I was a dreamy, unathletic child.
My “Ideal Day” age ten was polishing off two hot dogs fried in butter, while speed-reading “Anne of Avonlea”, then having a big nap.
And while it’s true that I taught yoga in a former life, what I liked about yoga was that it WASN’T exercise! It made me very flexible, but it didn’t build much strength or endurance.
As I headed into my 40s, I was blindsided by perimenopause and neurodivergent burnout. I was utterly exhausted a lot of the time, and I felt physically very weak.
But these days, I LOVE EXERCISING! My current routine involves walking 9000-12,000 steps a day, running two miles 1-3 times a week, attending weightlifting Boot Camp once a week, and daily stretching.
Yes, I’d even say that here in my mid forties, I am an athletic person!
How did I get there? Keep reading—these are five things that have helped me, a tired, sluggish ADHD unicorn, transform into someone who LOVES exercise and does it regularly.
1. LAYERING HABITS
As I wrote above, my current routine involves daily walking and stretching, weekly weightlifting, and running multiple times a week. But I didn’t start with all of that! When I was in the depths of ADHD burnout, I couldn’t even stretch.
I started by building up my walking, through a technique I will describe below. Then I added weekly Bootcamp, but I didn’t do all the exercises. Then I added stretching. Then I slowly built up my ability to run over the last year. I LAYERED it on.
(Apply this to your life–what are you already doing that you could add a little movement to?)
2. SCAFFOLDING
What enables me to walk as much as I do? One part of it is this: I don’t do it alone! I have a dog. The dog needs to be walked. So her needs are a form of what ADHD coaches call “scaffolding”— they support me in my quest to do what makes me feel good.
Another scaffold: the woman who leads my Bootcamp, Alison Kalsched (catch her on Insta @allisonkalsched), is a dear friend who I’ve been training with for years. I don’t wanna let her down by not showing up! Once I’m at Boot Camp, the other women there are scaffolds— they’re doing it so I do it too. Know what else is an effective scaffold for me? Pain. When I don’t stretch, I hurt. Highly motivating.
3. LOW THRESHOLD ACTIVITIES
When I say that I stretch daily, here’s what I mean – I wake up in the morning, lie in my bed and do stretches. At night, while we’re TV, I lay on the floor and do stretches. There is a very *low threshold* for me to do this activity!
Similarly, part of why running is effective for me is that I can do it anytime with no preparation other than putting on my running shoes. The threshold for doing it is *very low.*
The threshold for attending Boot Camp is higher for me – I have to get in my car and drive somewhere. But I’m able to do it because it’s not too far a drive and the scaffolding is good.
4. PLEASURE
Every single one of my exercise elements is actively pleasurable to me. Yes, even running! I know that not everybody is so fortunate. Some people do not feel any pleasure in any kind of movement whatsoever. Setting aside those folks however, a lot of people DO feel pleasure in movement. We’ve just been conditioned by diet culture and industrialized education to conflate movement with exercise and exercise with punishment.
My years of doing yoga didn’t build my cardiovascular fitness, but it did teach me that movement could be pleasurable. So I seek that out.
5. MEDICATION
When I first started taking medication, I only used it to do boring administrative tasks. Then I realized that my ADHD medication could also help me do pleasurable tasks! This has been an unbelievable game changer in my life, particularly my life as an exerciser.
Before I started medication, I never had any idea whether or not my energy levels would permit me to exercise. Medication makes my energy levels reliable. So I can put bootcamp on my calendar and know that I’m gonna be able to make it!
Okay, now let’s do a little thinking about how you could apply this to your life:
- Layering: What are you already doing that you could layer a little more movement over? Example: Could you walk around the track at your kid’s soccer game?
- Scaffolding: Who or what could help you do what you WANT to do? Example: Could you start attending a movement class with a friend?
- Low threshold: What’s something very accessible to you already? Example: Could you keep a couple of weights next to the couch and lift while you watch TV?
- Pleasure: What do you LIKE to do? Pickleball? Dancing? Rollerskating? How can you add more PLEASURABLE movement to your life?
- Medication: If you’re medicated, what would it be like to take your meds for exercise? If you’re not medicated, what would it be like to do your exercising during the part of your day or week when you feel most energized?
Try some of these out and let me know what happens!
Big Hug,
Emma