Exercise and physical activity are constantly gainingattention as adjuvant treatment for substance use disorders,supplementing classical pharmacological and psychotherapeuticapproaches. The present work reviews studies addressing the therapeuticeffects of exercise in alcohol abuse/dependence, nicotineabuse/dependence, and illicit drug abuse/dependence. In the field ofsmoking cessation, evidence is strong for exercise as an effectiveadjuvant treatment, whereas no generalizable and methodologically strongstudies have been published for alcohol and drug treatment so far,allowing only preliminary conclusions about the effectiveness ofexercise in these disorders. A couple of potential mechanisms arediscussed, by which exercise may act as an effective treatment, as wellas future directions for studies investigating exercise as a treatmentstrategy for substance use disorders. (Authors)