Are You Addicted To High Cortisol Exercise?

A perspective on High Cortisol Exercise and the potential downfalls when your body can't handle the dose.

Do you find yourself feeling anxious on rest days or after a workout that wasn't "hard enough"?

If so, you may be addicted to high exercise cortisol, like I was. 

I used to associate sweating, intensity, and duration with calories burned, and my self-worth was tied to how hard and long I exercised. 

This led me to feel anxious until I got that big hit of Cortisol, endorphins, and dopamine release from high-intensity exercise, with CrossFit being my drug of choice.

Now, I don't want to give Cortisol or CrossFit a bad rap because when approached correctly, they can be great for fitness and adaptations brought on by stress.

However, too much of anything can be a bad thing, unless it's binge-watching the White Lotus, then it's totally fine ;)

Before I get into the warning signs associated with high Cortisol exercise addiction, let’s talk about Cortisol for a second.

Cortisol is a hormone that is released by the body in response to stress. In small amounts, it can be helpful for regulating the body's response to stress and promoting energy and focus.


However, chronically elevated levels of Cortisol can have negative effects on health, including increased risk of anxiety, depression, weight gain, and other health problems. 

 
You can become addicted to activities that release high amounts of Cortisol because you’ve learned to associate the stress response with feelings of pleasure or reward.

This can create a feedback loop where you seek out stress-inducing activities in order to feel good.

So, how do you know if you’re addicted to high Cortisol exercise? Keep an eye out for these:

  1. Feeling anxious or irritable on rest days or after a workout that wasn't "hard enough"

  2. Feeling the need to push yourself harder and harder during workouts to achieve the same high–this was a big one for me.

  3. Obsessing over calorie burn and associating intense exercise with weight loss.

  4. Neglecting other important aspects of health, such as proper nutrition, hydration, and sleep.

  5. Ignoring or pushing through pain or injury to maintain your workout routine.

  6. Experiencing negative physical or mental health effects from over-exercising, such as fatigue, mood swings, or decreased immune function.

  7. Feeling guilty or ashamed for missing a workout or not exercising intensely enough.

If these resonated with you, you’d probably benefit from rest days, a de-load week, yoga, walking, LISS (low intensity steady state cardio), and lifting rather than more HIIT or long and hard cardio sessions.


Now that I've opened up this conversation, I’m going to follow up with 2 more blog posts where I’ll share:
1) why some people get addicted to these types of exercise
- and -
2) what to expect when you cut back on the amount of High Cortisol Exercise and how you can make that transition a little easier!


Sending strength + encouragement,

Alicia


PS. My 1:1 Health Coaching (5 months) offers workout templates that are hypertrophy and physique focused with nutrition guidance that is tailored to your specific lifestyle and goals WITHOUT putting you on a cookie cutter meal plan.

APPLY HERE IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE!

Workouts, LifestyleAlicia Connorsfitness, women's health, crossfit, high cortisol, women's hormones, over-exercising, exercise addiction, body composition, rest, strength training, cardioComment