RECOVERFIT

Lectures / GYM-R / Gym Visits

Mind.Body.1 x Recover Fit
The Addicted Brain.
Drug addiction has come a long way from the days of recovering addicts being stigmatized as junkies who have no control. Today we address addiction as a disease affects how the brain is wired. We now know outside of the personality aspects of addiction, that brain chemistry is significantly changed. The reward center of the brain is getting too much stimuli and other aspects of executive functioning such as decision making and impulse control are adversely affected.
Exercise as an Anti-Drug.
Exercise has been shown to be a great stress reliever and has many implications for helping the brain. For someone dealing with addiction, exercise can replace the once harmful behavior of substance abuse with the many physical benefits of working out. However, the effects that exercise has on the brain can help rewire the brain to repair damage done during abuse. Exercise helps with serotonin which helps regulate mood (drugs are often used to cope with stress and depression) and with regulation of dopamine (the reward hormone which gives you the pleasant feeling of satisfaction. Rebuilding the brain physiologically is just as important as changing behaviors and rebuilding psychologically.
How do we do it?
As mentioned before addiction is both physiological and psychological. Our Recover Fit program targets both of these aspects thoroughly. We do physical assessments to see the client’s current health and fitness levels as well as a few cognitive tests to see how their basic cognitive functioning is. These pre-test provide us the needed information to set out a plan to improve the client’s mental and physical performance and track progress.
The Group: We do this by providing a 1 hour therapeutic group session that educates the clients on the physical benefits of exercise on health to ensure the client can carry out their own fitness endeavors. The other part of the group session implements the mental aspect or “Mental Muscle” to help learn skills and topics that can help them cope and deal with their recovery. The group is educational but very hands on. The flow of the group usually goes as follows:
· Introduction/Anecdote of the mental skill
· Brief explanation of how the mental skill works from a scientific and practical view
· Activity to directly apply clients real life situation to the mental skill
· Transition to the physical component with scientific and practical application
· Demonstrations that involve the clients being hands on in the group
· A challenge that makes the clients active, motivated and competitive
· Wrap up with final words and questions
GYM-R: We apply our unique neurofitness training program to the Recover Fit program. These training methods help the client build up the body after the substance abuse, as many health complications result from drug use. For the brain, we can improve the executive functioning through exercise, which helps with concentration, impulse control and decision-making. By getting in better physical condition the client will have more confidence and pride in taking care of their
Added Features: We also can assist with creative active challenges and extra curricular activities for the community. We can also provide programming for clients to do workouts on their own if the facility has their own gym or utilizes another gym. For added accountability, our Fit-Aid feature has a certified trainer accompany the clients to the gym so it ensures they get the safest and most efficient workout.