Addicted to Fitness

PHOTO: LS ARCHIVE

Do you think it's okay to love exercising so much that you can't quit? Does the image of a svelte waistline, slender hips, a thigh gap and shapely legs bring a smile to your face? Think again. That ideal of beauty may be an unrealistic, media-provoked goal. Though most people who exercise do so to be fit, it's possible to get addicted to fitness, and this trend is catching on among young Dhakaites.

Working out releases dopamine, the feel-good chemical often found in drugs, into your brain. After a good workout, they get released naturally. If you are used to working out and you stop suddenly, you will feel depressed because of the lack of dopamine. And if you are a fitness freak, you probably have a workout routine fixed. If you don't work out at the set time, you might start feeling empty and bored.
It is very possible to get that “killer body” if you are not lazy (or if you're not me). Being addicted to fitness isn't a bad thing, though working out without any understanding of it is. If that's the case, not only will you fail to get your desired results, you will end up wasting time and wearing yourself out.
Extreme fitness can take up much of your time and to those who take it seriously, it is a way of life. A dedicated gym member spends a minimum of ten hours a week at the gym and that makes it a time consuming commitment, though one that you have to slowly build up to.
 “Thirty minutes a day of moderate physical activity is enough to keep things like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure in check,” says Sakib Alam, 28 (instructor at Body Shape, a fitness centre).

Someone recently bitten by the fitness bug may think that a two-hour run makes them four times as healthy, though it does not work like that.
People with addictive personalities, who take up exercise without reading up on it first, may start overdoing the workouts. Research shows that some people who become addicted to fitness have suffered from low self-esteem in the past. Sometimes, you grow up to see the skinny kid who was bullied in the playground have biceps bigger than your head. Like weight reduction, improved athletic performance is readily observable. So, athletes are prone to fall into fitness addiction.

“I primarily started working out to improve my game. Now three years down the line, I barely get time to step on the court but I never miss a day of gym,” says Angelo Rebeiro, 19.

Unlike female anorexics, who always think they are too fat, men with muscle dysmorphia, as the condition is called, think they are too small and scrawny. They want to get bigger and bigger and bigger; not in fat percentage but in muscle size. And they often become so preoccupied with their strength exercises that they lose track of their academics/jobs, and neglect their relationships.
It is also extremely common for women to be dissatisfied with their bodies. Some women, instead of opting for a healthy weight, get judgmental and start working out to an unhealthy extent.

“I've always been conscious about my weight. I'm considered a 'big girl' since I'm pretty tall. I hate being called big,” says Farah Ahmed, 21.

The airbrushed pictures of liposuctioned, silicon-stuffed models only add to the insecurities that urban girls suffer from. Going hand in hand with bulimia and anorexia, fitness mania can cause physical and mental meltdown in women.
“The age group of females in this gym range from 18 to 45. Whereas most women seek to lose the excessive fat or just keep fit, there are some that tend to overwork themselves. Often, we have to point out to them that pushing too hard without proper nutrition will do them a lot of damage and very little good,” says Sadia, 24, who is the gym instructor at Body Shape.

There are no medical treatments for fitness-mania, but psychotherapy works. The trick is to ensure that when you're looking at drastic improvements in your physical appearance, make sure it doesn't go hand in hand with drastic deterioration  in your everyday life. Exercise is a way of keeping fit, and it should be something that is practiced for self-fulfilment, not as a response to society's, peers' or your life-partner's unrealistic expectations.

Photo: Darshan Chakma

People aged  5-17 should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily and adults aged 18-64 should do at least 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity throughout
the week.

Exercise may help prolong your life: people who engage in physical activity for 7 hours per week have a 40 percent lower chance of dying early than people who are active for less than 30 minutes a week.

How much exercise you need depends on your genes, your diet, how much muscle and fat you carry on your frame, how fit you are, and your capacity for exercise.

DISCLAIMER: THE MODELS IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PURELY FOR VISUALISATION. SHOUT DOES NOT IMPLY THAT THEY ARE IN ANY WAY ADDICTED TO FITNESS.