addiction

In modern society, every person who leads a healthy lifestyle certainly visits a fitness center. Everyone knows that it is necessary and important to develop your body physically. But what happens to a person who exhausts himself with daily workouts, spending 5-6 hours in the gym?

Researchers at Tufts University (Massachusetts) have determined that an obsession with sports creates a physical addiction similar to drug addiction. This was confirmed experimentally when studying the behavior of laboratory rats placed in a cage with a running wheel. After a couple of weeks, the rodents were divided into two parts: those running vigorously in the wheel and those who were passive. Then each of the two groups was divided in half: the first part was given access to food for one hour a day, while for the second group, food consumption was not limited. Later, the rats were given naltrexone, which blocks the feeling of euphoria from the drug and causes withdrawal symptoms. As a result, previously active runners experienced chills, squirmed, and gnashed their teeth. Rats that were not particularly eager to exercise responded weakly to the administered substance.

Researchers believe that excessive passion for sports leads to the production of pleasure hormones - endorphins and dopamine. Athletes are able to feel the same as drug addicts when using heroin or morphine. Doctors have called this phenomenon "sports addiction".

Most of us start exercising as a fashion statement. Men go to the gym to build muscle, and women with the hope of losing weight. And everything would be fine, if not for the fine line, upon reaching which you begin to experience ecstasy and are no longer able to stop.

Such people experience physical discomfort and nervous disorders when they take a break from training. Often, such symptoms occur in those who combine a weight loss program and intense physical training. Experts have introduced the term "athletic anorexia", in which sports activities turn into an obsessive passion. A person looks at an emaciated reflection in the mirror, but sees a fat, unattractive body. Here, the problem is more of a psychological nature, when, out of fear of gaining weight or losing the acquired relief, a person exhausts himself with sports activities.

We are not talking about big sports, where sometimes all means are good to achieve results. Where an athlete trains on the edge of the impossible, takes not always useful supplements, is forced to forget about pain and injuries. The world of money has its own rules.

We are talking about you and me. Take a closer look at yourself, your behavior and well-being. Maybe you are experiencing the first symptoms of "overtraining":

• rapid fatigue;
• you find it difficult to recover before your next workout;
• the heart beats faster at rest and in the morning;
• lack of appetite after training and during rest;
• muscles and joints hurt;
• headache;
• nausea appears;
• suffer from insomnia;
• immunity decreases;
• gastrointestinal disorders occur.

If you feel anything like this after a workout, then you definitely need a good rest without physical activity.

When you easily and happily give up food, sleep, communication with friends, sex, watching your favorite show for the sake of another trip to the gym, when sport becomes the meaning of life and pushes everything into the background, you need to sound the alarm.

To avoid getting obsessed with sports, consult a specialist before starting your workouts to create your individual training program.

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