For people in addiction recovery, exercise can be a powerful tool. It can help to reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood, and promote overall physical and mental well-being.
Exercise to Fight Addiction
Exercise has shown to be an effective treatment for addiction. In one study, people who participated in a 12-week exercise program were more likely to stay sober than those who didn’t exercise.
Exercise can also help people in recovery maintain their sobriety in the long term. One study found that people who exercised regularly were less likely to relapse than those who didn’t exercise.
There are many different ways to get started with exercising. You don’t have to join a gym or start running marathons. So just thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day can make a difference. Walking, biking, swimming, and even dancing are all great ways to get moving.
These are all easy ways to get the body moving and the blood flowing, from there you can look into different avenues and exercise regimens to continue to hit your daily or weekly goals.
One effective route you can go is hiring a personal trainer to not only help with deciding what exercises to do but even help with nutrition as well. Not only will this help keep your mind off of urges and cravings to use drugs, it will also help you make leaps and bounds toward your long-term physical health goals as well.
All of what we’ve talked about will help to improve your physical health, but many people don’t consider the strong mental health benefits that come from exercise. Let’s take a closer look at that really quickly.
Exercise for Mental Health
When you’re addicted to drugs, your body and brain are going through some serious changes. Drugs alter the way that your brain produces and uses neurotransmitters, which can lead to all sorts of mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and even psychosis.
Exercise has been shown to be an effective way to mitigate these mental health issues. It does this in a few different ways. For one, exercise helps to produce endorphins, which are natural chemicals that help improve mood. It also helps to reduce stress levels, improve sleep quality, and increase feelings of self-esteem and self-efficacy.
In other words, exercise can help give you the strength you need to combat addiction-related mental health issues both during and following treatment.
Get Help Today
At the end of the day, exercise can be a godsend when it comes to overcoming substance abuse problems. That said, exercise isn’t the end all be all of the addiction treatment, it needs to be a complimentary type of treatment used alongside counselling and professional addiction treatment services.
If you’re struggling with addiction, it is vital to seek out a professional rehab program to help you. If you are looking for treatment in California, there are many options available, like Renaissance Recovery, go now to learn more.
