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As France prepares to become the temple of sport in a few weeks with the hosting of the Olympic Games, exercise addicts are no longer hiding. But this trend, advocated in particular on the networks, can hide an addiction… which remains harmful.
Today, no one can contradict the health benefits of sport. But the opposite effect, that is, putting “too much” sport into your life, is a little-known abuse called bigorexia which can lead to psychological disorders. However, this is not relayed by sports figures on the internet, quite the contrary.
What is bigorexia?
So being addicted to sport would be harmful? The idea may be surprising, but it nonetheless remains a reality, when the person who experiences an excessive dependence on sporting activity and only thinks about developing his muscle mass, or losing his fat mass, for example .
For Marie Chaput, dietician, psychonutritionist and sports coach in Aix en Provence interviewed by Doctissimo in 2023, “Bigorexia results in an irrepressible need to practice physical activity without taking into account one’s physical limitations, exhaustion or possible injuries, with a progressive loss of all other centers of interest.”
In fact, the dangers of bigorexia are both psychological, linked to social isolation and the loss of interest in anything other than sport, and physical because the body is pushed to the limit. Links to anorexia and psychiatric illnesses are also possible.
This addiction can also reveal an inability to support oneself physically, underlines Fred Bladou, gender minority referent for SOS Addictions, in the magazine DNA.
On the networks, influencers who are proud of it
However, you just need to go to YouTube, or on various social networks, to realize that this addiction to sport is not perceived as harmful. Tiboinshape, 2nd French YouTuber, well known for his fitness videos, has fun with it for example by inviting all those like him who are “sick” and “addicted to sport” to tag themselves under his video. Hashtags such as #gymtok or #gymshark are flourishing on Instagram or TikTok, by influencers who claim this addiction, and who often mix effort, substance and cosmetic surgery to display a dream body, without ever mentioning the psychological part of their commitment .
Worse, this addiction to sport has become a pretext for masculinist groups to find a virile body (and in passing, to denigrate young women) and for young women to exhaust themselves in gaining a dream body at the expense of their health. mental.
Getting out of bigorexia, complete support
What these influencers do not say is also that this dependence, like any addiction, requires appropriate support to find the path to balance. That of practicing an activity within its own limits.
There is therefore no problem in following a YouTube program, or exercises to motivate yourself, or in including a weekly physical practice in your schedule. But if you discover that your sporting practice involves:
- A loss of control and the inability to reduce your pace;
- A change in mood (irritability, sleep problems, etc.);
- A schedule that only revolves around sport;
- and reducing all your other activities.
It’s time to speak with a professional, whether it’s a psychologist, a dietician, or even an addiction doctor. Rest assured, unlike other addictions, bigorexia does not require complete withdrawal from the sport you love. The support simply intends to readjust your practice, so as not to put your body and your mind in danger.
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