With Instructors Christine Conti M.Ed. and Lori Roland LPC
This course will be held online via the Zoom Platform.
Course Description
This course explores the intersection of fitness culture, compulsive exercise, addiction patterns, and trauma-driven body control behaviors. Designed for fitness professionals, it helps participants recognize when healthy training crosses into harmful compulsion, understand the psychological drivers behind exercise addiction, and learn how to support clients while staying within scope of practice.
Overall Course Objective
Exercise or Escape: Addiction in Fitness, Compulsive Behaviors, and the Illusion of Body Control is a powerful workshop that explores the complex intersection of exercise, mental health, and addiction. Participants will learn how compulsive training patterns, body-image obsession, and perfectionist tendencies can mimic or mask addictive behaviors in clients, students, athletes, and even fitness professionals themselves. Through evidence-based research, real-world case studies, and guided discussion, attendees will discover how to recognize red flags, shift harmful narratives, and create healthier relationships with movement. This workshop is designed for fitness and medical professionals, educators, coaches, parents, and anyone committed to promoting safe, sustainable, mentally healthy approaches to exercise.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the psychological and physiological similarities between addiction patterns and compulsive exercise behaviors.
- Recognize early warning signs of unhealthy movement habits, body-control obsessions, and exercise dependence in clients and students.
- Understand the impact of cultural, social media, and fitness-industry pressures on body image, identity, and exercise choices.
- Learn practical, evidence-based strategies for guiding individuals toward balanced, sustainable, and mentally supportive fitness practices.
- Develop communication tools and referral pathways to support clients when professional mental-health intervention is needed.
CEC’S: AAAI/ISMA 8.0 (other CEC’s can be petitioned.)
REGISTER NOW AND SAVE WITH OUR EARLY BIRD PRICING! REGISTRATION GOES UP $20 ON MARCH 12th, 2026.