How Exercise Can Help Those in Recovery

Going through treatment for substance abuse can be a challenge in many ways, from withdrawal symptoms to struggling with the impulse to relapse. Anything that you can do to benefit yourself during recovery can be an incredible help in staying on the path of sobriety. One of the most common activities that has been shown to reduce the chances of engaging in substance abuse and assist in the recovery process is exercise.

Correlations Between Exercise and Recovery

Multiple studies have found that people who regularly engage in aerobic exercise are much less likely to engage in substance use. Likewise, people who have high rates of substance use, including substance abuse and addiction, have much lower rates of regular exercise. The inverse correlation between these events has several possible causes:

· Exercise can potentially serve as an alternative non-drug reinforcer

· Exercise can decrease the potential for substance abuse by producing functional neuroadaptations

· Substance abuse can possibly decrease the time and resources an individual can spend on exercise

· Substance abuse can decrease an individual’s ability to engage in exercise

· External factors, such as environment, can influence both the likelihood of engaging in exercise, as well as, substance abuse

Multiple factors can also influence a person, all playing a role in how likely an individual is to engage in substance use. However, while these elements can impact initial use, not all of them are likely to have the same amount of influence on those going through the recovery process.

Instead, most studies for recovery purposes focus on how exercise can decrease substance use, whether it’s through neuroadaptations that resist substance abuse or by giving an alternative reinforcement activity to substance use. These potential solutions have led to various other studies into using exercise to help patients recovering from substance abuse.

Regular Exercise and Recovering From Substance Abuse and Addiction

When it comes to treating substance abuse and addiction, exercise’s neurological influence is what makes it a potentially powerful tool for the recovery process. Most notably, regular exercise can help provide a reward response in the brain. This activity is similar to the same sort of stimulation that many drugs provide.

For instance, exercise can provide psychological and physiological rewards that other forms of treatment cannot fully give. As an example, for patients trying to quit smoking, nicotine replacement on its own doesn’t meet the other neurological rewards that smoking provides; exercise can work to fill that gap.

For all types of substance abuse, stress and other negative feelings can often trigger substance use and contribute to addiction. Exercise gives an alternative way to work off these emotions, meaning that patients are less likely to relapse due to stress and those other negative feelings.

While there have been multiple studies into how exercise and more specific substances interact, there are still many areas that we don’t fully understand. However, results from studies into other substances have shown that exercise can have a positive impact. A study involving rats and methamphetamine use showed that voluntary exercise led to reduced levels of damage to terminals in the brain, suggesting the same may be possible in humans.

Additional studies have shown that exercise can have positive benefits for cocaine users in the form of reducing drug-seeking behaviors, particularly when combined with abstinence. While further research is necessary before scientists can establish complete correlations between exercise and other drugs, the results we have available now are enough to indicate the benefits of exercise during recovery.

Group Exercise and Recovering From Substance Abuse and Addiction

Aside from the neurological influence of exercise, studies have also worked to show the influence of exercise on substance abuse patients’ quality of life. Numerous components of physical and psychological health go into quality of life and all can have an influence on a person’s recovery.

A study that focused on group exercise found that patients who completed a group exercise program showed significant improvements in quality of life. Benefits also occurred in patients who experienced more severe health problems. The program involved low doses of group exercise over a period of 10 weeks.

While not explored in detail in the study, group exercise can also be a helpful factor in keeping patients accountable. Even for people who aren’t struggling with substance abuse, maintaining a new exercise routine can be difficult. Moving the exercise into a group setting allows members to help motivate each other, which can make it more likely that patients will experience the benefits of exercise.

Exercise as Part of a Comprehensive Treatment Plan

While neurological state and quality of life are important factors in recovering from substance abuse and addiction, they are not the only things that need to see improvement if a patient is to successfully recover. Many people who struggle with substance abuse have an underlying reason that led to their use, and ingrained habits can persist even after a successful detox. If a treatment ignores these factors, it will likely be unsuccessful.

Patients should recognize that exercise is only one part of the equation to a successful recovery. A patient in recovery should have a full plan of action in toe when leaving treatment and retuning back to daily life. In the meantime, exercise and other treatments can serve to help reduce the risk of relapse by providing positive neurological stimuli and improving quality of life.

At Windmill Wellness Ranch, we believe it takes a comprehensive treatment process to truly help patients recover from substance abuse and addiction. To that end, we provide a variety of treatments and activities – including physical fitness and recreational activities. We recognize that exercise has a positive impact on our patients’ recoveries, and we want to give them every possible resource to succeed. To read more about physical fitness at Windmill Wellness Ranch, head to our activities page.

As research continues, we may find other ways that specific types of exercises and substances interact with each other on the road to recovery. Until then, any form of regular activity will have a positive influence. When combined with other aspects of an individualized treatment plan, those struggling with substance abuse and addiction can have a much better chance of recovery.