Building a Sustainable Fitness Routine During Recovery
Do you want to get stronger in your recovery?
Fitness routines are an important part of addiction recovery, but they're also about much more than building muscles. It rewires your brain, reduces cravings and stress, and develops healthy habits that support long-term recovery.
The problem is:
Recovery from addiction is hard.
Your body is healing, your mind is rewiring, and you are learning to live life 100% sober for the first time.
But there's one thing you may not know…
Exercise can be one of your most powerful tools in recovery.
When you're going through addiction recovery, doing some kind of regular exercise can help you dramatically improve your chances of success.
Here's what you'll learn:
- Why Exercise Can Change Your Recovery Journey
- The Brain Science Behind Why Fitness Works
- The Best Types Of Exercise For People In Recovery
- How To Build Habits That Stick
Why Exercise Can Change Your Recovery Journey
Recovery from addiction isn't just about abstaining from drugs or alcohol.
It's about rebuilding your entire life around your sobriety. Fitness is a huge part of that process.
When you're in addiction recovery at a quality center where you can learn more about comprehensive treatment programs, exercising daily can be one of the most powerful changes you can make to help your recovery stay on track.
Think about it:
Your body and mind have been through a lot.
Drug and alcohol abuse damage your physical health, but they take a heavy toll on your mental and emotional health, too.
Exercise is one of the best ways to reverse all of that damage.
Science shows that regular physical activity can reduce cravings and help you sleep better, as well as manage the anxiety and depression that can hit you hard in early recovery. Even more importantly?
About 60% of people who receive treatment for substance use disorder relapse at some point. That means roughly 2 in 5 of these people fail at recovery. The good news?
Add exercise to your recovery plan and you can drastically reduce your risk of relapse.
Your body needs time to recover from the harm that drug and alcohol abuse have caused. Exercise makes that process faster and easier.
It strengthens your heart and lungs, boosts your immune function, and restores healthy sleep patterns.
Mental Health Benefits
Exercise can help your mind and emotions, too…
Workouts release endorphins and dopamine (the chemicals your brain was chasing with substance abuse).
But here's the kicker…
Exercise gives you a healthy high.
You're retraining your brain to experience good feelings in a safe and healthy way. You're no longer dependent on drugs and alcohol to feel better.
Pretty neat, huh?
The Brain Science Behind Why Fitness Works
Here's something that will blow your mind…
Drug and alcohol abuse have the same effect on your brain as exercise, only in reverse.
Both stimulate your brain's reward pathway and cause the release of dopamine and serotonin.
In 2022, 48.7 million people aged 12 years or older reported problematic substance use at some point. But only about 2.6% of this population received treatment.
That is important to you because:
When you exercise, you are rewiring the brain pathways damaged by your substance abuse. You're showing your brain that you can feel great without drugs or alcohol.
Research shows that exercise is an effective way to reduce stress and anxiety, boost cognitive function, stabilize mood, and lower depression symptoms. Science is unequivocal, fitness is not only beneficial for your body but is also essential for recovery.
The Best Types Of Exercise For People In Recovery
Not all exercise is equal.
Certain types of workouts have additional benefits that make them especially powerful for people who are learning to live life sober.
Cardio Exercise
Cardio gets your heart pumping and your brain full of endorphins.
Try walking or jogging, swimming, cycling, or dancing.
Cardio exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress and boost mood. It's also excellent for rebuilding cardiovascular fitness after drug and alcohol abuse.
Strength Training
Weights are not only about building muscles…
Weights can also help you rebuild confidence and see visible progress. There's something so empowering about getting stronger while you're also building your mental and emotional strength.
Start with push-ups, squats, lunges, and planks. You can always add weights later.
Mind-Body Exercise
Mind-body exercises like yoga and tai chi combine physical movement with mindfulness.
This is a great combo for people in recovery because it helps you reconnect with your body in a positive way.
Many people in recovery feel disconnected from their bodies after years of substance abuse.
Mind-body exercises can help you reduce stress and anxiety, improve flexibility, practice mindfulness, and increase body awareness.
They're also gentle enough for beginners but challenging enough to get you hooked long-term.
Group Fitness Classes
Group fitness classes give you a sense of community.
It can be lonely in recovery, even when you're surrounded by people. Fitness classes give you the chance to bond with others without having to share your story.
Show up and exercise with people who are also working to improve their health and life.
How To Build Habits That Stick
One thing most people get wrong about fitness…
Motivation is not the key to exercise.
Motivation comes and goes. What you need is a system that works, even on days when you don't feel like working out.
Schedule Your Workout Like An Appointment
Put your workouts in your calendar.
Set reminders and hold yourself accountable. Make it as non-negotiable as brushing your teeth.
The key to sustainable fitness is no longer having to make the decision whether or not to work out. It just becomes something you do.
Find An Accountability Partner
Two is better than one.
Find someone you trust who can hold you accountable for your fitness goals. This can be a friend from your recovery group, a family member, or someone you meet at the gym.
When you have someone else who is depending on you to show up for your workouts, it becomes much easier to actually do them.
Track Your Progress
Keep a simple workout log.
Record what you did and how it made you feel, as well as any positive changes you noticed. This is a visual reminder of your progress and how far you've come on days when it feels hard.
Be Patient
Days will vary.
On some days, you'll feel like a million bucks. Other days you'll want to curl up in bed and forget the world.
There will be days when you miss a workout because you just don't feel like it.
It's normal. Just don't let it become a habit.
It's about consistency over time, not perfection every day.
Putting It All Together
Fitness is one of the best things you can do for your recovery.
Working out will help you heal your body from the ravages of substance abuse, as well as rewire your brain's reward pathways.
It also manages stress and anxiety and gives you the tools to build confidence and create structure in your life.
Start small and keep building from there.
Walk 10 minutes today. Try one new exercise this week. Find something you love and build from there.
Addiction recovery is about creating a life you don't want to escape.
Building your physical health with exercise is a huge part of that.
You can do this.
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading...839GYLCCC1992
Leave a Reply