Too much exercise also bad

By SUSAN HEMMINGWAY
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Published: August 26, 2008

TAMPA - Maureen Chiodini, director of wellness for Tampa Metro YMCAs, tells a story about the woman who liked Stairmasters. She came to the downtown Y for only two days, but it was enough to alarm the staff.

“She was wearing out our Stairmaster. She was on it for five to six hours at a time,“ Chiodini says. “Obviously, we talked to her.“

The woman said she was preparing for a special assignment at MacDill Air Force Base. A YMCA staff member suggested she bring a doctor’s note. That turned out to be unnecessary - she stopped coming after a day or two. But like other exercise addicts, she may have just moved on to somewhere else.

The story is an extreme example of an under-the-radar fitness hazard: going way beyond the appropriate amount of exercise. It may seem strange in a nation of couch potatoes - less than half of Americans get regular exercise - but there are people who go overboard. Way overboard.

This year, the Metro YMCA staff invited Pauline Powers, a University of South Florida psychiatrist and specialist in both eating disorders and obesity, to give a talk about the effects of overexercising and how specialists can help patrons. She and co-author Ron Thompson, an expert in the eating disorders of athletes, recommend moderation.

“People really like exercise or they really dislike it. Maybe we need to be somewhere in the middle,“ says Pauline Powers, a University of South Florida psychiatrist and specialist in both eating disorders and obesity. Powers is a co-author of the new book “The Exercise Balance: What’s Too Much, What’s Too Little, and What’s Just Right for You” (Gurze Books, $17.95).

Being sedentary can bring on chronic life-robbing diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. It hurts a person’s daily quality of life by making lack of energy and sour moods seem normal. But too much exercise also causes overall fatigue. Fitness levels don’t improve but get worse. Muscle fibers break down, bones weaken and you may look gaunt. Women’s menstrual cycles can stop from very low body fat and lead to osteoporosis.

Still, an exercise slacker is easier to recognize than an exercise addict. Running miles and miles each week doesn’t always mean exercise abuse. There are other factors to consider: How does your behavior affect your family life? How are you doing on the job? Would you rather exercise than go to your daughter’s birthday party?

“A lot of people train for marathons; a marathon won’t hurt you,“ Powers says. A runner preparing for a marathon would be expected to put in serious mileage. That’s probably fine when the rest of his or her life is normal. An alarm bell should go off, though, when exercise becomes more important than family, work or other obligations.

Some strides have been made in recognizing the dangers of overtraining in college athletics and elite competitions, she says. The National Collegiate Athletic Association gives information to coaches about training limits and what is called the Female Athlete Triad of eating problems, loss of menstrual cycles and weakened bones.

Anyone trying to rein in an out-of-control exercise habit needs to expect challenges. The degree of difficulty is not so different from jump-starting a regular exercise routine after years of being sedentary

“Underexercising is more common, but overexercising is just as difficult to overcome,“ Powers says.

Both types may benefit by keeping diaries or workout calendars. When overexercise is the problem, keep a diary to track workouts, how they interfered with daily life and whether they felt compulsory. Recognizing patterns is a good first step.

To start a regular exercise routine, schedule workouts like regular appointments and keep them. Putting exercise on your calendar will help make it a priority.

Sixty minutes a day is more than enough exercise time to see health benefits, Chiodini says.

Reporter Susan Hemmingway can be reached at (813) 259-7951 or .