By Paige Washington <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When owner Mac Hines walks into Big Time Barbell, he\u2019s lifting more than weights. With every rep, the burdens of his own past fade away and he finds himself lifting the spirits of the drug addicts and alcoholics who use Big Time to do the same themselves.
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The nonprofit gym and workout center in Muncie, Indiana, uses physical fitness to create a mental and emotionally healthy environment for recovering addicts. The workouts are paired with addiction recovery coaching sessions. Even though the facility has been open for less than a year, Hines said he has seen a positive impact on the community.
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\u201cWe went from working out in the YMCA to now having this building and a full workout facility,\u201d Hines said.
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It hasn\u2019t always been this way.
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At age 19, Hines says he already was an alcoholic. One beer at a social setting turned into drinking over a couple of days, then a couple of days turned into the entire week. This was his life for 20 years.
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At 42, after a particularly long binge over the 4th of July holiday in 2014, his life took a turn. Hines aspirated and stayed into a coma for 10 days.
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While in the coma he had a dream of a man pulling him out of a hole, and the man said to him, \u201cThis time is on me but the next time it\u2019s on you.\u201d Hines says he believes the hole was actually his grave and that it was God speaking to him, giving him a second chance.
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Hines knew he had to do something different with his life. He started attending addiction recovery group meetings but wanted something more for himself and for his friends who also needed a new kind of recovery outlet.
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Hines and and a friend, Nick Albertson, partnered to open Big Time Barbell in June of 2018. The gym, funded by city and county grants and some private memberships, is open 24 hours a day. Neither Hines nor Albertson draw a salary. For Hines, the true mission of the gym is to help people like him get better.
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Poor eating habits, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and lack of self love are common among drug addicts and alcoholics. According to Biology of Addiction<\/a>, physical fitness is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and treat the symptoms of addiction. \u201cWe utilize mirrors to help build that confidence to make a muscle and you notice they stand a little taller,\u201d Hines said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in addiction, people do not look in the mirrors.\u201d Hines has experienced the benefits of a good workout first hand. Exercise is believed to create a measure of euphoria or \u201chigh\u201d similar to the feeling some people have after using drugs, according to Frontier in Psychiatry<\/a>. The same study says those who exercise are less likely to have substance abuse issues. Big Time Barbell, located at 2008 N. Walnut St., taps into the adrenaline rush that drives their clients toward a healthier lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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