Exercise Resistance

Exercise Resistance is a newly described medical condition when for whatever reason a person can’t force himself to perform even minimal recommended daily exercises. You know you must exercise. You know it’s good for you. You know you must like it and want to do it. But you… Does not appear… For… Be… Able… For… Take it… Above. And go!

You may be suffering from the condition known as Exercise Resistance!

You’ve probably heard of compulsive (or addictive) exercise. Perhaps you want to be the type of person who exercises too much and/or too often.

However, they know that it is not you. Do people with obsessive-compulsive disorder use exercise to cope with feelings of fullness, or to control weight gain, or to compensate for other areas in which they feel out of control? You will exercise even if your body hurts and is about to fall apart. Not great either.

犀利士
pan style=”font-family: ‘times new roman’, times, serif; font-size: 16pt;”>At the other end of the continuum is exercise resistance. Francie White, an eating disorder specialist in Santa Monica, CA, invented the medical term exercise resistance. I believe this is an important element to be studied, although it has not been widely recognized as some type of eating disorder or body image problem.

Most women who suffer from exercise resistance are also prone to emotional eating, past diets, and/or body problems. For these people, motivational strategies for encouraging exercise fail, and the thought of exercise meets feelings of anger, fear, and resistance.

What are the risk factors?

• A story of three or more diets. Individuals may, consciously or unconsciously, respond to society’s emphasis on the ideal body, which is so thin … as if saying, “I’m not going to look what you would like me to look!”
• Parents who have forced or overemphasized exercise to encourage their child to lose weight. Physical activity stops playing and becomes work and something to be scared of.
• A history of sexual abuse in women or early puberty/development of large breasts. The sexual abuse could have occurred at any age or in any form, and may even have occurred shortly after the weight loss. In these cases, the individual may be trying to prevent sexual attention or intimacy because taller people seldom receive unwanted sexual attention.

Do you think you suffer from exercise resistance? If so, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• When did being physically active change from playing to “exercising”?
• When did exercise become something you “should” do rather than just wanting to move your body in a physical way?
• Have you ever been physically active to control your weight? If so, how has it changed your perspective or feelings about exercise?
• How did your feelings about exercise change after puberty?
• Is physical activity related to your feelings of sexuality? If so, how?

If you are suffering from exercise resistance, you may want to explore the underlying reasons. The questions above will help you do that.

In addition, you can choose not to exercise for a while. The part of you that suffers from exercise resistance also has a voice. Acknowledge this, explore the reasons and give yourself to him. In a way, you are saying to that part of you, “I understand why you are here and that you have learned to be afraid to exercise.” When you really give that part what it wants, it eventually gets tired of not moving and will want an activity to get involved. After all, we have a natural internal urge to move our bodies.

When you’re ready to choose an exercise, choose something that you really enjoy. For example, I don’t like going to a gym. With all the ads, I feel distracted and sometimes bad about myself. I like to run, but my ankle can’t take it and it’s really not something I’m looking forward to. I finally found yoga. I love yoga and I look forward to it. I love belly dancing too and I’ve taken classes in the past. Both forms of activity are great and I love to experience what my body can do.

What do you love to do? What’s fun and fun that you are looking forward to? This does not mean that it is always easy to venture into the exhilarating realm of exercise. Mild exercise resistance every now and then is fine and normal. However, you want to find a physical activity you like that you do because it’s fun and rewarding… not because it will help you lose weight. Then you can really want to exercise and benefit from it: reducing stress, increasing energy, feeling your body move, and enjoying the strength and flexibility of your body.

Make exercise your adult form of fun. For each subsequent exercise, experiment with introducing fun into your exercise: giggle while playing, bring friends to play with you, act like a child if they are doing your activity, be creative, fun.

Professional help for exercise resistance.

If you find that you are still suffering from exercise resistance, you can seek professional help. Remember that there may be more to it than finding a coach to help motivate you. You may need to investigate your exercise resistance and body sensations more closely.

One of the most effective treatments in your case would be clinical hypnosis. If you need to talk to a specialist contact us and schedule your appointment for an evaluation with Dr. Tsan