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Using fitness as a tool to help in recovery from an addiction

Running & Fitness
Saturday, May 7, 2022

The benefits of exercise and fitness training have been written and lectured about for a long time. Exercising and training for fitness include benefits of heart health, losing weight, stronger muscles, mental health, and a general feeling of well-being just to name a few. I read an article in Nutrition Health Review (March-April 2022 issue) that emphasized one more benefit. The benefit was help in recovering from alcohol or drug addiction. 

Three men in Florida in 2007 founded an organization named Temperance Training. The men were in recovery and found that fitness helped strengthen their sobriety, put them in touch with other health-minded humans and made them stronger mentally and physically. The organization focuses on the CrossFit system of training that they felt did the most good. While the group uses the CrossFit approach, almost any solid fitness program will work. Some take up running and others lift weights to have an outlet other than the use of alcohol or drugs. 

The free classes offered every day to any individual are called “Weekday Warriors.” The workouts are an hour long and are adjusted to each individual’s fitness level. The one requirement to participate is that each person have at least 24 hours of sobriety before joining the workout. The weekend fitness class is called “Sober Sunday.” The classes strive to foster personal growth through physical endurance, peer-to-peer accountability and opportunities for service and fellowship. The classes are coached by a certified trainer and include a warm-up followed by a strength component and metabolic training. 

It sounds similar to the AA program that recovering alcoholics use in that the camaraderie and connections formed give participants support from others that understand what hardships and problems with addiction present. This group support reminded me of running with a partner on days when staying home and sleeping late was a preferred option. The idea that I had a person waiting for me to show up for a run had me at the starting gate ready to run. There were a few days where neither one of us wanted to run but the fact that another person was depending on you determined that you would show up. 

In November, the organization has a fundraiser titled, “Outwork Addiction” and is a competition in fitness for members. The participants are encouraged to obtain a fundraising goal that they set for themselves. The top fundraisers receive prizes that are coveted by any fitness enthusiast. The funds that are raised go toward paying staff members who coordinate scheduling, run payroll records, organize events and advertise and post on social media to encourage others with addiction to join. Part of the funds goes back to the gym where the group works out to upgrade equipment and pay for time and space in the gym.

Having been a runner and fitness enthusiast for many years I compared the “addiction” I had to go for a run or lift weights to this group that is trading an unhealthy addiction to a much better healthy addiction. I had periods of time where working out or going for a run was the top priority and anything else on my schedule came in second. The one time I realized I had a fitness addiction was on a run with a thunderstorm threatening. When a bolt of lightning hit close enough to see it strike the ground I thought missing a workout might be the better option than being electrocuted. It cured the addiction that day and put my workout schedule on a more desirable level in daily living. 

The mention of fitness training benefiting mental health has been experienced numerous times over the years. When a problem, or stressful situation, had me looking for an answer I found that a long run, a session of lifting weights, or a good bike ride was one of the best ways of finding a solution to the problem. A game of racquetball is good. Hitting a rubber ball hard against the wall relieves a lot of stress.

The Temperance Training program has information about the organization on Facebook and Instagram (@temperancetraining) and on their website, temperancetraining.org. For an individual facing the problems of alcohol or drug abuse, this would be a good start to rehabilitation when they are ready to change. It doesn’t have to be with an organization to start but having some form of support helps.

San Marcos Record

(512) 392-2458
P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666