this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2024
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ADHD

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submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

Hey guys, I'm looking for a sport to do because I'm super skinny and I'd like to gain at least a bit of muscle. I've done cycling and bouldering in the past, but neither made me any less skinny.
The problem with sports is it's very hard to do any sort of exercise with ADHD because beyond giving you no stimulation, it gives you negative stimulation, like when doing the plank. What's more, it usually requires a ton of logistic prep/going somewhere, which itself is boring and becomes a barrier.
One thing I can see motivating me is doing it with other people (I enjoy chilling with people and having banter), but for that I might as well go to a pub/society where there's no pesky ball I have to kick around. Team sports like football never really appealed to me for some reason anyway.
Has anyone had success making sports fun?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I second the /r/bodyweightfitness recommended routine (for muscle mass). You can do it with minimal equipment home alone, which is minimal activation energy, and you can watch or listen to something at the same time, which gives you a reward while doing the unrewarding activity.

For me, it works perfectly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is great advice, it's pretty much the same approach I've had to do.

Anything involving leaving the house is basically impossible for me due to required activation energy and associated anxiety. Investing in a good treadmill was one of the best decisions I ever made. Got one with a shelf built in for a phone/tablet so I can watch videos while I run. I know that type of exercise is not what was asked for, but the same principle applies to body weight exercises or free-weight training you can do if you buy a set of weights:

  • Make it something you can do from home to minimise startup friction
  • Set up a way to stimulate yourself while working out
  • Make the exercise program varied and bite-sized so you just have to focus on finishing the current exercise instead of starting to think about how long time is remaining on the program (which is why I run intervals on the treadmill).
[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

The tablet shelf on your treadmill is a genius idea! Yeah that's exactly the sort of simulation that I can see helping me exercise