Having ADHD can have an impact on all areas of daily life, including exercising. In my opinion, it is essential that ADHD symptoms are also taken into account in fitness and nutrition coaching in order to tailor the coaching perfectly to a person's needs. ADHD symptoms can have a negative impact on the execution of movements, establishing routines, sticking to a routine and a person's self-confidence, among other things. As I have ADHD myself, I am very familiar with the topic and know what challenges the symptoms can bring. Important note: A person's ADHD symptoms are as individual as the person themself. Therefore, these possible problems do not necessarily apply to all those affected, but can still be challenging for many.
What is ADHD?
I could write a novel on this topic, but I assume that you already know a little about it. So here's the short version: ADHD is short for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADHD is considered a behavioral disorder, although I would describe ADHD as a different way of being and experiencing the world. It can be difficult to navigate in a neurotypical world.
One of the main symptoms of ADHD is severe attention and concentration problems, but only when it comes to things that don't interest us or don't release enough dopamine. If we are interested in something, we can concentrate on it for hours on end, keyword hyperfocus. Other main symptoms are high impulsivity and strong physical restlessness (hyperactivity).
Side symptoms often include anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, burnout, disorganization and low stress tolerance. ADHD manifests itself differently in people who identify as females than in people who identify as males, as the former are usually more introverted and do not “misbehave” as much. For this reason, the former are often diagnosed much less frequently and, if at all, much later in life than the latter. Many of the main and secondary symptoms can lead to problems in the area of sport and exercise.
Problems with coordination
Pretty much all types of sport require a certain degree of coordination in order to be performed correctly. However, people with ADHD often have problems with coordination and find it difficult to assess their own position in space, for example. I can confirm this for myself, with the amount of bruises I have all over my body. Problems with coordination can make it extremely difficult to carry out movements. As the person affected, you often don't know what the problem is exactly and why you simply can't perform the movement the way you actually want to. This can be very frustrating. Sometimes it's as if the limbs are doing something different to what the brain is telling them. You try everything to perform a movement correctly and then you discover from videos or feedback from the coach that unfortunately that's not the case. Learning certain movement patterns and techniques can simply take longer for people with ADHD than for neurotypical people. However, this does not mean that it is impossible. Rather, different approaches are needed here.
Issues with concentration
Staying focused while training is another problem with ADHD. Suddenly, important ideas and questions pop into your head that need to be carried out, written down or answered immediately. I've had lots of good ideas myself during workouts, most often while performing heavy main sets. A “I'll just scribble this down quickly so I don't forget it” can easily turn into 10-15 minutes in which you do everything else but forget the training for a short time. This in turn can lead to a guilty conscience and time stress.
It is also not uncommon to lose concentration while working out. One second you are fully engaged in the exercise, the next second something completely unrelated suddenly comes to mind. The important questions in life such as “What's that fly doing on the wall?” or “What do I have to pick up in the grocery store later?” come to mind and your concentration for the exercise is gone. A shame. Coordination and concentration problems in sport often lead to disappointments, which can then result in a negative self-image and a lack of self-confidence.
Lack of self-confidence
Due to negative experiences in life as a result of their ADHD symptoms, many people with ADHD lack self-confidence. If you constantly have the perception of being a failure, doing everything wrong and never being good enough from an early age, this can be internalized and lead to negative self-beliefs. This also manifests itself in the area of exercise: if you are constantly told at school that you are not athletic and simply can't do certain sports (in my case, ball games, which I still can't do to this day), then you internalize that. And just because you do a different type of exercise later in life than you did at school doesn't mean that you'll be exuding self-confidence in that sport. Especially in school sports, some traumatizing events happen over the course of the years spent in school that should be taken into account when creating a workout plan and as part of coaching. In this way, self-confidence can be gradually strengthened and negative self-beliefs can be resolved.
Following instructions
Your coach gives you an excellent video on how to perform an exercise perfectly in which everything is explained in great detail. You might think that performing this exercise correctly is a no-brainer. However, this is often not the case if you have ADHD. Due to coordination and concentration problems, a lack of self-confidence in their own body and abilities and an often non-existent sense of calm, it is incredibly difficult to perform an exercise correctly just by watching a video. Even studying the video carefully (sometimes even before the actual training) and simply doing the exercise step by step can sometimes be difficult. I know myself that my brain always wants to do everything quickly, I often just don't feel at ease and I always seem to be rushing through things. As a result, I don't watch the video carefully, don't listen attentively and often end up doing the exercise incorrectly.
Routines
Establishing routines is much more difficult for people with ADHD and can also take longer for them than for neurotypical people. Keyword hyperfocus: suddenly you are highly motivated and want to get started with something straight away. Waiting until tomorrow absolutely is no longer an option, instead it has to happen instantly. You then train five days a week for two weeks and your brain gets enough dopamine. But at some point, the release of dopamine decreases and the demands of everyday life mean that training sessions inevitably have to be skipped. And then? Well, then it can be incredibly difficult to stick to your training plan and workout routine. Because a much easier and quicker source of dopamine is waiting for you somewhere else and your motivation to train falls by the wayside again.
Time management
And then there is the problem involving time management. ADHD symptoms can result in issues with anticipatory planning and action, as well as time management (keyword: executive dysfunction). As a result, scheduling training sessions can also be a problem, even if they have a fixed place in one's calendar. How long exactly is the workout going to take? This is easily underestimated or overestimated. And if something else comes along in the form of distractions (we all love to scroll through our phones during workouts, don't we?), the time schedule is ruined. This can lead to stress, dissatisfaction with yourself and overwhelm. What often follows is avoidance and further postponement, so that the planned training session unfortunately never happens. This is bound to cause frustration.
Conclusion
ADHD is the abbreviation for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Existing ADHD symptoms have an impact on people's entire lives and there are also some things to consider when working out with ADHD that affect people without ADHD less. For example, having ADHD is often associated with coordination problems, concentration problems, a lack of self-confidence, problems following instructions, establishing routines and time management. All of these challenges should be taken into account in fitness and nutrition coaching for people with ADHD so that the training can still be carried out successfully and success becomes the rule rather than the exception.
I am a fitness and nutrition coach and have ADHD myself. The odds of me knowing your problems and having a solution for them are therefore very high. That's why I also offer special fitness and nutrition coaching for people with ADHD. To make your training fun and turn it into a fixed routine that you can integrate into your everyday life, please get in touch with me. I look forward to hearing from you!
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