Fitness vs. Addiction - The Battle for True Health.Fitness vs. Addiction - The Battle for True Health.
The Elevate Experience
Four CrossFit-certified staff from a rehab centre talk about how functional fitness, community and tough workouts support addiction recovery and real health. Their stories highlight quitting smoking, shifting from vanity to longevity, and using exercise as a powerful emotional outlet in sobriety.
1:06:15•12 Jul 2022
Fitness vs Addiction: How CrossFit Fuels True Health in Recovery
Episode Overview
- Channelling the obsessive drive of addiction into structured fitness can give people in recovery a powerful, healthy outlet.
- Group CrossFit classes create connection, accountability and support, countering the isolation and secrecy of substance use.
- CrossFit’s intensity forces people to be present, offering a break from ruminating thoughts and cravings.
- Coaches who are also counsellors can read emotional states, scale workouts safely and sometimes “emotionally RX” clients to work through tough feelings.
- Shifting focus from appearance to strength, capability and longevity can radically improve confidence and self-esteem, especially for women in recovery.
“You just got that drive that you have to put in every day to keep the hustle going to stay on drugs… If you can just channel that into fitness, you're going to be golden.”
How do people cope with the challenges of staying sober? This conversation on The Elevate Experience puts a barbell right in the middle of recovery and asks what "true health" really looks like.
Host and CEO Angie Manson is joined by co-host and counsellor Dallas Terrell, COO Nate Tuttenham and Rehabilitation Director Tommy Lagan – all CrossFit Level One trainers – to talk about why a rehab centre built a full CrossFit gym and made fitness a core part of treatment. Angie shares how a simple partner workout flipped a switch for her: the way she didn’t want to let her fitter partner down felt exactly like the relationships that keep people clean.
As she puts it, "You just got that drive that you have to put in every day to keep the hustle going to stay on drugs… If you can just channel that into fitness, you're going to be golden." You’ll hear raw stories of ex–bodybuilding “bro sessions” fuelled by cigarettes and fast food, and how CrossFit became the reason Dallas finally quit smoking and started caring about real health instead of just looking big.
Tommy talks about moving from lonely mirror curls at Gold’s Gym to a community where no one trains alone and no one is judged for scaling. They break down how group workouts help with addiction’s isolation, why CrossFit forces you to be present, and how "emotional RX" workouts give clients a safe way to cry, sweat and leave heartbreak on the assault bike.
The team also explain how being both counsellors and coaches lets them push clients when it’s needed and ease off when it’s smart. If you’ve ever wondered whether fitness can be more than a gym membership in recovery, this chat might make you rethink what your own version of “true health” could be.
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