The journey to recovery from addiction is never a straight and smooth road. No matter how big or small the addiction, you’ll find it hard to beat. You will feel severe pain during the withdrawal phase.
Addiction recovery exercises
The withdrawal phase is when your body begins to react without its usual dose of the addictive substance. The phase can last from 2 to 7 days. This is an important stage where the course of recovery is determined.
The patient goes through severe psychological pressure and physical torment during the withdrawal phase. The pain can sometimes be life-threatening. This is why exercise is so important.
When patients exercise, they prepare their bodies to deal with withdrawal symptoms.
When we talk about exercise, remember that we are not talking about exercises that need sophisticated equipment. Instead, following what we have provided below will help you get stronger both physically and mentally.
Relationship with alcohol and fitness
There is no doubt that alcohol/drug abuse and fitness share an opposing relationship. When someone suffers from addiction, they tend to fuel their addiction rather than fitness. This is why they tend to get in the way of their individual fitness goals.
Just because staying healthy is the exact opposite of addiction, experts believe that engaging in daily exercise will encourage you to stay away from drugs and alcoholism.
Here’s how alcohol and drug addiction affects your fitness.
- Drinking alcohol regularly will affect your physical performance in the gym.
- Alcohol is considered a calorie-free food. This means that consuming it will not give your body any energy.
- If you do a lot of physical work and drink alcohol, your body will soon begin to suffer from dehydration.
Best exercises while recovering from addiction
When we talk about addiction recovery, we get into the complicated stuff that we tend to miss the little things that are also essential for addiction recovery.
For example, the intensity of regular exercise is often underestimated.
Exercise is healthy for your mental and physical condition. And as we know, when a person recovers from addiction, they are physically and mentally unstable.
Thus, regular exercise while recovering from addiction can definitely help them recover faster. What’s more, exercise with all the treatment, counseling, and education programs; You fill your entire day with valuable things to do.
Now, when you don’t have free time to sit, you will never think of your old self. This helps you avoid causing any setbacks.
We know! We know!
Regular exercise can seem like a daunting task when you already have a busy schedule dealing with all of your addiction rehabilitation activities.
But, what if we say that it doesn’t take much to start a workout. Does this sound interesting? If so, keep reading for the exercises.
1. A simple walk on the road
If you have been suffering from addiction for a long time, this means that you will participate in a long treatment program to recover from addiction. Unfortunately, this in itself will affect your body.
In this case, instead of going to the gym or doing any other form of exercise, just walk the streets. Even walking for 30 minutes is more than enough to start your exercise regimen.
2. Cycling
Cycling is one of the fun activities that stimulate blood circulation in the body. If you don’t want to go hiking, you can bike in the streets. Cycling is one of the exercises that activates most of the lower body muscles.
In addition, it stimulates your brain to release serotonin hormones. This hormone makes you feel good.
3. Yoga
Maybe you’re not a stressed guy and you’re looking for less strenuous exercise to help you recover faster. In this case, you should go with yoga. Yoga is a form of exercise that helps you connect your mind and body.
There are many types of yoga. You can always choose the ones you like the most. In fact, due to the popularity, you will not find it difficult to get a good yoga class.
4. Swimming
Swimming is a great alternative to exercise because it is less easy on your body. If an older person with an addiction is looking to exercise, they will always prioritize something less stressful over their old body.
Swimming is a form of exercise that will help you check all the boxes. All you need is to leave your body in the water and do some freestyle swimming.
5. Hiking
Hiking can be a great way to boost your mental and physical health. Being in nature can keep you calm, give you time to put your thoughts into place, and not mention the vitamin D you’ll get from sunlight.
Now, by strolling, we don’t mean what you see the pros doing on TV sets. There are many trails for the general public who can easily hike around with any equipment.
6. Doing sports
There are many things that people hate doing on their own. One of them is exercise. If you find exercise less motivating, why not exercise. Participate in any sport you like and invest your time in it.
Exercising is like killing two birds with one stone – it will not only help you achieve benefits but also help you learn and build relationships.
7. Hit the gym
This is one of the most convenient ways to exercise. Just go to the gym and ask your coach about the exercises and start exercising.
You don’t have to be a bodybuilder or ambitious to go to the gym. In fact, you don’t have to be heavy with your exercises. Just choose enough weight that works for you.
Exercise is just a supportive mechanism!
Just because exercise helps you build a strong body to withstand withdrawal symptoms, that doesn’t mean it can replace your aftercare.
Once your addiction treatment program ends, you are free to enter society again. First, however, you must understand that addiction treatment is never over. It is a lifelong process.
This is where you will need your aftercare services. Aftercare services come with addiction treatments, counseling, and education. Pair it with daily exercise; You will be able to live your life of sobriety without causing any setbacks.
photo from photography Lee Sun From Pixels
Photo from Pixels
Discussion about this post