By Angela Dews

“When I ran my first marathon after getting sober, I wasn’t able to get an official number so I ran around the reservoir, 17 times instead [the reservoir is 1.58 miles], and afterwards I bummed a cigarette from someone in Central Park,” said Beth, a New Yorker. It took her another four years to quit smoking. “It was like getting sober all over again,” she said.

In an Internet article about the role of physical fitness in recovery from addiction, Canadian chiropractor Larry Smith asked: “Does a recovering individual lead a quality life if he is physically sick? Can he honestly boast about having ten years of sobriety even when he smokes cigarettes, is 40 pounds overweight and is suffering from diabetes and heart disease?”

These attitudes and different perspectives — Beth taking the time she needed after getting sober before attempting to kick cigarettes; Smith taking the hard line that abstinence from alcohol and drugs does not equal sobriety — illustrate the tension in the topic.

“I don’t tell newcomers to get fit,” said Johnny, who organizes what he calls coed sober softball in Central Park, where skills are not required. “Eat what you want; eat ice cream. If you’re smoking, smoke. Drink coffee. We can always help to get you a gym membership in your second year.” In Boston, Pete, a psychologist who has been a competitive martial artist, cited a hierarchy of needs. “You have to stay alive first. I don’t eat a pint of ice cream every day any more or smoke three packs of cigarettes. But I did.”

They cite their shared experience with the 12-step slogan to bring the body to couches or folding chairs so the mind can follow. Others would move the body sooner, rather than later, and watch what it eats.

THE ENDORPHIN HIGH

In a Canadian study, alcoholics were given a daily regimen of vigorous exercise while still in residential treatment. At the end of a three-month follow-up, Dr. David Sinyor found that 69 percent of them remained clean and sober. By contrast, 62 percent of those who completed the treatment program without the exercise component were drinking again by the end of the follow-up period.

“We know that aerobic exercise raises endorphin levels. It hurts to work out, so the body makes endorphins to heal the pain,” said Andrew Osborne, Director of Training at NDRI, the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. “Exercise is endogenous morphine.”

Access to exercise reduced the appeal of cocaine to lab rats in a study by Mark A. Smith, a professor of neuroscience at Davidson University. “Vigorous exercise increases dopamine concentrations in the brain in the same sections that are affected by cocaine,” he said in a Newsweek article. “Exercise mimics a lot of the effects of the drugs.”

Beverly, from Denver, said, “Exercise did help me stay sober because it helped with the stress. Even if nothing else was happening, I had done that, and that was an accomplishment. If I was sponsoring someone, that would be one of the things I would suggest that they do.” Even when people don’t consider addiction a disease, the body doesn’t get a pass.

Lois Trimpey is one of the co-founders of Rational Recovery, an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous that rejects many of AA’s tenets, including the disease concept, a personal Higher Power, and the one-day-at-a-time philosophy. Ms. Trimpey says, “When you stop drinking or using drugs maybe you’d better take a look at your body — at those flaccid muscles and that haggard look that people get.” She suggests that instead of going to a meeting to talk about recovery, “get up off your butt and run around the block.”

It doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition.

At Phoenix Multisport in Boulder Colorado, 30 to 35 free activities are offered every week, from yoga to mountain climbing, and including socials. But Scott Strode, who founded the nonprofit center, didn’t want to talk about the activities until, like team members, we are clear about their conduct policy: “PM is not a substitute for other recovery programs, rehabilitation or other forms of treatment, 12-step or otherwise,” he said. “When I got sober, I needed stuff, another outlet, and a place to redefine myself. For me that was sport. It’s a good tool as long as it’s done in a balanced way.”

NUTRITION AND VITAMINS

The Malibu Beach Recovery Center wastes no time in getting all their patients — whether alcoholic, drug addict, or suffering from depression or anxiety — on a well developed regimen that includes exercise, therapy, support, including the 12 steps, and a recovery diet.

“As soon as they arrive, in order to quickly increase dopamine levels without insulin spikes, we start them on a low glycemic diet — no caffeine and no sugar,” said CEO Joan Borsten. She said clients don’t miss sugar in desserts created by a team of French chefs who use matured fruit, agave, 72 percent chocolate, and only occasionally an actual sugar substitute. “The diet and the yogic breath give them a natural high, and the fog lifts.”

A plethora of books with “cure” and “free” in their titles offer nutritional support, vitamins and amino acids and claim to treat hypoglycemia and eliminate cravings and withdrawal symptoms like depression and violent mood swings.

Before his death, Bill Wilson was investigating the biochemical basis of alcoholism. He enthusiastically endorsed vitamin B-3 niacin therapy to some controversy as recorded in “Pass It On: The Story of Bill Wilson and How the AA Message Reached the World.”

For me, it started with breathing. I feel as if I held my breath for months when I first got sober. That’s why laughter was so good. While I was using, I’d get out and run while suffering hideous hangovers to convince myself and my family that I was okay. In sobriety, I finished the New York City marathon and a New York City triathlon.

I also I rode my bicycle through the city like a madwoman for years, ignoring even the most basic safety rules; I was lucky to have survived. In sobriety I learned how to respect my limitations and the dangers of the road.

FINDING THE BALANCE

When asked whether exercise and fitness was about body image, Beth said, “That’s a stupid question. I could give a fake answer: It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy. Blah. Blah. But it always is and always will be about body image.”

Warren, 62, said, “To be fit is to be attractive to women and to be empowered.” That’s the good and the bad news. Negative self image can also lead to an addiction to exercise. In fact, bulimia and anorexia nervosa have been described as severe health and fitness addictions. Amy Gleason, senior nutritionist for the Adolescent Eating Disorder Program at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, estimates that for the one to three percent of the college student population diagnosed with an eating disorder, perhaps as many as 90 to 95 percent of these people are using a fitness center.

The McLean warning signs and checklists from bloggers include: always exercising alone; exercising in spite of injury; getting irritable or depressed if you can’t exercise; turning down social events in order to get in a workout; working out more than 8 hours a week; determining how much you exercise by how much you eat: always wanting to train harder (possibly because it takes longer to achieve the “high” from exercise, the more you do it).

The dangers of recovering people taking exercise to extremes were acknowledged by Strode at Multisport. “When I got sober, I was boxing in the gym seven days a week. I was afraid to leave there because of the temptation to use again,” he said. “I went overboard. Since then I’ve been aware of balance.” His instructors are on the lookout for exercise disorders and can intervene with information or a referral, particularly for newcomers. “Someone who has not been active might start out with a coffee social or a neighborhood walk,” Strode said. “From there they might move on to yoga or mountain climbing.”

Walking is a good start. Buy a pair of walking/running shoes. Start slowly and stretch after. Get a doctor’s okay, especially if you have a history of significant health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease. A teacher can instruct you in proper breathing for yoga poses or Pilates, swimming or resistance training, which will make all the difference in the effect and in your enjoyment. In fact, enjoy whatever you’re doing. It will increase the likelihood that you’ll stick with it. Remember, dancing is exercise.

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If you are ready to get active but there is no Phoenix Multisport in your town, here are a few suggestions from the Colorado-based group of sober active people.

• Head over to your local sports gear shop and sign up for one of the free or cheap classes that they are sure to be running. Most of these are introductory in nature and are a great place to meet other like minded people.
• Consider hiring a guide for the activity you have interest in. Better yet, pool your $ with a few sober friends and hire a guide to take you all out for an adventure or to teach you the ropes.
• Post something where other sober people will see it! Dream up an activity, a hike, jog, climb, fishing, whatever and post details about it in a place where it will be seen. Make sure to hold your event somewhere public until you get to know everyone.
• Buy a pair of running shoes or hiking boots and just get out there!
• You can also drop us a line (info@phoenixmultisport.org) with specific questions or go to phoenixmultisport.org to find information about one of our national trips.

Whatever you do take your time getting into it. Although moderation is not a common word in most of our vocabularies make sure to take it easy until you build a foundation.

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Angela Dews is a New York City swimmer and cyclist who would prefer to be running. She writes about and works for various good and political causes.