The NBA and NHL playoffs are in full gear, which means upsets, overtime thrillers, and playing through injuries. Take Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, who returned to game three of his series against the Miami Heat with his left arm dangling like a fish on a hook after falling to the deck and hyperextending his elbow. And following the Philadelphia Flyers’ second-round departure, it was revealed as many as five players will undergo surgery in the offseason for injuries they pushed aside.

Why Do Regular Guys Play through Pain?
We know professional players often play through pain because of their huge contracts (unless you’re Jay Cutler). But regular Joes also push themselves through fatigue for that perfect workout or glory in front of their buddies on the weekend. We all know a friend who goes running despite shin splints, or who bikes with constant hip pain. Why put your body through the strain when nothing is truly riding on it? What would really happen if you had to take 2 weeks off? If exercise becomes so all-consuming that you’re playing through an injury, you may actually be addicted to working out.
“People don’t look at it as an issue because exercise is a good thing,” says Heather Hausenblas, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida. “Any healthy habit, you take it to an extreme and it’s negative.”

You Could Be an Exercise Addict
OK, so what’s the difference between someone who works out every day and an addict? Experts would classify you as an exercise addict if:
- You have a need for excessive activity that results in physical symptoms, like overuse injuries. “Ignoring injuries is the biggest telltale sign that something could be up,” says Michael Sachs, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology at Temple University. “People see doctors who tell them not to exercise for a certain period of time, and they just won’t listen.”
- You have a need for excessive activity that causes psychological symptoms, like depression, when you can’t exercise. When that activity is taken away because of injury, a person’s mood turns sour since they don’t get their daily sweat in.
- You flake off other demands—ones that you acknowledge are more important than your workout—to exercise. Some guys need their fix so much that they skip work meetings or family dinners to hit the gym. “Can you make a decision on a given day that you will not exercise today because you have some other demand?” says Sachs. If you can’t, it suggests the exercise has control over you as opposed to you having control over it.

Exercise Addict Rehab
First, realize missing a month of exercise won’t turn you into the Pillsbury Doughboy if you’re already in good health, Sachs says. If you’re injured, some time off will eventually help your fitness, not hurt it.
If you have to stop running or lifting for a period of time, have a backup activity to do in its place to reclaim your workout high, Sachs says. Studies show that no matter what type of exercise you’re doing, any physical activity causes the release of endogenous opioids, or endorphins, that you crave.
As much as we like to think we can be Brett Favre (pre-creepo period, of course), running around on torn Achilles tendons and busted knees, sometimes we just have to take a breather and sit the next one out.
If you do become injured with a twisted ankle, take a look at ways professional trainers make sure top athletes return to the field.
And if you’re having the opposite problem—trying to get motivated—we have a solution for that, too. —Brian Dalek