Support for Excessive or Compulsive Exercise

Helping you build a healthier relationship with movement, your body, and yourself.

When Exercise Stops Feeling Healthy

Exercise can be energizing, empowering, and life-giving. But sometimes what starts as healthy discipline turns into something rigid, driven, or compulsive. Rest feels impossible. Missing a workout brings guilt or anxiety. Movement becomes less about strength or joy—and more about control.

If exercise feels like something you have to do rather than something you choose to do, it may be time to look deeper.

Excessive or compulsive exercise often isn’t about fitness. It’s about underlying beliefs, stress, perfectionism, body image, or coping with difficult emotions.

A Space to Slow Down and Understand What’s Driving It

At River Haven Counseling, we help individuals explore the emotional and behavioral patterns connected to over-exercising. Our therapists approach this work without judgment. We understand that excessive exercise can feel productive, disciplined—even praised by others—while quietly taking a toll on physical and emotional wellbeing.

Therapy offers a space to step back and ask important questions:

• What is driving this intensity?
• What feels unsafe about slowing down?
• What emotions surface when you rest?

Understanding these patterns is the first step toward lasting change.

Signs Exercise May Be Becoming Compulsive

Excessive exercise can show up in ways such as:

• Feeling intense guilt or anxiety if you miss a workout
• Exercising despite injury, illness, or exhaustion
• Structuring your entire day around workouts
• Using exercise primarily to compensate for eating
• Rigid “all or nothing” thinking about fitness
• Struggling to rest, even when your body needs it
• Feeling disconnected from your body’s natural cues

These patterns are often rooted in deeper emotional needs—not a lack of discipline.

How Counseling Helps

Therapy focuses on uncovering the beliefs, stressors, and coping strategies connected to excessive exercise. Through counseling, you can:

• Identify the emotional triggers behind compulsive movement
• Reduce anxiety related to rest or missed workouts
• Build healthier coping strategies for stress and control
• Reconnect with your body’s internal signals
• Develop flexibility and balance around exercise
• Strengthen self-worth that isn’t tied to performance

The goal isn’t to eliminate exercise—it’s to restore balance and choice.

What Therapy May Include

Our approach is individualized and grounded in evidence-based care. Depending on your needs, therapy may involve:

• Cognitive-behavioral strategies to challenge rigid beliefs
• Emotional regulation skill-building
• Mindfulness practices to increase body awareness
• Exploration of perfectionism or body image concerns
• Support for reducing shame and self-criticism

When appropriate, we can collaborate with medical or nutritional providers to support overall health.

Questions People Often Ask

Isn’t exercise a good thing?
Yes. Movement is healthy. But when it becomes compulsive, harmful, or emotionally driven, it can negatively impact wellbeing.

Do I have to stop exercising completely?
Not necessarily. Therapy focuses on balance, flexibility, and restoring a healthy relationship with movement.

What if I feel like this is the only thing keeping me in control?
That feeling is important—and worth exploring. Counseling helps you develop other sources of stability and confidence.

Can this really change?
Yes. With insight and support, people often rediscover movement as something sustainable and life-enhancing rather than anxiety-driven.

Why Individuals Choose River Haven Counseling

• Therapists experienced in behavioral health and body-related concerns
• A calm, grounded approach focused on long-term wellbeing
• Compassionate, nonjudgmental support
• Individualized care that respects your pace

Reclaim Balance and Freedom

You deserve a relationship with movement that supports your body—not one that controls your life.

Call 701.566.0204 or visit riverhavenfargo.com to schedule an appointment.
Let’s work toward a healthier, more balanced approach to exercise—one rooted in strength, flexibility, and self-respect.