Following Your Strength With Sober Paul

Following Your Strength With Sober Paul

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation between Coach Blu Robinson and guest Paul Lapine, known as "Sober Paul", follows a powerful path from family addiction and grief to using fitness as a foundation for long-term recovery. Paul shares how losing his father to an overdose and watching his mum struggle with alcohol pushed him towards boxing at 16, giving him an outlet and identity away from chaos at home.

He talks honestly about years of heavy cannabis use, bartending, binge drinking and a DUI, as well as that familiar pattern of "I’ll quit for a year" that never quite stuck. Everything shifts when he describes the fight with his girlfriend (now fiancée) that finally made him ask, "Why is this still happening when my life is going well?" From there, he leans into quit lit, podcasts, meetings and a complete break from alcohol in February 2020.

You’ll hear how fitness threads through his whole story: boxing, running a self-directed ultramarathon during lockdown, powerlifting, kettlebell certification, and now opening Lapine Fitness Studio and a sober-focused "Recovery Fit" project in Brooklyn. Coach Blu connects this with his own belief that "movement equals healing", and they dig into how structured exercise can reset your stress response and quiet the mental noise. Paul doesn’t pretend it’s all easy.

He talks about losing some party friends, becoming a “hermit” early in sobriety, and then rebuilding community through recovery groups, The Phoenix, and retreats.

He breaks down his simple but disciplined daily routine of morning light, cold showers, meditation, planned meals, phone limits and gratitude journalling, stressing the power of starting small and tracking habits: "What’s measured gets improved." If you’re wondering whether fitness could be your anchor in recovery, this conversation might spark a few ideas about where to start and who you want in your corner.