In a development that will surprise absolutely no one who has ever owned a fitness tracker, a man from Newtown in Powys has revealed that his quest for peak fitness spiralled into an addiction that left him anxious and sleep-deprived. Wayne Davies, 40, said he became so consumed by race times, training plans, and fitness data that he found himself "constantly worrying" and comparing himself to other runners on social media. It's almost as if turning your hobby into a relentless data-driven competition against strangers on the internet isn't a recipe for inner peace.

Wayne's journey began about 10 years ago with casual jogs, which quickly escalated to marathons and then ultra-distance races, including a gruelling 75-mile (120km) run around the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd. "I became obsessed with trying to do longer and longer distances," he said, "then I started focusing on times." He described never being happy, always chasing the next challenge or a better time. If he didn't succeed, it felt like the "end of the world." "I never stopped to appreciate what I'd achieved," he admitted. A heart scare during a training run led to a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, and though he returned to running after treatment, the fear of recurrence only intensified his obsession.

Wayne said he never realised fitness addiction existed until he spoke up, and he initially felt ashamed. "A lot of men think talking about how they feel is a sign of weakness," he said. But after his friends and family encouraged him to seek help, his GP signposted him to Ponthafren, a Powys-based charity. He enrolled on the NHS Wales SilverCloud Space from Anxiety programme, a 12-week course where he learned "how to manage my thoughts and let things go." Now, he says, "I don't tend to look at the data as much anymore. I just accept it for what it is." He sometimes uses his watch as a guideline but no longer obsesses over it, going by how he feels on the day. He's currently training for The Marathon Eryri (formerly the Snowdonia Marathon) with a new outlook: "I'm not worried about times anymore. I just want to do the best I can on the day and enjoy it."

Zaheen Ahmed, head of therapy at UK Addiction Treatment Centre, said she's seen an increase in fitness addiction cases, with more than 57,000 people seeking help from their exercise addiction page in the past six months. She noted that this often stems from clients embarking on sobriety and cross-addicting into fitness, to the point where exercise itself becomes the problem instead of substances. Fitness apps, she said, have added a competitive element that can lead to compulsive behaviour disorder. "If fitness has overtaken your daily joy sources, then it's likely a problem has developed," she warned. Ahmed doesn't think addictions are changing, but rather that "we just have the means and desire to talk more openly and honestly about these behaviours." As society evolves, she added, "there are more opportunities for unhealthy relationships to develop."

Dafydd Judd, a personal trainer in Cardiff, said the lines are blurring between fitness and technology addiction. Calorie counting apps can become "highly addictive" if you're weighing, measuring, and adjusting your intake. "There's way more food to track than there is with exercise, so I can see how that can get extremely obsessive," he said. He encouraged people to seek help if it starts to become an unhealthy relationship, and advised caution when seeing fitness records posted online, as more people are "fudging the numbers and lying to create this illusion that they're better than they are." He described social media as a "double-edged sword" - companies tap into it to promote their business, but it also creates communities, and "healthy competition" online can spur people on.

Fionnuala Clayton, project manager of NHS Wales' Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Service, said they were "grateful that Wayne reached out during a challenging time in his life." While exercise has mood-boosting benefits, "too much can have negative impacts on both mental and physical health," she said. She stressed the importance of reaching out for support if a routine starts to dominate other areas of your life. "Talking to someone and exploring other sources of support can be an important step towards a healthier balance," she added. "Stories like Wayne's remind us why accessible mental health support matters."

In related news that really puts the "health" in BBC Health, a monk on Caldey Island gave naked photos of himself to visitors, a plumber plotted with 'The Baron' to smuggle cocaine abroad inside rope, and Babydoll singer gave Wales its first UK number one in 15 years. Because nothing says balanced lifestyle quite like a marathon runner learning to chill, a naked monk, and a drug-smuggling plumber.