How to exercise with ADHD and menopause

[OhTheSilence]

I would really like to improve my mobility and strength but have such a hard time starting and sticking to exercise, especially since I want to do at-home workouts. Got diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year which explains some of my difficulties, but since entering peri I've piled on the pounds and find it so much harder to move. I go on youtube and watch random workouts but get so bored. Anyone have tips on how to get going and make it a habit?

Because you’re menopausal you need to look at adding some weights to your exercise for your muscles, you need to do something like walking for your bones, and something like yoga or Pilates for balance. They can all be done at home from YouTube

It’s a discipline thing. Discipline and motivation are bedfellows, one creating the other. Diarise your workouts like you would diarise a social commitment or a dentist appointment.

And I really recommend CDornerFitness on YouTube - a midlife woman doing a great variety of workouts to keep it interesting

The only way i managed to do something was hire a personal trainer at a gym. If I don’t turn up he phones and bugs me. It’s not a budget option but I’m not motivated enough for anything else right now. I’m hoping to establish a habit

Yeah but she didn't say "tell me what exercises to do" she said how does she find motivation with ADHD and menopause.

I haven't nailed this either OP. I have found menopause completely prevents my usual coping strategies and ability to get started and stick to it.

The only way through, I am starting to suspect, is to mourn the life that is gone, and start living as though you absolutely have to change the way you live. I've had to lower my expectations of my career, shift my social life down to almost nil and change the things I do to healthier things. Lots of my friends have completely stopped alcohol for example and meet up for walks and stuff and get early nights. It is boring at first but I am starting to see it as a detox from the lifetime of cortisol. It's very very hard to do and I find it much easier to press on but I've started to make mistakes at work due to lack of brain power and injure myself tripping over and stuff- so I think unless I nourish my body more with exercise, sleep and good food, its gonna just get worse.

Super hard to do amidst all the responsibilities of teenagers and stuff.

I'm a regular exerciser but I find it so difficult to do anything at home. Can you exercise outside the house and perhaps find a group to give you more accountability? Otherwise I agree habit and routine. If I set my intention the night before to do it, and put my exercise gear out, I'm much better. Also do it in the morning. I find it so difficult in the evening when there are more demands on my time.

My ADHD strategy to address motivation and boredom (only works on days I’m working from home) is:

1. put sports clothes out the night before so they’re the only option and wear them all day so I can exercise at any point I fancy - this way I’m ready and I can use exercise as a break between meetings/tasks.
2. have a variety of options to choose from to keep it novel - a run, YouTube yoga etc. it doesn’t matter what I pick in the moment as it averages out over time.
3. have music playing while I’m doing it - this has made such a difference to the boredom problem. Singing along (and dancing if going for a run - I must look bonkers) makes it go much faster!

Agree with lots mentioned. I have my personal running playlist full of bangers, curated to be a good pace for running, that makes it fun to run to. I find it so hard to get out and do it so always run first thing, it’s quieter out there and helps to get it done first when I had enough energy, now I am quite an early bird generally.
I have weights at home and find those much easier to contemplate later in the day. Having a variety of YT videos and people to flit between helps it not get boring. I also love Caroline Girvan’s short 15 mins arms or bar etc. Helps me to do short bursts, and then I often run a few together once I get going. Also good if time is short.

You're never going to do it if it's just you at home needing to motivate yourself. You need to be accountable to someone, even if initially it's just meeting a friend for a brisk walk.

Doing at home workouts makes it so much more unlikely that I’ll do anything. I find going somewhere else to do it much less distracting. I also do much better if I’m being told what to do and have to concentrate on being in time with the music. Weights- body pump classes at the leisure centre for example i found really good. I do have a treadmill at home and I combined walking on there with watching an episode of a long running series on my iPad. I chose a guilty pleasure series. I do think couch to 5k is good though because you’re being instructed. I’d drive to a park and just run in circles around it then I’m not worrying about a ‘logical route’. Also morning exercise worked better for me. I’d get too entrenched in other things mentally ‘waiting’ to do it in the evenings or afternoon. Good luck.

I was told once that you need discipline not motivation.

I agree with a PP about putting on sports kit when you get dressed, but you need to have already decided what you are going to do and when you are going to do it, rather than just hoping you’ll feel motivated at some point during the day.
You should set some specific goals rather than just a generic ‘I want to get fitter’. Eg do 10 press ups, hold a plank for 2 minutes, run 5k.
It is easier if you sign up for classes or get a personal trainer.

As someone with ADHD and perimenopause the only thing that works for me is a commitment I make to someone else, or the guilt over spending money and not doing the thing.

Do you have any friends who do any particular type of exercise that you could make a plan to go with? If I feel like I’d be letting someone down, I’d go! Also, the whole “body doubling” thing makes me more likely to do it. (Wanting to “body double” is an ADHD thing.)

Could you pay for 10 classes (for example) and would you feel guilty about wasting that money if you didn’t attend? (I would - which would make me go!).

I know those are both negatives (guilt!) but I do love it when I get there and haven’t found another way to motivate myself!

Body doubling and spending the money are the only things that motivate me to exercise, I have no discipline at all and find it impossible to create routines or stick to self imposed deadlines (and am currently pursuing an adult ADHD diagnosis!)

Make a plan to go to a class or run with a friend, or get a personal trainer if you can afford it. I also like the idea of wearing fitness clothes all day - do the exercise when you're avoiding someone else. Oh, and don't get hung up on timing - if you suddenly fancy it at 11pm, just do it rather than thinking yourself out of it because it's nearly bedtime.

In menopausal and have adhd and pcos. I've slowly lost weight over the last year and I think there's some good tips above. What's worked for me and might not be practical for you is lots of walking. I walk 20 minutes on my way to work and then 40 minutes home. I also walk to things I'm doing on the weekend. For my adhd I find I have to work to build up habits but once I've got them in my "back brain" and don't have to rely on my front adhd brain to remember them they stick. So I automatically now walk home even though I follow the same route as the bus. Workouts from home are more of a mixed bag. I can only really do them in the evening and I'm so tired after thinking all day at work. I've taken a break since I had an injury but I'm going to try and build the habit of doing them in the morning before work.

Thanks for all the tips!
@Tiedyesquad yes I find it hard to fit it in to the day because I am trying to fit this in with all my other life commitments
@GingerbreadlatteinOctober thanks for the suggestion of having a variety of things to choose from - that seems quite close to how I often work in other areas of life admin. eg I fail at meal planning for the week but instead I make sure I have a short list of possible things I can cook 1-2 days in advance.
My budget is limited so I can't invest too much in a trainer or gym - I can only do pay-as-you-go sessions because in the past I've paid for a whole month or year, not gone, and had zero guilt. I'm trying to find a way to get started on my own without relying on someone telling me what to do.
I think I might join a walking group, but it's the weight training I find extra hard to get going on as I get so bored.
Anyone have any recommendations on youtube for who to follow for fun strength training? Like anyone who does it to music?

OP, I think I sound similar to you but I haven't got a diagnosis, decided not to seek one. I am perimenopausal and I'm a carer to my disabled DC but I have always tried to keep fit-ish and slim-ish up to now.

In the last couple of years due to the joy of peri, I'm definitely finding it hard to eat what I used to eating and not put weight on! Plus I'm conscious of bone density and therefore getting exercise which incorporates weights. Going to the gym doesn't work for me because of DC and I don't want to spend the ££ 😅 but I do need to keep motivated and I do get bored easily.

I had a good look through YouTube and tried various vids but didn't like any of them, found them dull until I happened upon Juliette Wootton.

I just seem to be able to keep going with her workouts, I think maybe because they are classes with other people doing the workout so maybe I feel more a part of it and music, yay! They range in intensity. I'm doing the hour long ones now and repeat the same one, three times a week for a few weeks until I fancy upping the stakes and going for one of the harder ones 😅

Just my tuppence worth, I started with this one and was fairly crap at it to start with and used low weights. Now I can keep up and use similar weights to Juliette. HTH OP

You need exercise to be your hyperfocus! It's the only thing that worked for me, for a good while anyway, until it didn't and I lost motivation (also menopausal and late diagnosed ADHD).
Currently sat looking at my weights and all the other other stuff I bought hoping I can get back into it. It basically needs to become my obsession again.

Lurking

This is what I do. A variety of classes that have music. At the gym. I wouldn’t do it properly at home.