Let me start off with the bold assertion that if you are in recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction, then….
You should be doing cardio.
I know, I know, that kind of sucks.
But honestly, it’s super important, and super helpful for your recovery.
Imagine this: there is at least one program of recovery out there that is based heavily on exercise and fitness–one that relies more on pushing yourself towards fitness goals rather than daily meetings or higher powers.
So I think we could take a bit of wisdom from that, and realize that there is huge value to be had here–exercise is powerful!
Let’s dive in.
Endorphins and dopamine for the win
Now let me clarify–when I’m talking about exercise, what I really mean is stuff that gets your heart rate going a bit: walking, jogging, biking, swimming, rowing, elliptical–those kinds of things. You know, cardio.
There are certainly benefits to other things such as weight lifting, and that may be something that you pursue, but what I want to focus on here–and what I want to sell you on today–is simply getting your heart rate going.
When you get your heart pumping with cardio, your brain increases both dopamine and endorphins. To simplify, these make you feel better in the short term, but they also have a build up effect to feel better in the long run. This long term dopamine boost is too good to ignore. Many addicts and alcoholics suffer from depression as well, which regular cardio helps out with a TON. The upside of this is just enormous.
Now in the short term, the rush of dopamine and endorphins that you get from cardio is known as “runner’s high.”
You can access this high, in recovery, with no penalty at all! But it does have a cost–you have to work for it, and you have to grind out the intense workout in order to get the dopamine flowing.
This “runner’s high” can change your mood. This is profound. Think about your addiction for a moment–when I was upset, or angry, or frustrated, those were unwanted emotions that I wanted to avoid. That was essentially a “bad mood.” I did not want to feel what I was feeling. And in those moments, I reached for my drug of choice. Alcohol and marijuana made those unwanted emotions disappear.
I was self medicating my emotions during my addiction. Girlfriend dumped me? Drink alcohol. Disappointed the family again? Smoke weed. Unwanted emotions? Medicate them away with drugs or alcohol.
Now with a runner’s high, it’s not quite as intense as drinking a half gallon of vodka, but it is doing the same thing: It’s altering your mood based on the chemicals in your brain. Any negative emotions that you have going on are still going to be there after you exercise, but at least the “runner’s high” will bring some “feel good” dopamine and endorphins to the party.
Therefore, exercise can help balance your mood. It can help to “turn down the volume” on any negativity in your life. And it can do this immediately, as soon as you work out.
The benefits
Well, we could go on and on about how you will sleep better, and how it will improve your heart health in the long run, and stuff like that. But we are really more focused on what it will do for your recovery, which is:
1) Instantly improves and reduces a bad mood.
2) Long term build up effect of dopamine + endorphins will have you feeling better for the rest of your life.
3) Any rhythmic cardio also doubles as meditation, in my opinion. This depends on a lot of other factors as well. Doing a brisk walk outdoors in solitude is a different experience than being on a machine in a gym with headphones on. Your mileage may vary when it comes to exercise “doubling as meditation.” For me, jogging outdoors definitely seems to overlap with the benefits that I get from seated meditation.
4) Becoming more resilient in general. Building grit. Becoming a stronger person from grinding out workouts. Building discipline from sticking to a routine over time. All of those ideas fall into the same bucket in my opinion, and it’s all a big deal. If you become the person who works out on a set schedule, a routine, and you stick to it, and you’re in shape–that is very different from “the old you from your days of addiction.” Or at least that was true for me–I became a completely new person in this regard, and building up the discipline to work out every day was new to me. In my addiction, I was just floating through life and grabbing whatever was easy–but grinding out workouts every day in recovery is tough.
A second order effect from this discipline that I acquired from exercise was this–the discipline allowed me to flex in other areas of my life. So now I could go back to college and finish up a degree. Now I could start that business I was tinkering around with in my head. Now I could expand my cardio routine into a training schedule and eventually run a marathon.
The idea of this “second order effect” should not be dismissed–the idea that if you become disciplined through regular exercise, that you can then use that discipline to accomplish other goals. It may sound far fetched, but it absolutely worked for me. It was a light bulb moment when I realized “oh, so if I keep grinding this fitness thing out every day, at some point I can jog 3 miles and it feels wonderful – instead of like I’m dying.” And then the next light bulb moment was “oh wait, I grinded and stuck with the workouts long enough for them to pay off, maybe I can do that with other things too, like a college degree.”
Doing the exercise – some suggestions
1) Ramping it up – Let’s say that you go on your 20 minute walk and you get done and you’re not even winded a little, and you feel like you didn’t even exercise at all. What do you really get out of this? Not too much, in terms of immediate benefit. In this case I would say you need to step up the intensity. What we want is the endorphin boost. We want that rush of chemicals that comes when you get your heart pumping, you are sweating, and you are pushing yourself a bit. (Again, consult your physician first!).
So if you are walking, you could increase your pace. Or you could find an incline. Or you could mix it up with other forms of cardio. But the key is not to waste your time with anything that is not getting your heart pumping and your blood flowing–you probably walk around throughout the day anyway, so why take a regular walk that just includes more of the same, without any endorphin boost? If you’re not feeling the rush, you need to increase intensity.
2) Exercising outdoors as your baseline – if you are starting from scratch, you might consider simply walking or biking outdoors. This can give an added benefit of meditative and/or emotional boost versus other forms of cardio. Some people might even be able to increase this into jogging eventually. Or, you may get some walking sticks and increase the intensity into hiking trails. Or simply increase your pace of walking. Biking is great too if you are able to get your heart pumping.
The point is, doing your cardio outdoors has an additional benefit on mental health, so you should tap into that if the option is available to you.
3) Make it into a habit – consistency is really important when it comes to the type of benefits that we are seeking. We want to strive for every single day, even though 3 times a week is often suggested. Daily exercise is so much more beneficial for us. Not only do we get the immediate boost of endorphins daily, but it is also more straightforward in terms of maintaining the habit. It is so much easier to “start slipping” and missing your scheduled exercise days when they are spread out across the week.
4) Be willing to entertain backup exercises – I learned a tough lesson one time: I was jogging regularly, feeling great, and loving the effect it had on my recovery. Suddenly my foot became injured and I couldn’t jog for 6 weeks. This was really upsetting to me and I instantly felt the difference mentally and emotionally. It was quite frustrating.
As such, I think it is worth it to explore a few backup exercises that you can use as alternates in the case of injury. Is it that serious? To me it was. After I was in the habit of regular exercise, going without it just had such a negative effect on me that I was willing to join a gym in order to find an alternative. I’m a jogger, but over the course of 24 years, I’ve had to briefly switch to a rowing machine at one point, and swimming at another time. In each case I had to join a gym to do so. It was an inconvenience and it cost money to do so, but it was a cost that I was willing to pay. Often times, swimming will be the solution if someone is injured if nothing else can work for them, but your situation may vary. Again, consult your doctor first.
Your takeaway
I know it seems like a mountain to climb–regular cardio, possibly every single day.
They don’t talk about this at AA meetings. There is a reason for that. It’s not a suggestion that you ever really hear. It’s a tough sell. Nobody wants to do the really hard work. It’s like telling people to quit smoking and lose weight all at the same time.
But tough suggestions like this–that’s where the juicy stuff is. You want huge rewards, you have to do hard work.
Get out there every day and grind out a workout, and your life will change for the better.
Of course, I realize that you are doing other things as well to embrace recovery and overcome addiction.
But this workout stuff can–and should–be a big part of that effort. Your life will improve drastically. You can look back in a few months and see that you have already built discipline, and you will see how that discipline has made you more effective in other areas of your life.
And, you will just plain feel better.
The only downside is that it’s tough to get going in the beginning. But once your routine is established, and you’re hooked on the dopamine and endorphins, you won’t go without it. You’ll be one of those exercise nuts who actually looks forward to your workout.
And this will help your recovery immensely.
Remember the two cornerstones of recovery: personal growth and holistic health. This is a vital part of holistic health. It cannot be replaced or substituted. It’s really not optional. Move your body, or lose it.
Forgive me for stealing the infamous words of Nike: Just do it.
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