Exercise &  Fitness

The Benefits of Exercise in Addiction Recovery

Back2Basics Outdoor Adventures incorporates exercise as an integral part to drug addiction and alcohol abuse recovery.

Current relapse prevention models suggest that addicts in the early stages of recovery (first year of sobriety) can benefit immensely from minutes of exercise daily, getting their heart rate up to 70% of its maximum heart rate.

Exercise helps generate the dopamine levels in the brain, which may have been depleted through heavy drug and alcohol use and abuse.

Exercise:

• Increases the metabolic rate so that calories are burned more efficiently even when at rest.
• Burns fat stores and builds up muscle tissue. Muscle cells are metabolically active and burn calories, whereas fat cells are inert.
• Increases free fatty acids, which better enable the body to process and utilize dietary fats.
• Decreases total serum cholesterol and increased levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), the “good fats” associated with lower risk of heart disease.
• Lowers blood pressure
• Increases the levels of mood-elevating neurochemicals–such as the endorphins, so that we feel better mentally as well as physically.

Aerobic exercises are those that cause the body to use large amounts of oxygen (and burn calories) and prompt the heart and pulse rate to rise through steady, constant movement. Aerobic exercises tend to involve the large muscle groups, such as those of the legs and arms. Examples include: walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, rowing, step training, cross country skiing, stair climbing, and other active sports such as tennis or volleyball.

Anaerobic exercise develops muscular strength and flexibility and without necessarily increasing the pulse or heart rate. Anaerobic exercises include weight training and calisthenics.