How do I know if I am addicted to exercise?

Exercise addiction is a psychological and physiological dependence on regular exercise that is characterized by withdrawal symptoms after 24 to 36 hours without exercise. Some symptoms associated with exercise addiction include anxiety, irritability, muscle twitching and nervousness. Life becomes structured around exercise to the extent that exercise can control people's lives. If you are addicted to exercise your mind becomes obsessed with exercise and you spend a lot of time exercising.

All are awesome answers.  As a fitness professional I can tell my clients are addicted to exercise if they will not do what I am coaching them to do.

For instance if I recommend a certain amount of weight training and a certain amount of cardio and the client does more than what is recommend.  If that happens I have a pretty good idea that there is some addictions toward the exercise.

I try and get all clients to understand that working smarter, not harder and being efficient is the key.  So if clients are doing more than they are told instead of trusting what their coach is saying that is a great indicator that some addictions may be there.

Some signs or symptoms of exercise addiction include exercising despite having an injury that requires rest, exercising despite needing to be at work, inclement weather (like biking on an icy road), or missing special family time like a birthday celebration because the celebration time conflicts. 

Being dedicated to getting in fitness does mean planning and not allowing daily distractions in get in the way. Being dedicated to getting in almost daily activity, say even when traveling, is not always convenient. Yet, there is a difference in how consumed one is about getting in exercise, the distress felt when a workout is missed, the level of anxiety about exercising or not, the amount of brain space thinking about working out takes, and to what length one will go to ensure exercise goals are met are in those with exercise addiction.

I wish I could talk with you and ask why you think you might be?  Worth investigating for sure.

As human beings we have a tendency to go to extremes. For example, if you haven't been exercising some people will go to the extreme of exercising too much. This is common behavior because it's hard to find your average/middle range without having been to the extremes and we live in all or nothing society. :-)  

If exercise is starting to take up a majority of your time, if exercise is getting in the way of the rest of your life, if you are sacrificing time at work or with loved ones to exercise and if exercise is starting to feel "negative" or make you feel sick/tired then you are probably exercising too much. 

In everything we do it's important to try and find the balance or the center. Exercise is an obvious component to a healthy lifestyle but there is a point where it's no longer healthy.