Is Exercise Addiction Weighing you Down

Columbia, SC (WOLO) — Summer is right around the corner and many of you may be headed to the gym to burn those calories.

While working out can be a great way to stay healthy, new research suggests some are overextending themselves and could be doing more harm than good.

Doctors  say there is a thing called exercising addiction where people can work out so much it becomes a hindrance to their health.

According to the British Medical Journal that at least one percent of the population has an addiction with staying fit, world wide they say those numbers are up half a percent totaling hundreds of thousands of people who are staying in the gym too much.

Here are some of the signs medical professionals say you can look for to find out if someone is addicted to exercise.

•  Exercising several times a day.
• Joining multiple gyms
• Getting in a work out even if you have an illness or an injury
• Withdraw symptoms when you can’t get to the gym

Doctors say some of the health risks you could be subjecting yourself to include:

• Dehydration
• Anemia
• Even death if the person exercising has an eating disorder