Open Access

Exercise addiction: An examination on gym members

1 Sinop University, Graduate School of Education, Sinop, Turkiye
2 Sinop University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sinop, Turkiye

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the exercise addiction levels of individuals who regularly go to the gym. Exercise addiction can cause a positive situation to turn into a negative situation if a healthy exercise habit is taken to extremes. For this reason, studies are important that examine the exercise addiction levels of individuals who exercise regularly. The sample of the study consists of 422 volunteer individuals (179 Female, 243 Male) registered to gyms in the city center of Çorum in Türkiye. The “Personal Information Form” and “Exercise Addiction Scale” (EAS) were applied to the participants and the obtained data were analyzed with SPSS 21. The normality distribution of the data was examined with the Shapiro Wilk test and it was determined that the data showed a normal distribution. T-Test, and One Way ANOVA Post Hoc LSD test were used in comparisons between groups (p<0.05). It was determined that there has been statistically significant differences in all sub-dimensions of exercise addiction according to gender, family income status, duration of gym visits, regular exercise status and marital status (p<0.05). As a result, it has been determined that individuals who regularly go to the gym are in the dependent group in terms of all measured variables, and women have higher exercise addiction than men. It has been also determined that individuals with an income over 6000 TL had higher exercise addiction than individuals with lower income, and that exercise addiction increased as educational status increased. In addition to the results, it has been observed that those who both went to gyms for 1-2 years and married individuals who exercise regularly had higher exercise addiction. In line with these results, it can be said that gender, marital status, income level, regular exercise and time spent in the gym affect exercise addiction.

Keywords

How to Cite

Kizilkan, A., & Arslanoglu, C. (2025). Exercise addiction: An examination on gym members. Journal of ROL Sport Sciences, 6(1), 19–34. https://doi.org/10.70736/jrolss.468

References

📄 Adams, J. (2009). Understanding exercise dependence. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 39, 231-240.
📄 Adams, J. M., Miller, T. W., & Kraus, R. F. (2003). Exercise dependence: diagnostic and therapeutic issues for patients in psychotherapy. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 33, 93-107.
📄 Allegre, B. Souville, M. Therme, P. & Griffiths, M. (2006). Definitions and measures of exercise dependence. Addiction Research and Theory, 14, 631-46.
📄 Arslanoğlu, C., Acar, K., Mor, A., & Arslanoğlu, E. (2021). Geleceğin antrenörlerinde egzersiz bağımlılığı. Spormetre Beden Eğitimi ve Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, 19(1), 137-146.
📄 Aslan, S., & Aylaz, R. (2014). Akademisyenlerin internet bağımlılık düzeyleri ve buna bağlı oluşabilecek sağlık sorunların değerlendirilmesi. Annals of Health Sciences Research, 3(2), 14-19.