{"id":371556,"date":"2026-03-29T15:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T15:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/371556\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T15:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T15:41:07","slug":"the-highs-are-extremely-high-but-the-lows-are-extremely-low-when-working-out-becomes-an-addiction-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/371556\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The highs are extremely high \u2013 but the lows are extremely low\u2019: when working out becomes an addiction | Fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the peak of his adventuring career, Luke Tyburski was a man of extremes. The former pro-footballer, then in his early 30s, had dedicated himself to intense endurance challenges, of the sort that make a marathon look like a fun run. Beginning with the Marathon de Sables (a notorious multistage ultramarathon in the Sahara desert), he then ran the world\u2019s highest ultramarathon at Mount Everest base camp, battled dehydration during a 100km run on a tropical island, and took on the vividly named Double Brutal Extreme Triathlon<\/a> in north Wales. The endgame in all of this was a self-designed challenge, which saw him swimming from Africa to Europe, cycling through Spain and running to Monaco \u2013 2,000km in total, in just 12 days.<\/p>\n

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Tyburski was a professional adventurer, financing his pursuits via magazine articles and speaking gigs, and even making a documentary<\/a> about his quest. His whole raison d\u2019etre was to push past his limitations, showing what a person is capable of when their mindset is strong enough. Yet, privately, he was dealing with depression, related to a loss of identity after the end of his footballing career, which took in Australia, the US and Belgium before he tried out for clubs in the UK. \u201cTraining and racing creates an escape, and the highs are extremely high,\u201d says Tyburski. \u201cBut when I returned home from an adventure, the lows were extremely low, because I hadn\u2019t addressed what I was running away from.\u201d<\/p>\n

He began to spend even more time training. If he was planning on doing a four-hour bike ride on a Saturday morning with friends, and a two-hour run on the Sunday morning \u2013 normal enough for a triathlete \u2013 he might fit in a secret training session on the Saturday afternoon. He developed crippling insomnia, which he used as a pretext to run what he called \u201cmidnight marathons\u201d, and would binge eat between training sessions to prolong the high.<\/p>\n

Tyburski at the end of his 2,000km Ultimate Triathlon. Photograph: Courtesy of Luke Tyburski<\/p>\n

It is possible to take on big endurance challenges without spinning out of control. Indeed, performing at your best requires a balanced approach to rest and fuelling. But in Tyburski\u2019s case, they enabled a self-destructive tendency. All the hallmarks of an addiction were taking root: the secrecy, the persistence through negative consequences, the need for more, the sense of having something to escape. \u201cBut nobody suspected anything, because my weight didn\u2019t change, my performance didn\u2019t change, my demeanour didn\u2019t change. I was a very good actor,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Exercise addiction isn\u2019t officially recognised as a psychiatric disorder. In common with most behavioural addictions, it doesn\u2019t feature in either of the key psychiatric manuals, the DSM-5 or the ICD-10. As a result, there are no standardised criteria for diagnosing it. You\u2019ll often hear people describing themselves as \u201cexercise addicts\u201d \u2013 an affliction on a par with \u201cchocoholic\u201d \u2013 when rhapsodising about how much they love the gym.<\/p>\n

double quotation markMy weight didn\u2019t change, my demeanour didn\u2019t change … I was a very good actor<\/p>\n

That said, for a subset of regular exercisers, there is clearly something more damaging going on. Studies have suggested<\/a> that around 0.3-0.5% of the general population may be dependent on exercise, rising to 3-9% of regular exercisers and athletes<\/a>. Many researchers believe the framework of addiction is fit for purpose here. There is even a growing body of evidence<\/a> to suggest that behavioural addictions function like substance addictions neurologically, through dysregulating the motivational pathways in the brain. Indeed, the phenomenon of cross-addiction \u2013 when a person replaces one damaging substance or behaviour with another \u2013 is well documented when it comes to exercise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brain doesn\u2019t necessarily care so much where it gets the spike of dopamine or serotonin from,\u201d says Kanny Sanchez<\/a>, an addictions therapist supporting patients within the Priory\u2019s Flourish addiction treatment programme<\/a>. \u201cIn all cases, there is the same need for an external source to come inside and regulate the internal turmoil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exercise addictions, he says, generally take the form of an obsession. Rather than being just another part of your day, exercise becomes the centrepiece, often to the detriment of everything else. You may keep training through injuries, and even experience a form of withdrawal when unable to work out. \u201cExercise in itself is a really good way of handling stress,\u201d says Sanchez. \u201cBut if it\u2019s the only tool you have in your arsenal, that\u2019s when it becomes an addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Negative cycle \u2026 Miche\u00e1l Costello, in his kit for team Optimal Endurance. Photograph: Courtesy of Miche\u00e1l Costello<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l Costello, 30, is a PR account manager, writer and triathlete. He was diagnosed with depression and atypical anorexia at the peak of the pandemic. Before Covid, he had been working out a lot and practising intermittent fasting, a combination that provided a focal point for his anxieties but didn\u2019t ring too many alarm bells. As the world went into lockdown, and Costello moved back in with his parents, his behaviours spiralled. \u201cIf exercise addiction could be formally diagnosed, I would have been diagnosed with it, is what my psychiatrist said at the time,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Atypical anorexia is a form of the condition where patients restrict their food intake but are not medically classed as underweight. In common with other eating disorders, it is often accompanied by excessive exercise. One study<\/a> found that up to 48% of people with eating disorders show symptoms of exercise addiction. This may stem from body dissatisfaction, or compensatory behaviours around food, but there can be an emotional element too. \u201cA lot of the clients I work with use exercise to get rid of unwanted and uncomfortable feelings,\u201d says Stacey Fensome, a sports and exercise psychologist who works with the eating disorder treatment clinic Orri<\/a>. \u201cExercise can be a tool to override the nervous system and generate a kind of numbness, as well as produce a release of endorphins.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Costello\u2019s case, underfuelling and overtraining went hand in hand. He bought an exercise bike for the house and spent most of the day on it. \u201cI would wake up, go for a walk, have something small to eat, get on the bike for two hours, do half an hour of bodyweight exercises, and an hour and a half of constant skipping,\u201d he recounts. \u201cThat would bring me to evening time. I\u2019d go for a 20-minute walk with my mum, and then I\u2019d get back on the bike for up to three hours. It was a relentless existence, but I was also terrified to step out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was only after some suicidal thoughts that he admitted to himself he needed help. While that help was not easy to come by \u2013 his GP dismissed his concerns as those of a \u201cfine, healthy young lad\u201d \u2013 he eventually received some talking therapy and a course of antidepressants. Further down the line, he discovered triathlon, a sport he credits as resetting his relationship with exercise.<\/p>\n

Costello competes in the London T100 Triathlon, August 2025. Photograph: Courtesy of Miche\u00e1l Costello<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to do something with all the fitness I had built while I was in the midst of the eating disorder, and to shift my perspective,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI completed my first Ironman in 2023 and was hooked. I\u2019m now training for my fourth one, and have qualified for the Irish triathlon team. I can\u2019t abuse my body in the way that I used to if I want to be able to do those races.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re talking about these kinds of extremes \u2013 Tyburski\u2019s midnight marathons, or Costello\u2019s stints on the exercise bike \u2013 it\u2019s obvious that there is something awry. But for many endurance athletes and gymgoers, it can be difficult to know where discipline shades into compulsion, and compulsion into full-blown addiction. For instance, the Exercise Dependence Scale<\/a>, one of the main screening tools used by clinicians, asks participants how much they agree with the statement: \u201cI continually increase my exercise intensity to achieve the desired effects\/benefits.\u201d This reads a lot like the principle of progressive overload \u2013 a key prong of any respectable training programme.<\/p>\n

Similarly, some compulsive behaviours around exercise look innocuous enough from the outside. Fensome says they can include struggling to rest and have days off; prioritising exercise over other activities; being unable to sit still; choosing to walk everywhere; even using a standing desk. As red flags go, these are subtle ones. \u201cWanting to take care of our health is wonderful, but what is the intention behind it?\u201d she says. \u201cIs it because being still causes a lot of distress and fear, or is it because we actually want to be physically active?\u201d<\/p>\n

Arizona-based author Margo Steines. Photograph: Aidan Avery<\/p>\n

A further complication is that exercise is socially validated, in a way that, say, a gambling addiction is not. Your \u201cno rest days\u201d approach may win you plaudits on social media; your body type may fulfil a societal ideal. Very few of the people around you, except those closest, are likely to express concerns. \u201cI worked with one client who was doing extra training sessions and showing up early, and they were put on a pedestal for that,\u201d says Fensome. \u201cBut what was actually happening was they couldn\u2019t stop, and if they stopped there was a loss of control over who they were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Margo Steines<\/a>, an Arizona-based author, has dealt with a litany of addictions and eating disorders in her life, but in some ways found recovery from exercise addiction to be the hardest. At the peak of her addiction, during grad school, she was spending seven to nine hours a day in various gyms. \u201cI had a secret trainer who I would see before CrossFit, and then I\u2019d go to CrossFit, and then I\u2019d run, and then go to hot yoga and then martial arts,\u201d she says. \u201cI was neglecting everything else and getting the cascade of athletic injuries. But people would stop me in the store and ask what I did for my workouts. It\u2019s easy to hide dysfunction because you\u2019re not visibly underweight \u2013 you\u2019re jacked and juicy and look great.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she frames it, there were several layers to her addiction. Most obvious was the cultural layer, about wanting a very specific, idealised body type. There was a personal layer, about the fallout from a traumatic relationship. \u201cExercise allowed me to not feel how messed up I was from it,\u201d she notes. Then there was the positive reinforcement from those around her, including doctors and therapists, who tended to toe the line that \u201cmovement is good\u201d.<\/p>\n

Only her partner, a strength and conditioning coach, recognised her issues for what they were. \u201cI got very lucky, because he was my coach at the time,\u201d she says. \u201cHe could see the red flags, but also knew how to approach me delicately, like a bunny in the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markIt\u2019s easy to hide dysfunction when you\u2019re jacked, juicy and look great<\/p>\n

Exercise addiction can be just as damaging as other types of addiction; if you are underfuelling at the same time, you may develop overtraining syndrome, a condition characterised by a host of unpleasant mental and physical symptoms. \u201cYou can suffer with chronic injuries. You\u2019re probably looking at hormonal disruption, burnout, low energy and low mood. There might be an element of withdrawing socially, like the social battery doesn\u2019t even exist,\u201d says Aaron McCulloch, co-owner and director at Your Personal Training<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sanchez says there can be psychological, social and even spiritual ramifications too. \u201cThe mental toll that it takes, it\u2019s just like a prison in your head,\u201d he says. \u201cThe person will have a very external locus of identity, meaning their self-worth will be entirely dictated by how much they\u2019re exercising. Missing the workout causes so much guilt and shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heavy lifting \u2026 Steines in 2019. Photograph: Courtesy of Margo Steines<\/p>\n

Since the birth of her daughter in 2020, Steines has been living with myalgic encephalomyelitis, formerly known as chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that leaves her bedbound during flareups and naturally tempers her drive to over-exercise. While she can\u2019t say for sure what caused it, she does believe it\u2019s related to her exercise addiction. \u201cI go in and out between being relatively sedentary and then working out like an average person,\u201d she says. \u201cOn the outside, it looks like I\u2019ve recovered. While I would say I\u2019m two-thirds recovered on the mental side, I didn\u2019t do the work to recover. It\u2019s more like the exercise addiction got taken away from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyburski, meanwhile, is \u201cunofficially retired\u201d from adventuring after the buildup of injuries and consequent surgeries. \u201cIn 2026, I\u2019m paying for the detrimental behaviours of 2013 and 2014,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s taken me a while to accept, but I now have gratitude for the smaller things in life, to be able just to be active and healthy. Will you see me swimming between continents again? No, but when my body is ready to do it, I would love to go into the ocean for half an hour.\u201d These days, he works as a keynote speaker and leadership coach, and says he\u2019s in a good place.<\/p>\n

Recovery from exercise addiction can be complex, not least because eliminating exercise altogether \u2013 as you would for drug and alcohol addictions \u2013 isn\u2019t usually a desirable end goal. Yet however fraught a person\u2019s relationship with movement, there are options available: entering a rehab facility, working with an understanding therapist or even leaning on peer support. Ideally, these could make it easier to spot the signs before the problem has spiralled out of control.<\/p>\n

Costello likes to use the analogy of physical injury. \u201cIf you were experiencing a niggle in your ankle and you were concerned that it was tipping into something more damaging, you\u2019d talk about it,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019d mention it to a friend, and if it got worse you\u2019d see a physio. I feel like we need to do the same with psychological niggles, to just be like, \u2018Do you feel you\u2019re getting a bit too anxious if you miss a session?\u2019 You\u2019d be surprised how helpful just talking out loud can be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the peak of his adventuring career, Luke Tyburski was a man of extremes. The former pro-footballer, then…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[499,103,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-371556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}