Last updated 11:56, Thursday, 31 July 2008

Fitness with David Little

IT’S funny what you read in the Sunday papers, even funnier when you start reading a real life account of two guys who have became obsessed with the way they look.

As I read on, my smile went as this was a story about men who had started to become so obsessed about training that it affected everything in their lives. The condition even had a name – athletica nervosa.

This certainly wasn’t a condition I was aware of but it is a disorder that many of you reading this might have but aren’t aware of just yet.

Many of the experts attribute this disorder to the pressure that magazines place on men and how similar it is to the size zero issue.

Can you really blame the male magazines? To a degree you can, but in order to have a disorder you need to be creating it yourself.

This is where the name athletica nervosa turns into overtraining. This is exactly what it is and, make no bones about it, overtraining can lead to a number of difficulties.

I aim this to the late teens that have started to take care of themselves and might find particular role models in their life the best people to take after. They want quick results and will strive to any means to get them. I’m not talking about steroids necessarily but a keenness to hit the gym every night and develop the kind of physique they want.

I’ve seen it before – in fact I even knew one teenager who became overly obsessed with training that it affected his concentration, weight and his way of life. Luckily he found direction and now trains normally but if you don’t find that direction you can either end up on critical street or dead.

I do not joke about this. If you are not properly supervised and given a programme by a qualified trainer then following your own path can lead to a serious problem.

Don’t believe me yet? Well let’s take Mr Bloggs. He is 18 years old, 12 stone and 6ft 1in. He wants to develop bulk so he can get to a reasonable weight and stop looking so skinny.

First thing on his list is to join a gym and a fully qualified gym instructor gives him the necessary programme to follow. However he decides to follow his own programme because he feels the correct supervised training program is far too slow and he wants results ASAP.

After eight weeks of training every day Mr Bloggs notices incredible improvements in his physique and has put 21lbs on during that period. He continues with his own training and decides to throw in three morning sessions as well as his evening sessions. Four weeks later Mr Bloggs has become increasingly tired but ignores this and believes it’s only because he has started the morning sessions. As the 16-week mark approaches his family notices certain differences in his mood and suspect he might be taking something.

They question him and because of the tiredness he loses his temper and distances himself from his family. The training programme continues and after weighing himself and noticing no change in weight he decides to increase the ever problematic programme.

His concentration levels have really dipped now and it’s affecting his job to the point that he falls asleep at work and gets caught. Mr Bloggs is now on a warning. Because of his snappy nature his friends have also stayed away and his own girlfriend has finished with him because he spends more time in the gym than with her. As another weigh- in fast approaches Mr Bloggs is determined to succeed, in one last push he decides to increase the weight he is lifting, unfortunately the weight on the bench press is far too heavy and he tears his pectoral muscle. He now faces some serious time off. This leads to depression and this is when his family steps in to get him some help.

Even though obesity is on the increase, training should come with a warning also. Whether you are slimming down or putting weight on it must always be performed safely. Don’t ignore the programme the gym instructor has given you. Use that training programme for its entirety then after that consider your own fitness regime. Listen to your body as well, tiredness, depression, anxiety and loss of sleep aren’t just signs of watching big brother but they are worrying signs for overtraining.

We all have role models in life, but consider their working day. They have professional personal trainers to help them along and most of them have their own gyms and the time to train. Never try and get a body like a celebrity also consider your limitations and work to the best level you can. Athletica nervosa or overtraining is becoming a huge threat to men and if you can’t catch the signs early then it might be too late.