Physical Activity Aids Addiction Recovery

physical activity for addiction

Physical Activity Can Be An Addiction Recovery Game Changer

Do you know how helpful physical activity and regular exercise is to maintaining sobriety? Exercise provides a multitude of benefits including, taking up time, nurturing mental health, anxiety relief, and building self-esteem. While it may seem daunting to take on an exercise routine, you will soon see it’s not as hard as you thought and the benefits are worth is. If you need help finding recovery in the first place, the addiction hotline will help you recover from addiction in a few months.

How Does Physical Activity Affect Your Mind And Body

When it comes to addiction recovery, exercise helps boost important chemicals in your body that not only make you feel good but are natural replacements for the “high” drugs or alcohol were providing. Serotonin and Dopamine, the feel-good chemicals, are produced and keep flowing with regular exercise. Taking on a training routine will also improve your physical health and body, which in turn also benefits mental health and addiction recovery. In the addiction hotline, people will see how exercise can help as well.

Physical Benefits Physical Activity 

Quite beyond the improvements in mental health, exercise also provides huge improvements for physical health. Regular exercise helps you maintain a healthy weight and strengthen your bones. Both, are important for people in addiction recovery who need to treat their bodies well. If you are quitting smoking, it an help increase your appetite and help your body begin its natural healing process. The physical health that will benefit from exercise will be extended beyond weight management, as per different Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It helps to get active for more than 150 minutes, though. It will reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, type of cancer, and chronic diseases. Regular exercise will help increase the brain’s amount of new nerve connections and help manage the healing process from the harmful physiological effects of frequent substance usage. 

Mental Health Benefits Of Physical Activity 

Regular exercise will also improve mental health. It helps to release chemicals like endorphins. These chemicals interact with the brain’s receptors, which will also help decrease discomfort for people in addiction recovery. The natural activation of the receptors from exercise will leave you feeling uplifted and in a better mood.

Good mental health habits are essential for recovery because mental health disorders like depression and anxiety co-occur with addiction and you want to learn how to treat everything.

Exercise during recovery will be crucial in helping people improve their mental health and feel positive about their lives. The mental health benefits of exercise also come with sharper thinking, learning, and judgment skills.

How Else Does Physical Activity Help With Addiction Recovery

Studies have found that committing to weekly exercise will decrease substance use and help maintain abstinence for participants. Exercise is an excellent replacement activity for addiction, and ongoing training will keep your body sound and help you live a healthy life.

Exercise Curbs Cravings

Research has shown that regular exercise leads to an average increase in abstinent days. In one study, the participants who struggled with substance abuse committed to routine moderate aerobic exercise for more than 11 weeks and saw significantly better substance use outcomes than those who did not.

Since working out will help to move blood through the heart quicker, regular exercise helps increase the amount of oxygen and nutrition flowing to the body’s muscles. It will also increase the nourishment that will cause the body to grow stronger and have a greater capacity for releasing energy throughout the day. A higher energy level makes daily tasks easier and boosts the ability to resist cravings. 

Structure And Routine For Addiction Recovery

Signing up for exercise classes or scheduling a workout regimen into your schedule will also provide routine and structure in a new sober life. Taking classes or having a workout buddy will help hold you accountable and encourage you to improve too. Finally, exercising after work will be a great excuse to skip happy hour in your new recovery life.

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