Phases of addiction will be used to distinguish exercise addiction from other forms of intense and frequent exercise behavior. Failure to distinguish exercise addiction from exercise done with high frequency and intensity has been a source of confusion in the literature. Despite meeting three exercise addiction criteria, an elite athlete is not necessarily addicted to his or her sport. The Olympic athlete may devote a great deal of time to the activity, experience a significant reduction in other activities and go through withdrawal when the behavior is stopped or cut back. Exercise addiction also needs to be distinguished from exercise that occurs at a high frequency. This paper will address the overlaps among exercise addiction, compulsions, and impulse control disorders. Like other behavioral addictions, exercise addiction is often referred to as being compulsive or impulsive.
If research on exercise addiction is to move ahead, it will be important to know when this behavior actually represents an addiction and not some other disorder. Distinguishing Exercise Addiction from Other Disorders
