We know that physical activity improves ADHD and plays a pivotal role in helping manage ADHD symptoms. Here at FastBraiin, we recommend getting at least 30 mins of exercise per day. The difficulty comes in actually making that a reality. In this article, we outline ten keys to getting and staying active.
1. Exercise Together
No one likes exercising, and no one likes exercising alone. Still, though, you know you need to exercise to help ADHD. To find success in staying consistent with your exercise, find someone to do it with you. This could be a friend, your spouse, or your child.
Set up a routine with that person and have them be your accountability partner to check in on you. There exists many applications and devices such as FitBit that allow you to track your exercise and compare with others. Studies show such fitness trackers help get you moving. Use these tools to build an exercise community and stay active.
2. Take the Dog for a Walk
Finding ways to exercise to help ADHD doesn’t have to feel like figuring out a complicated math problem. Sometimes exercising involves just doing regular household chores that we need to do anyways. Walking your dog provides a great example of this.
Science tells us of multiple health benefits of walking everyday. Your dog needs activity, and so do you. With taking your dog out 30 minutes a day, you exercise without hardly knowing it.
3. Work on a Particular Skill
Adding goals to your life helps make activities more interesting. The same principle applies to exercise and finding ways to exercise to help ADHD. Instead of just exercising to exercise, exercise to work towards a goal of learning a new skill.
Interestingly enough, studies actually show us that exercise even helps you master new skills, any new skills. If you want to shoot better at basketball or serve better in tennis or bait a hook and catch a fish better, do any of these things in your exercise time. Working on improving physical skills helps you stay active and motivated.
4. Help Wake Yourself Up
Exercising provides many benefits. One benefit provided by exercise is the release of endorphins and energy to increase focus and get you started with your day. Many of us drag ourselves drowsily through our morning routine. Change your routine and exercise to help ADHD by getting energy in the morning through small exercises.
Finding motivation to exercise creates a huge barrier to ever getting started. Remember, though, that exercising does not have to be anything huge as long as it is consistent and steady. We recommend finding small short morning workouts to get your day started.
Keep focused on the idea of short and sweet. You’ll help wake yourself up and exercise at the same time.
5. Teach Someone to Exercise
Have you ever heard the saying that teaching provides the best opportunity to learn. If you haven’t, you should have, because this can be absolutely true. One of the best ways to learn something or get more excited about it can be through teaching someone else.
If you need to exercise to help ADHD and get more active, do it through teaching. You could teach your child a new sport such as baseball or basketball. You could start coaching a community sports league; even an adult league such as for kickball or dodgeball.
With teaching, you will find that you get more involved faster and you’ll be exercising, too. Through coaching, you can essentially workout for a cause.
6. Go Shopping
Going shopping can’t provide exercise to help ADHD? Can it? If you shop online, it won’t provide much exercise. Going to a large mall or outlet, though, can provide a great opportunity to both do something interesting and get active.
If you have nothing to do on a Saturday, and you just can’t find the motivation to go to the gym, go to the mall or find an outdoor flea market. Now, when you go you need to avoid stumbling blocks such as the food court. Still, walking around the flea market for an afternoon can be a great way to exercise and burn calories.
Going shopping can fall under the category of calorie burning chores: regular activities that provide active exercises. Look for more ways to burn calories in regular day to day activities. You can find opportunities to exercise almost everywhere.
7. Play on a Team Sport
Team sports provide a great way to get and stay active. They provide a community to provide accountability, challenges to keep your interest, and goals to accomplish. Last but not least, they provide fun.
If you need more ways to exercise to help ADHD, look no further than playing on a team sport. Team sports provide great benefits for kids and adults. Any team sport can be the key you need, but look for certain sports that you or your ADHD child should play to provide the most benefit.
8. Volunteer
Exercising doesn’t just have to benefit your health, it can benefit your community as well. Volunteering can be a great way to exercise to help ADHD. If you do it right and find the right opportunities, volunteering can help fitness.
Many community-volunteering activities make you get up and move. With volunteering, you exercise without even recognizing it. Some examples include picking up trash along a highway or helping work on a community marathon or race. Look around, you will find many chances to both volunteer and exercise at the same time.
9. Have a Family Outing
Need to exercise to help ADHD? Take some time to spend with your family. Many family outing opportunities double as excellent chances to exercise as well.
Your kids need to burn off energy. Provide them an outlet to do just that and exercise at the same time. Through using creative family outings you can help yourself and your family stay active.
You could go to a park for the day or going fishing. You could take a family hike or go to the zoo. Having a family outing on a Saturday can break your cycle of inactivity, get you moving, and keep you active.
10. Make it Fun!
Many of us fail to exercise because we have turned it into a chore that we dread. Who said that exercise has to be work or, even worse, boring? Rather than thinking of exercise as something that you drag yourself to, find ways to make it exciting or fun.
Here at Fastbraiin, we always support having fun. In fact, for individuals looking for ADHD help for parents, we recommend starting with fun. How can exercise be fun? Exercise becomes fun with changing your thought process and thinking outside of the box.
Make exercise fun by playing games that keep you active and make you get off the couch. You could play an active game on the Nintendo Wii, or go to the pool or water park for the day. You could play a scavenger hunt game that involves walking through a park or city. Be creative. Have fun!
Use These Tips and Others to Exercise to Help ADHD
We all know we need to exercise. Most of us still struggle with finding the motivation, though. Regular exercise provides many health benefits particularly with managing ADHD symptoms.
We hope that this article has provided you with some new ideas on making exercise creative and exciting. Look for more ways to get and stay active like these free online workout resources. Start being more active today and stay with it!