I have to wake up early to exercise because otherwise my day won’t allow me to. But I don’t mind skipping on days when I have stayed up late. You know, I am only hooman.
But a 39-year-old woman from San Diego, California has built her entire life around fitting in her workout sessions. Which is not as insane as the fact that she exercises for 8 hours a day and is a self-proclaimed exercise addict. Basically she cannot stop exercising.
In an interview to a television show in the US, The Doctors, Erin revealed that she is addicted to exercising. “I never get tired, I don’t get sore,” Erin said at the show. Erin’s life is ruled by her compulsion to exercise. She said,
I’ll cancel plans, I’ll cancel appointments. It’s been controlling my life. I just can’t stop. It’s not giving me the rush that I used to feel just doing three to four hours.
She works out for eight hours a day and barely sleeps for 2-3 hours a night to find time to run, work out on the elliptical, spin, and hit the gym for weight training.
Erin revealed that she has been exercising to avoid a painful trauma she experienced in the past. She said,
Eight months ago I got a message from a girl. It triggered a memory that I had suppressed for 30 years. Basically from that time on I’ve been adding on exercise so that I can just forget about that whole nightmare of those four years of life.
Even though her body seemingly is handling her excessive workouts, the workouts do not make her feel good. She said,
It’s like I’m running away from everything else in my life.
While exercising is potentially good for you, anything in extreme can be very dangerous.
Erin’s muscles are deteriorating from excessive exercising. Her white blood cell count is high, her red blood cells are abnormal, and she may have an enlarged heart. She’s dehydrated. Her blood pressure is dangerously high. Yet, she feels sick if she doesn’t work out.
Apparently, exercise junkies can suffer the same withdrawal symptoms as heroin addicts. Cutting off physical activity produces the same trembling and teeth chattering exhibited by drug addicts who go cold turkey, according to the researchers.
There’s nothing wrong in burning calories by exercising, but you should not burn out.
You can watch her talk about her addiction here:
