Exercise in Addiction Recovery

There are no shortcuts, but exercise in addiction recovery enhances recovery and helps in more ways that one can imagine. By no shortcuts I mean exercise alone is not the answer. A person in early recovery might choose to start exercising, begin to feel much better and mistake this good feeling for real recovery. Working is a supplement to addiction recovery not a replacement — there’s no getting around the fundamental emotional, psychological and spiritual work necessary for lasting recovery.

Plus, exercise releases dopamine and creates a natural “high” that a person might try to seek too often because they aren’t doing the necessary work mentioned above, then exercising becomes an obsession — the person burns out and sets up the conditions for relapse. But when done in addition to the fundamental work of recovery, counseling, meditation, AA attendance (or whatever support system a person chooses), etc., exercise is enormously helpful to a person’s sense of well-being. There’s some evidence that exercise helps rewire the brain, so that a person associates feelings of well-being as a result of healthy stimuli, not as a result of taking some drug.

One of the huge benefits to exercise in addiction recovery is working out relieves stress. Stress not properly handled is a relapse trigger. Stress can wear a person down until they just give up and go back to what they always did when stressed out — drink or use their drug of choice. Sometimes a person in early recovery who’s not dealing with stress in a healthy manner might not go back to their drug of choice, but rather use a substitute drug they think is safer, like smoking pot or using Xanax. Once a recovering addict’s judgment is impaired by a mood-altering drug, they’re at risk for relapse. it takes all the good judgment a person has to recover, so if they begin taking mood altering drugs as a substitute to deal with stress, they’re at risk. It’s much better to find a healthy alternative to drugs, and working out is a perfect alternative. Some people need medication to treat a co-existing condition like anxiety or depression, but it’s recommended that a doctor educated in addiction medicine make these decisions.

Exercise also creates focus and it requires a person to practice discipline as they follow a routine — focus and discipline are beneficial to recovery. Exercise can boost a person’s self-esteem. When we begin taking care of ourselves, improving ourselves, we begin to acknowledge our value, and we begin to like ourselves again. So, exercise in recovery is highly recommended. If a person has physical limitations they should also adhere to a doctor’s advice, but most people can perform some level of exercise. It’s worth it. Like everything in recovery, though, exercise in addiction recovery should be done smartly.