The Benefits Of Exercise In Recovery
Exercising during recovery can aid the recovery process as a whole, physical fitness & sports exercise helps to boost mood and provide a distraction. The benefits of exercise on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health have been proven time and time again to be highly effective.
What is the connection between exercise, addiction and recovery? After all, what does going on a brisk walk, lifting weights, or playing a game of basketball have anything to do with staying clean and sober? More than you might think.
Increased feelings of stress, reduced energy, poor sleep, and depressed or anxious feelings may follow individuals into recovery even after the detoxification period has ended. This is where exercise becomes beneficial. Individuals in recovery who engage in regular physical exercise can benefit from a reduction in stress, better sleep, increased energy, improved mood, and more.
Benefits Of Exercise On The Body In Recovery
When someone is suffering from substance abuse disorder, their body changes drastically. Depending on the substance, they might see a dramatic shift in blood pressure, heart rhythm, weight, a drastic decrease in muscle tone, lung, liver, or kidney damage, hair loss, bone damage, changes in the skin, nails, and teeth, etc. Exercise can begin reversing some of the adverse health impacts of drug use and with some immediate positive results.
Benefits of Exercise for the Person in Recovery:
- Pain and stress reduction
- Increased oxygenated blood flow
- Increase in gray and white matter volume
- Stabilization of neural network
- Decrease in blood pressure
- Increase in strength
- Stabilization of sleep cycles
- Reduction in drug cravings