Can Exercise Really Help With Recovery From Addiction?

Addiction is a very serious illness that affects brain chemistry. Recovery is possible, with the right expert medical care, specialist therapy and the support of informed loved ones and friends. Sadly, six out of ten people who get help for addiction will relapse within twelve months. This alarming rate of relapse is something that researchers continue to examine to try and find new ways to prevent relapse. One question they often ask is, can exercise help in overcoming addiction challenges?

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From this growing body of research there is increasing evidence that exercise can be a very effective component of recovery.

Benefits of Exercise

The conclusion from research indicates that exercise can be a positive alternative to using drugs and alcohol. The reason for this is because both exercise and alcohol/drugs work on the same areas of the brain. Both are involved in activating the reward channels in your brain. When this occurs chemicals that make you feel good, serotonin and dopamine, are released. While more research is being conducted, the findings, so far, point towards exercise being able to provide the following for someone in recovery from addiction:

• Easier withdrawal: It is known if you exercise regularly you can reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. Sadly, all three are very common in addiction recovery. Left alone they can lead to relapse.
• Reduce cravings: Trying to overcome the thoughts of using in recovery can be very uncomfortable and all encompassing. Exercise can be a great help in distracting yourself from using.
• Avoiding triggers: Having a structured exercise routine gives you focus and purpose. It can also help to extend your social network. With this you reduce the risk of going to places that are connected with drug use and helps to avoid you coming into contact with people still using.
• Clearer thinking: By exercising regularly your mind is sharper and you can think more clearly. For many, the question remains: can exercise indeed help in preventing addiction relapses?
• Better sleep: It is very common for someone caught up in addiction to not be able to get a full nights sleep. Regular exercise can help someone in recovery to get to sleep quicker and stay asleep.
• Enhanced self control/self esteem: When you feel good about yourself it is easier to overcome your problems.

What type of exercise?

One of the first pieces of research into the link between addiction recovery and exercise showed that aerobic exercise and resistance training can be beneficial when recovering from addiction. Currently, there is nothing to show which is better but research is ongoing.

Aerobic (cardiac) exercise is anything that gets your heart rate up for more than a few minutes, this can include:

Swimming

Walking

Running

Boxing

Hiking

Water aerobics

Dancing

Resistance training is something that works your muscles, this could be:

Digging the garden

Lunges

Squats

Push up’s

Sit up’s

Weighlifitng

Where do I start?

Starting to exercise could be as straightforward as going for a walk. What is important is to get started as soon as possible. If you need advice, you can talk to your GP, your addictions therapist or reach out to recovery groups in your local area. Interestingly, you might ask them, “Can exercise effectively help overcome addiction issues?”

How many times a week should I exercise?

There is no definitive answer to this so the answer is to aim for the same amount of time that adults are recommended to exercise for. On average, this should be two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week and one hour and fifteen minutes of intense exercise a week. There are no hard and fast rules. Anything is better than nothing!

Over exercising

Unless your GP advises you otherwise, regular exercise is generally safe for most people. However, it is important not to overdo it as you run the risk of switching one addiction for another. Researchers have found that those recovering from addiction may be hard wired to swap addictions. Additionally, you may wonder if exercise alone can really aid in managing addiction recovery without swapping one dependency for another.

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