Table 1.

Summary of included studies and results.

References	Title	Population	n	%Male	Age [mean (SD)]	Exercise intervention	Outcome(s)	Results	Conclusions
Jensen et al. (2019)	Physical exercise in the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients affects their drinking habits: A randomized controlled trial	AUD or alcohol abuse or dependence (DSM criteria)	105	71.4	Women (n = 30): 51.1 ± 11 Men (n = 75): 43 ± 12	Group or individual walking/running for two 60-min sessions per week over 24 weeks.	Number of standard drinks (30 days)	Significant reduction in standard drinks (30 days) in all groups: 221 ± 219 at baseline to 43 ± 87 6-months post-intervention (p < 0.0001). No difference between groups.	Including physical exercise in the treatment of alcohol disorder patients will affect drinking habits. Form of exercise (individual vs. group) does not make a difference.
Weinstock et al. (2020)	Randomized Clinical Trial of Exercise for Non-treatment seeking adults with alcohol use disorder	AUD	66	39.4	MO (n = 33): 35.9 ± 12.0 MI+CM (n = 33): 33.8 ± 8.0	Weekly contingency management (CM) exercise contracting sessions and motivational interviewing for 16 weeks; 4-month YMCA membership.	Number of standard drinks (7 days) Number of binge drinking episodes (7 days)	Significant reduction in weekly total standard drinks and binge episodes from baseline to mid-treatment and post-treatment in both groups. No difference between groups.	All participants, regardless of group assignment, reduced their drinking by about 50% at mid-treatment and maintained reductions at post-treatment including reduction of binge drinking episodes from an average of 2–3 to 1 per week. Increases in exercise were not associated with reductions in drinking.
Roessler et al. (2017)	Exercise as adjunctive treatment for alcohol use disorder: A randomized controlled trial	Harmful use of or dependence on alcohol (ICD-10)	175	68.6	45 ± 11.3; range 21-70	Group or individual walking/running for two 60-min sessions per week over 24 weeks.	Number of standard drinks (30 days)	Moderate physical activity level had a protective effect on drinking behavior compared to low PA levels. No significant differences between treatment groups. Amount of alcohol consumed in intervention groups decreased by 4% for each increased exercising day.	This study supports existing evidence that physical activity may be effective as adjunctive treatment for AUD. Moderate level PA was protective against excessive drinking at follow-up.
Brown et al. (2014)	A preliminary, randomized trial of aerobic exercise for alcohol dependence	Alcohol dependence (DSM-IV)	49	55	44.37 ± 10.75	12 weekly supervised moderate intensity group aerobic exercise sessions.	Number of standard drinks/day (90 days) Percent heavy drinking days (90 days)	Significant decrease in drinking days and heavy drinking days in exercise group vs control group during treatment; not maintained at 12-week follow-up.	Group aerobic exercise intervention reduced alcohol use compared to brief advice to exercise. Amount of moderate-intensity exercise did not fully account for decreases.
Hallgren et al. (2014b)	Yoga as an adjunct treatment for alcohol dependence: a pilot study	Alcohol dependence (DSM-IV)	18	Not reported	Not reported	Weekly yoga session (1.5 h) for 10 weeks.	Number of standard drinks (7 days)	Significant decrease in weekly alcohol consumption in both groups but not statistically different between groups.	Yoga intervention resulted in a larger (but not significantly so) reduction in weekly drinks compared to treatment as usual. Improvements were demonstrated in both groups.
Weinstock et al. (2014)	Exercise as an intervention for sedentary hazardous drinking college students: A pilot study	Hazardous drinking (AUDIT >8); college students	31	35.5	MET (n = 15): 20.1 ± 1.2 MET+CM (n = 16): 21.0 ± 2.3	One 50-min Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) session focused on exercise + 8 weeks of contingency management (CM) for adhering to specific exercise activities.	Number of standard drinks (7 days) Number of heavy drinking days (60 days)	No changes in total drinks per week or heavy drinking days in either group. No significant difference between groups. MET alone resulted in greater reduction in heavy drinking episodes.	No significant changes or differences in drinking behavior over time or by treatment condition over time.
Murphy et al. (1986)	Lifestyle modification with heavy alcohol drinkers: effects of aerobic exercise and meditation	Male college students identified as high volume drinkers (>1.5 drinks/days or 45 drinks/month)	48	100	Runners (n = 13): 24.9 Meditators (n = 14): 25.0 Controls (n = 16): 24.5	Running group - 70 min supervised group running sessions 3 times/week for 8 weeks Meditation group—supervised group meditation session 3 times/week + 20 min of meditation twice a day, every day on own for 8 weeks	Mean weekly ethanol consumption	At weeks 3–10, mean ethanol consumption was lower in the running group vs. control group. Subjects in running group reduced consumption by 60% from baseline. No significant differences between meditation group and control group.	A regular program of aerobic running leads to a significant reduction in alcohol consumption for subjects who are heavy social drinkers (~14 fewer drinks per week). A group-based program seems to facilitate compliance.