The Importance of Regular Exercise During Addiction Recovery : It’s well-known that physical activity helps with the overall state of our body and positively influences both physical and mental health. However, many people forget that exercises are one of the crucial factors that assist us in recovering from hard times, especially in fighting addiction.
This guide will tell you all about the importance of regular exercise during addiction recovery and why it should stay a crucial part of your lifestyle.
Exercises help you have a better sleep pattern
One of many things an addiction crashes is our sleeping pattern, and many people try hard to stay on track during addiction recovery. Alcohol or any of the drugs and other harmful substances will affect sleep. Well, physical activity is one of the essentials you need to start sleeping well again. Regular exercise helps release endorphins, helps the brain slow down a bit later, and makes sure you sleep faster.
It’s easier to relieve stress
Regular physical activity is a very helpful factor when fighting stress, as well. Exercises help with both physical tension and mental stress, leaving you with an overall good feeling in your body and mind. Addiction recovery causes tension very often, which is the issue regular exercise can help you with. Focusing on doing the exercises right can assist with your mind wandering to some more positive thoughts, leaving all the stress behind once you leave the gym. Working out at home can also be helpful – whenever you feel upset or nervous, do a set of exercises that help you the most. Yoga is one of those activities you can easily do at home and achieve overall mental well-being. It doesn’t require any special place or equipment, but it can do so much for your addiction recovery process. Grab a mat and some comfortable clothes and start releasing tension immediately.
Building some healthy habits
Going back on track is difficult when going through addiction recovery. That’s why regular exercise is important for building some healthy habits once again and sorting your life out. Going to some more serious tasks you did before can be tricky, but going for a run or doing yoga can be the beginning of putting your life back together. These seemingly small steps, such as working out two or three times a week, can be a way to build a busy schedule once again and succeed in addiction recovery as quickly as possible.
You get more energy
As we mentioned, regular exercise improves sleep and releases stress. It helps you feel better both physically and mentally. This results in having more and more energy every day, which is very important for dealing with lethargic or depressing days that may come during addiction recovery. Exercising puts you in a better mood and gives you more strength and will to deal with other tasks, challenges, or emotions that can come up during the day.
It prevents unnecessary weight gain
People going through addiction recovery often deal with an increase in appetite – especially those trying to quit smoking. This results in overeating and gaining unnecessary weight, which becomes an additional issue in the process. Well, one of the reasons why regular exercise is essential for the recovery process is that it improves your metabolism and builds muscles, which prevents gaining weight you don’t need. Along with a healthy diet and a positive mind, you can come out of the recovery as fit as ever.
It stops you from going back
It can be challenging to stay strong and don’t go back to your addiction problems. That’s why you should use all of the sources available that will prevent you from going back. Regular exercise is one of those things that will make it a lot harder to relapse and return to the substances that caused addiction. It’s probably its most important role, which is why you shouldn’t forget to schedule a workout session as soon as you begin the recovery process.
What are the activities that are the most beneficial in the recovery process?
The efficiency of exercise during addiction recovery will depend on a couple of factors – the type of the addiction and substances used, current health condition, type of exercise, and more. That’s why experts from harmonyridgerecovery.com recommend consulting a professional and getting a proper recommendation. Some of the activities that are generally useful in most of the recovery processes include:
- Yoga
- Walking
- Running
- Cardio/Aerobic exercises
- Swimming
All of these give you the ability to control your pace, breathing and intensity of the exercise, and what’s best about them – you can mix them into your workout routine. However, all of these can be done on your own, which can be an issue for some people. Very often, people going through recovery need more social connections, so they choose team sports such as basketball, tennis, or soccer. Such sports make exercising a social event and keep you away from easily quitting and returning to your past habits.
How to start?
The first step is probably the hardest one. Firstly, don’t set up your goals and expectation bar too high. Very often, even a short walk every day will bring all those benefits we discussed earlier. Start exercising step by step, choosing activities that suit your current mood and health condition. Also, try to switch different activities to find the one that works best for you or simply to keep the process dynamic.
Also, it’s good to have a workout buddy that will ‘push’ you to go forward and motivate you to continue exercising regularly. Find someone who understands what you’re going through and who will help you keep going by being gentle yet motivating.
Regular exercise during addiction recovery is tremendously important for the process. It gives you both physical and mental benefits, so it’s not something you should overlook when going back to life without addiction. Surround yourself with the people who support you and get in shape while staying away from everything that has been holding you down for so long.
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