drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
by Chris Shugart
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When you knowingly begin to compromise your health, your "fitness" plan has gone too far. It's ironic really. You adopt a training or diet plan to lose fat, build muscle, or get strong, then things go sideways and your fitness plan begins to wreck your fitness. Most of the time, there are deeper psychological issues at work here. But for dedicated folks who love to train, it can be an easy trap to fall into. Examples:
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A fat loss diet turns into borderline anorexia. Usualy associated with an obsession with scale weight. The outcome gets twisted: the goal becomes a smaller number on the scale instead of the sexy look of a healthy reflection in the mirror.
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Your pursuit of abs leaves you looking like a malnourished meth addict. Can lead to exercise-induced bulimia. That's where the person doesn't purge by throwing up food, but instead tries to purge every calorie she eats through excess exercise, usually cardio.
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The obsessive pursuit of PRs leaves you busted up and unable to do real-life things, like walking up stairs or getting out of the car without psyching up first. Strength is awesome, but true 1RM attempts are largely unnecessary outside of competition.
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The pursuit of size leaves you fat or playing a reckless game with bodybuilding drugs.
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A love of running leaves you beat up and constantly hurt instead of feeling good.
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When a trendy diet starts doing you more harm than good. The key to this one is that you KNOW deep down it's not working for you anymore, but the idea of it is so compelling or is such an ego-inflating virtue signal that you can't give it up.
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What about athletes? Christian Thibaudeau wrote, "Every single competitive sport is bad for the body when done at the level required to compete at the highest level.” For them, it's not really about fitness. It's about winning. But you're probably not a pro athlete. And damaging your body isn't putting retire-at-40 money into your bank account.
•
The lesson here? Health first.
•
When you knowingly begin to compromise your health, your "fitness" plan has gone too far. It's ironic really. You adopt a training or diet plan to lose fat, build muscle, or get strong, then things go sideways and your fitness plan begins to wreck your fitness. Most of the time, there are deeper psychological issues at work here. But for dedicated folks who love to train, it can be an easy trap to fall into. Examples:
•
A fat loss diet turns into borderline anorexia. Usualy associated with an obsession with scale weight. The outcome gets twisted: the goal becomes a smaller number on the scale instead of the sexy look of a healthy reflection in the mirror.
•
Your pursuit of abs leaves you looking like a malnourished meth addict. Can lead to exercise-induced bulimia. That's where the person doesn't purge by throwing up food, but instead tries to purge every calorie she eats through excess exercise, usually cardio.
•
The obsessive pursuit of PRs leaves you busted up and unable to do real-life things, like walking up stairs or getting out of the car without psyching up first. Strength is awesome, but true 1RM attempts are largely unnecessary outside of competition.
•
The pursuit of size leaves you fat or playing a reckless game with bodybuilding drugs.
•
A love of running leaves you beat up and constantly hurt instead of feeling good.
•
When a trendy diet starts doing you more harm than good. The key to this one is that you KNOW deep down it's not working for you anymore, but the idea of it is so compelling or is such an ego-inflating virtue signal that you can't give it up.
•
What about athletes? Christian Thibaudeau wrote, "Every single competitive sport is bad for the body when done at the level required to compete at the highest level.” For them, it's not really about fitness. It's about winning. But you're probably not a pro athlete. And damaging your body isn't putting retire-at-40 money into your bank account.
•
The lesson here? Health first.
