How Exercise can help you Beat Addiction


When exercise is incorporated into addiction recovery, it makes the process easier. How does it do this? Exercising helps you to overcome emotional and physical withdrawal symptoms, thus enabling your body to kick the habit that much faster. Exercise does not have to be difficult; any physical activity that makes you feel rejuvenated is fine. Are you wondering how exercise can help you beat addiction?


Gives you a positive attitude

During exercise, the body releases feel-good hormones known as endorphins that help you to keep a positive attitude. People who maintain a positive attitude throughout the recovery process overcome addiction a lot faster. During your addiction phase, you may have been using your drug of choice as a means of escape, to get away from a stress-filled life. As you recover, you will learn to overcome feelings of depression and stress through exercise.


Requires commitment

Commitment to exercise is important as it fills your time with a new activity. This leaves little to no time for you to obsess over your addiction. Physical training gives your life purpose because it gives you a new goal on which to focus. When you start planning and organizing your time around exercising, your attention will shift to healthier things. Additionally, when your time is spent working out, the chances of having a relapse decrease. 


New friends

Most addicts tend to hang out with their old, addicted friends. However, when you start exercising, you will meet like-minded people. Working out with others will help in keeping you motivated. Once you start challenging each other, the sky will be the limit. As an addict, you need to be held accountable for the goals that you set, and your new friends will do that for you. 


Heals your body and brain

Studies show that exercises can heal your body and mind. During addiction recovery, exercising is important as it helps the body to conquer the destruction that it has recently encountered. When done correctly, exercise can help with diabetes, the immune system, depression, and the vascular system. Moreover, exercises burn unwanted fat that the body stores during an addiction phase. 


Creates structure

Having an exercise schedule brings structure into your life. The structure is very important to people who are dealing with addiction problems. When a recovering addict is idle or bored, his or her life often descends into chaos. Creating a structure will help you to stay away from addiction because you have something to look forward to doing.