I can tell I am going to have a bad ADHD day when I don't exercise enough each week.

If I haven't gotten my blood pumping strongly within a few days my brain gets very unfocused. Since getting diagnosed with ADHD 25 years ago I have tried a lot of things to help with the symptoms.

At this point in my life I use diet and exercise to maintain a good focus. It isn't perfect. It is also not for everyone either. It take a fair bit of work a discipline to maintain a proper diet and exercise regime. I write about my experience with it here at: http://www.adhdaction.com/adhd-and-exercise.html.

While not for everyone and far from perfect I keep fit in my body and my mind. That is what gets me through the bad ADHD days.

Nathaniel @ http://www.adhdaction.com/

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I have been challenged with ADHD since I was a child. As an adult, I had often found it hard to concentrate, get things done, listen to others, read a book, relax, or feel normal (not like I was going to crawl out of my skin if I didn't move somehow). I have always had all of the classic attention deficit symptoms as well as a very high level of energy and hyperactivity.

I discovered running and strength training as a means of controlling my symptoms. I work out 6 days per week, with the 7th day being a weekend so that I may be as active as possible without deliberately working out. I have found that by either running or strength training for at least 30 minutes before work everyday, I am better able to handle the day and get things done. I can literally feel it all over my body, this sense of relaxed peace, something that is so incredibly hard for those of us with ADHD to find.

I learned the hard way, this week in fact, just how bad my ADHD symptoms can get when I do not get some exercise before work. I am a social worker and spend most of my day at a desk. I slepty very poorly one night and just did not have the energy when I woke up, nor the time, to get in my run before work. So I went to work, planning to take a walk or jog after supper that evening. It really hit me after I ate lunch that day. I literally felt as though I could crawl right out of my skin. The "internal motor" was humming so hard, that my boss actually told me to go take a quick walk around outside to try to bring myself down a notch or two. I was speaking 100 mph and not able to sit still. For the rest of this week, I have made sure that I get in my daily exercise before work, so that I may manage my day.

I have always been personally against taking medications to control my ADHD symptoms. Now that I have found exercise to be so helpful, I plan to remain active for the rest of my life.

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In my experience, exercise is a great method for combating problematic symptoms. Research also backs this idea.

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Get a good MP3 player and nothing clears my mind like running. Easy to start up doing 5ks, local groups, or just around the neighborhood.

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This is great. I was feeling really frustrated yesterday. So I went for a run through the neighborhood and have felt great since.

Nathaniel

a skateboarder with ADHD that learned how to control his symptoms! http://www.adhdaction.com/

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I hate excersize. Despise it. But... what heppens when I see a bicycle? Gotta ride it... Gotta fix it... Gotta max it out. I Mountain bike as my therapy and like another poster said, if I don't do it for a few days I get lazy and scatterbrained again. I'm not talking about biking through the park either. I've found that TECHNICAL mountain biking combined with ever changing climbing trails and roads combined with changing the actual "route" every time is what does it for me. Once I've done that trail and cleared it as a success, I move on and try to find another "challenge" When others in my sport can ride the same AWESOME trail over and over again, I lose interest and move to something I haven't conquered yet. The riding offers phenomenal cardio and leg strenthening excersize as well as collateral excersize for all the other parts due to the need to control the bike, not just pedal it. When I'm actually ON the ride, my mind is clear as a bell.... at times when I NEED this clarity and am "brainstorming" about something, I will bring a small notepad and pen and literally have stopped every minute or two to write that thought down because we all know how fleeting that "idea" can be in an ADHD head. While slooooooow mountain biking seems boring, I think the fact that I have to maintain and properly operate the mountain bike on constantly changing and sometimes hair raising terrain, keeps me "interested" I once heard a joke that said, "When you ask someone with ADHD a serious question about life, don't be surprised if they pause and answer.... LETS GO RIDE BIKES!!!!" :)

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