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?
I’ve tried many things, one thing that worked for me being calisthenics - following the programs on r/bodyweightfitness on Spez’s Lemmy.
The reason it worked for me is because working from home, there were zero logistics, I could finish working (from my bedroom), and take my t-shirt and jeans off and start working out in literally 30 seconds. The programs also had enough variety in terms of different exercises to keep me entertained.
Now I work out with my partner (who is also on the spectrum, to make things more complicated). What has been working for us is doing some activities we like; on Mondays he has flamenco class so I go swimming, which I love - him going to his class is a good enough cue to kick my brain into “let’s do things” mode. Then we added Yoga on Wednesdays (the hard, “sweaty” type with lots of bodyweight type exercises to keep myself motivated). We both like it, and we take turns choosing a video to follow, so there’s incentive and novelty to do things. Once that’s fully embedded in a routine, we’ll add something else, let’s say gym on Thursdays. My strategy is to go for the maximum variety we can so I don’t get bored, and add things gradually so it becomes a de facto part of my routine and my brain doesn’t get to question the fact that Mondays are swimming pool day.
It’s been working well for a couple of months, and I suspect it will work well until there’s a major life change that derails all of this, but then I’m hoping I can re-plan the strategy.
Also to add about the specifics of swimming for ADHD: it might sound boring but no matter your level, if you push yourself hard you can leave yourself absolutely knackered in 40 minutes. I can get in a really good workout by the time boredom kicks in. Plus I count the laps I’m doing, I try to keep a mental count of what the percentage of my goal for the day that is… And that keeps my mind busy enough that I can’t think about other things that maybe would sound more exciting.
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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.
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).
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
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Thanks for this advice, I will check out /r/bodyweightfitness. I used to go swimming for an hour a week for 5 years in a row when I was younger, although I still stayed skinny (except for the muscles in my back). It makes me think the problem must be more with my calorie intake than with my exercise…
Can only offer you three points, 1 nope sports really are boring, 2 you mention planking, I’m no gym dweller but if you need more muscle, planking is the opposite of what you need to do, lift heavy things, short reps, high protien diet. 3 motorcycle racing, specfically silly stuff like moped enduro, the amount of fun and helpful people you’ll meet in the pits is crazy.
Oh I see. What is the common denominator between exercoses that will give me muscle? Never considered motorcycle racing! Does that give you muscle too!?
Offroad racing will, mostly because you fall over a lot, then you gotta pick up the bike again, mostly I reccomend it for the like minded-ness of bike riders. if you’re interested don’t feel the need for fast bikes, flat out at 50mph with friends is the best.
As for building mass, plenty of stuff online, but it boils down to heavy weights, short reps (5 or so) do that set about 3 times, focus on shoulders, back and legs, eat a ridcously amount of protein.
Bouldering is good for building muscle, so I think your problem is you need to eat more. You can work out all day, but you’ll stay skinny if you don’t eat.
What kind of things should I be eating? I think I eat a lot of carbs (bread, rice, lentils, bulgur, porridge, etc), does it have to be a lot of meat?
You don’t have to eat meat, but you need to get enough protein, at least .7 g per lb of body weight but preferably around 1g. More than 1.5g is overkill. It helps to divide your protein goals by the number of meals you have and try to hit a per meal goal. There’s no need to count calories or weigh your food or anything if that scares you, but it is good to look at serving sizes and protein content to get a rough idea.
You can try eating more beans and tofu. Bean pasta is a good hack. Seitan is really simple to make, especially if you’ve got a stand mixer and instant pot. You may want to consider getting some protein powder if you’re struggling to get enough through food. You can add avocado and cocoa or nut butter and banana to protein shakes for some extra calories.
Ahh I see, yeah I might try some protein powder. I’ve been struggling to gain muscle as a vegan. I eat a ton of beans and tofu but even so they only have like 10-20g of protein per 100g (nuts are also in the 10s), which means I’d need to eat like 500g of them to get what I need. But if the protein powder doesnt help it really must be due to insufficient muscle load I guess?
Well you also need to be eating at a calorie surplus of a few hundred extra calories per day, but that will ideally happen naturally if you focus on adding more protein to your existing diet. If you’re going the protein powder route, you’ll probably want to have it as an extra meal rather than a meal substitute. If you still struggle, you may need to track your calories to help you adapt.
YouTube can be a good source for some high protein vegan meal ideas. If you can do soy, TVP is a good option. If you can do gluten, chickmeat/seitan is good.
I for one, really love table tennis. Games are short, points are short, and there’s a lot of things to think about all the time.
I love tabke tennis too! I don’t think it would help me much with muscle though…
Look into flow arts! It’s basically adult performance grade fidget toys, and there’s a LOT of props to pick from. I myself am a big fan of contact staff.
Jiu-jitsu has been pretty good for me. I get into a really calm/flow state while practicing it.
It’s something I recommend everyone to try :)
Zajímavé, a máš pocit, že ti z toho narostli svaly?
Have you tried action sports like paintball or airsoft? They’re tons of fun, get the adrenaline and dopamine flowing, and provide both cardio and a solid core workout.
That’s true, they sure sound fun. I guess they dont give you much muscle though, right?
My personal fitness results would disagree, but your mileage may vary. In a day at the airsoft field I spend about 6 hours running with a few kilos of gear and whipping around a yard/meter of gun weighing 6~8 kilos, maybe 15-20 lbs. Just shouldering a gun for a half hour takes a lot more muscle and stamina than one might expect, and aiming around uses a lot of abdominal, back, and oblique muscle. Meanwhile your legs get a colossal workout running between rooms, squatting up and down to dodge, take positions, fire out of windows, etc.
I’ve been playing regularly, a few times a month, for about 2 years now and while I’ve definitely gotten in much better shape because of it, at the end of a particularly intense day I still get jelly legs and full body muscle fatigue.
If you’re interested most fields offer gear rentals so you can try it out and see how it works for you without having to make a big investment in your own stuff.
Hey that doesn’t sound bad! I’ve actually been wanting to try Airsoft too!
Do a strong lifts 5x5 program.
Focus on your body through the entire repetition and make the next one better.
The numbers going up on your lift value will be the game until your body starts showing you the score also.
I say this as a on the spectrum adhd man
How do you overcome the gratification hurdle of stopping scrolling to go and focus on your muscles hurting?
Treat the rest as a dedicated, specifically-timed “thing to do” instead of just “time I need to kill until I pick this weight up again.”
Timers are helpful, as people mentioned, but stretching, evaluating how that last set went/ how next set needs to go, changing weights, and walking around to catch your breath are great ways to stay mostly on track.
And if you check Twitter after switching songs or something? That’s fine. Working out slowly > not working out, so unless you’re annoying other gymgoers with 20-min squat-rack scroll sessions , I wouldn’t sweat a mental lapse.
EDIT: Ope, I think I misread your comment to mean “between sets” and not just “going to the gym,” my b.
It HAS to be a habit. Go to the gym because it’s novel and you want to try it out, then try your damnedest to make it a routine. Make it feel weird to not work out. If you fall off the wagon, try again.
If neurotypicals fail to be consistent (see every New Year’s resolution), you can give yourself enough grace to stumble, too.
The StrongLifts 5x5 app I use has a timer between sets, I do my set then sit and scroll and then it dings at me to do the next.
Lather rinse repeat until I’m done, it takes no time at all and I still get plenty of scrolling in lol
Strong lifts. The built in timer is great. Just don’t look at anything else on your phone. I put on Audible and just lift.
