10 Top Exercises To Help You Recover Post An Addiction: By Fitness Experts

Introduction

Well done!

It’s simply great that you have completed your recovery treatment successfully, but as they say, recovery never ends.

You are always exposed to a risk of relapse also after you have completed your recovery treatment journey. However, you do not need to worry when you are determined not to go back to the old addictive phase of yours.

All you need to do is keep track of all the triggers and avoid them. In order to do that, the recovery center also helps you with some effective tricks and techniques.

How Exercise Can Help You In Your Recovery

One of the most effective techniques is to exercise. Whenever it comes to improving your mental and physical health, exercise comes with a bag full of benefits. The same goes for your substance abuse as well.

Now, the question is, how can exercise help you in recovery from an addiction?

You might not know that when you are recovering from addiction, it is really crucial to work on restoring the balance of happiness-inducing chemicals in the brain. This includes the level of dopamine, which is the “happy hormone.”

Effective exercises actually help in creating and maintaining the balance of dopamine in the brain. Apart from that, exercises boost your mood and channelize your energy properly, and the person automatically starts to feel good.

10 Top Exercises To Help You Recover Post An Addiction

If you do not know from where you need to start exercising and what types of exercises you should do. Here are some suggestions for you. For helping you in your recovery phase, we have prepared a list of top 10 exercises which can actually help you in your recovery.

So, let’s start with them.

Exercise 1: Walking Or Running

The easiest and simplest exercise is walking and running. It is not only effective for your physical health but also for your mental wellness. Walking and running give you an excuse to step out of your home and spend some time in nature.

It will relieve stress and will help you during your recovery. These types of aerobic exercises increase the dopamine level in the brain.

Exercise 2: Swimming

Swimming has a lot of benefits for your health. This amazing form of exercise is something that uses all the parts of your body.

That is why it is considered one of the most intense activities. There is scientific research to back the idea that swimming can help one with cravings.

Exercise 3: Team Sports

Shooting some hoops or throwing the pigskin with some like-minded friends can offer more than just a good workout. Playing casual team games has the capability of enhancing your long-term recovery process.

Developing new relationships, which do not revolve around any type of substance, actually helps the addiction patients to recover faster.

Exercise 4: Yoga

Yoga or limbering up can actually have a number of physical and mental health benefits. The struggling individual can also opt for a more intense form of yoga, power yoga. It mainly focuses on strengthening the body and also releases dopamine in the brain.

When the dopamine amount is at the proper level in your brain, you will be able to keep yourself away from substance abuse.

Exercise 5: Strengthen Training

Whenever we think of exercise during the recovery process, most of our consideration and attention get stolen by cardio exercises. However, lifting some pounds also offers great benefits during recovery.

Several recovery patients suffer from insomnia, as they are unable to sleep without using the substance they are addicted to. Bodyweight exercises for strengthening training, such as push-ups, helps in rebooting the sleep cycle of the body over time.

Exercise 6: Breathing Exercises

You might have heard that practicing some relaxation techniques can help in combating the craving period. That is why more recovery treatment includes learning relaxation techniques along with some breathing exercises.

Research has shown that people who practice breathing exercises are calmer than the usual people and also can handle addiction issues better.

Exercise 7: Meditation

Just the way breathing exercises and yoga helps in combating addiction; meditation is also very effective here. In most cases, an individual develops addiction due to too much stress and mental health issues.

When it comes to handling mental and stress-related issues, we all know how well meditation works. So, you should start meditating during your recovery days.

Exercise 8: Hiking

Spending some time enjoying the outdoors always boosts the dopamine levels in the brain, which is really essential during one’s recovery treatment. That is why hiking is too effective to ignore for accelerating the recovery speed.

Just the way you are including walking and running into your routine and dedicating a certain amount of time, you also need to take out some time and go hiking. Do not worry. You do not need to go hiking on a daily basis.

Exercise 9: Cycling

Just the way any other form of cardio exercises helps in increasing the dopamine production in the brain and maintaining the level of this happy-chemical cycling also does. Being a type of cardio exercise, you should include cycling in your daily exercise routine.

When you cycle as your outdoor activities, you are getting the opportunity to release all the stress while being in nature.

Exercise 10: Tai Chi

Tai chi is highly beneficial for those individuals who are recovering from addiction-related issues. It emphasizes having mental stability and improving mental health. That is why several recovery treatments have tai chi as a part of their recovery program.

Just the way yoga and meditation help you in combating your cravings and accelerate the recovery process, it also does the same.

Get Well Soon

We understand how much you are suffering due to substance addiction issues. When you are recovering from that, opt for these exercises. You do not need to include all of them. Just ensure you are opting for every type of exercise at least.

Happy recovery!

Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:September 14, 2023

Recent Posts

Related Posts