Criterion A (obligatory) | Translation to high-performance athletes |
---|---|
A1: Excessive exercise that the patient feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according to rules that must be applied rigidly | High-performance athletes are generally highly motivated and driven to exercise to improve their sporting performance, which some may conceptualise as an “obsession”. High-performance athletes also frequently adhere to strict training programs, which could be interpreted as “rules that must be applied rigidly” |
A2: The exercise is aimed at preventing some dreaded consequence or at preventing or reducing distress, often based on distorted beliefs about exercise | Many high-performance athletes exercise to increase performance and fitness, but also due to a fear of failure (“some dreaded consequence”) in sports competition [65]. Exercise may also be used by some competitive athletes to regulate affect, particularly the avoidance of negative affect [23] |
Criterion B (obligatory) | Applicability to elite athletes |
---|---|
The compulsive exercise is time-consuming (takes more than 1 h a day) | The training program of a high-performance athlete is often very time-consuming and requires on average multiple hours of training per day during the week |
[The compulsive exercise] significantly interferes with the person’s daily routine, occupational functioning or social relationships | Being a high-performance athlete requires life activities to be structured around training and competition, rather than training and competition to be structured around life activities |
[The compulsive exercise] is continued despite medical injury, illness, or lack of enjoyment | High-performance athletes often train through illness and injury. Lack of exercise enjoyment may occur during extremely intense sessions, extended competition periods, or episodes of burnout [66] |
Criterion C (optional) | Applicability to elite athletes |
---|---|
At some point during the course of the disorder the patient has recognized that the compulsive exercising is excessive or unreasonable | Although some high-performance athletes show insight that their training is unsustainable (which may coincide with retirement), there is little empirical research on this topic [36] |