Risks And Consequences Of Vigorexy

“Risks and Consequences of Vigorexy” Attention Getting-Opener: As we had heard, vigorexy is an addiction to exercise or a disorder in which people do exercise or sports continuously without considering the consequences of this, because these people are always forcing their bodies to the maximum and it is very dangerous. Today, we will be able to know the risks and consequences of vigorexy. I. Risks. II. Consequences. Transition: Now, I will start by explaining you about the risks of Vigorexy.

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Risks that Vigorexy has:

In 2004, I wrote a book called: “Foundations of Personal fitness”, in which in the chapter six of the book I put my attention in the distorted body image of vigorexic people and I explained the risks that vigorexy has on those people, for example: • Insomnia: Vigorexic people consume steroids as a way to increase their muscular mass and as a risk, they suffer insomnia for the big amount of medication they take. • Infertility in women: Most of the time, vigorexic women are in the gym, and they do too much exercise with heavy machines and it can affect the uterus for the weigh that it receive and cause infertility in women in the future. Also, in an investigation I did in 2007 in the “San Diego County Rehabilitation Center for Eating Disorders, Chemical Dependency, Trauma Treatment and Pain Management” I found these risks of Vigorexy: • Depression: Vigorexic people tends to feel depression, because they are most of time in the gym and for this reason they lose their social life and friends and this cause loneliness; also, they lose their jobs and significant relationships over their workout schedule. • Suicide: As these kinds of people have a distorted body image, they feel uncomfortable with their body and as a result they commit suicide. Transition: Now, we know about the risks that a vigorexic person can suffer. Let’s continue by explaining to you about the consequences of vigorexy.

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Consequences of Vigorexy: • Several health problems and injuries: it can occur when exercising

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excessively. In an article that I wrote after of a investigation I did with my colleagues in psychology Dr. Brenda Woods and in medicine Dr. Kevin Wandler in 2006 for the non-profit organization “Finding Balance”, we found that training through pain can cause broken bones, pain of tendons, muscles, joints, high blood pressure, heart diseases, sleeplessness, irritability, lack of appetite, constant tiredness and difficulty on concentrating. Disproportion between body parts: In 2008, I worked with my colleague the psychologist Dr. Claudio Schenker in the “Fitness Science Annual” and we found that the vigorexia habits cause physical and aesthetic problems, such as disproportionate displastic, also between body and head, due to excessive weight and diet. For example, a person could have a strong and big body, but with a small head. The diet that people who are experiencing Vigorexy consume: According to an investigation I did in 2004 for the non-profit organization in USA “TeamSmart

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International” and with the work I did with the psychologist Dr. Claudio Schenker in 2008 for the “Fitness Science Annual”; I discovered that the diet is another frequent and important consequence of Vigorexy. These people consume too much protein and carbohydrates and too little fat. Their goal is to increase muscle mass, but this practice can cause disorders with other organs (especially the kidneys, liver and metabolism) for the imbalance of macronutrients performing an extra work. The use of anabolic steroids: According to the same investigations in “TeamSmart” in 2004 and for the “Fitness Science Annual” in 2008. People with Vigorexy will use these steroids because they believe they will be more physically fit and increase muscle mass. The use of these substances can be very dangerous. These drugs can produce an abnormal development of male characteristics of the body, as well as irregular menstrual cycles, a reduced sperm count, acne, cardiac problems, water retention. Also, the consumption of these substances increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, liver injury, sexual dysfunction, decreased size of the testicles and an increase for prostate cancer, Symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder: In 2008, I did an investigation with my colleague and friend the American psychiatrist Harrison G. Pope, from the Medicine college of Harvard, Massachusetts, where our studies were published for the “Medicine Magazine”; we found that the vigorexia should be considered a disorder of obsessive-compulsive, because of the obsession on exercise and increasing the muscles, but also the distortion of the body scheme. These symptoms make patients feel like failures as they abandon social activities, including work, with the purpose to train and exercise without resting.

Transition: Now, we are aware about the consequences of Vigorexy in our body and in our health and how this disorder can be dangerous in our life.

Summary We should now understand that Vigorexy has: I. Risks. II. Consequences.

Memorable Concluding Remarks As a conclusion, it is important to say that this disorder has many dangerous risks and consequences, not only for our body but also for our health, so we should think about if to damage our body is necessary to be accepted in this world or not.