Incorporating physical activity or exercise into our daily lives can feel like an impossible hurdle to overcome, especially when we’re unsure what routine will work best for us. For this week’s session of our
ADHD group program, we were lucky enough to have Michael Finigan (coach, athlete, and founder of Pursuit Training) as a guest speaker to talk about how exercise, if done right, can be a great tool to better manage ADHD.
While our sessions have mainly focused on ADHD and brain wiring, we dove deeper this week and
explored how we can work with our nervous systems through physical activity. The nervous system is a
crucial biological component when it comes to ADHD, as it is how the brain communicates with the rest
of the body. Our behavior is a direct reflection of this biology, and understanding this biology can better
inform how we train!
Arousal Levels
The first step when it comes to training with our ADHD in mind is to understand and monitor our arousal
levels. Under-arousal is a state in which our nervous system is essentially asleep at the wheel, and we
struggle to feel engaged, distracted, and avoidant. An under-aroused brain is not lazy, it is simply starving
for dopamine and stimulation. On the other hand, over-arousal is a state in which our nervous system is
too activated, and we experience impulsivity, emotional flooding, and disorganization. An over-aroused
brain feels too much pressure, ultimately collapsing our executive functions and leading to cognitive
shutdown.
Those with ADHD have an under-arousal baseline. This means that our nervous system needs activation
and is seeking stimulation in order to be effectively engaged. We might wake up in a fog, lacking
motivation and needing dopamine, then throughout the day our energy profile is inconsistently up and
down depending on how interested we are in what we’re doing. It’s also important to note the stimulation
gap, which is that the ADHD brain needs almost 4x as much stimulation as the neurotypical brain (for
example, the ADHD brain will need four cups of coffee to get the same stimulation that a neurotypical
brain gets from one cup).
Our Neurochemical Dashboard
- Dopamine: This is the ignition switch that makes us feel motivated, rewarded, and engaged. The ADHD brain is less sensitive to dopamine compared to the neurotypical brain, so it can be more difficult to get that ignition turned. When we’re exercising, we need to have immediate rewards leading to a dopamine hit, or the activity will feel flat. This reinforces the behavior, as the better we feel about things, the more we will want to do it again.
- Norepinephrine: This is the signal filter that can make us feel like we’re in the zone, completely alert, focused, and energized. With ADHD, we have lower norepinephrine levels that lead to attention-driven signals not reaching the brain, resulting in difficulties with inattention and impulsivity.
- Cortisol: This is the rhythm regulator, more commonly known as the stress hormone. When this is regulated, we can cope with stressors, but when it’s dysregulated, we can experience heightened irritation and emotional outbursts. The ADHD brain often misses the morning ‘wake up’ signal and fails to receive the wind down signal, which means that we are lagging behind with no energy in the morning, but by the time we have to sleep, our cortisol has peaked. This often leads to a vicious cycle of always having no energy in the morning and being awake all night. We can optimize our cortisol by working out in the morning, and giving our bodies a much-needed
cortisol spike. - BDNF: This is the system upgrade, which deals with pathway growth/maintenance and neuroplasticity. In ADHD, this is often too low, resulting in difficulty activating our neuropathways. The more active we are, the more we can improve our wiring, leading to better recall and information retention for ADHDers who often struggle with forgetfulness.
Integrated Protocol and Motivation
With all of this information in mind and a better understanding of how the ADHD brain communicates
with the body, we can learn to manage both our energy curve and our time.
Given our natural baseline of under-arousal and low cortisol levels in the morning, ADHDers need
intense exercise to give ourselves a hard reset and spike our cortisol and dopamine. By intense, we of
course mean intense for whatever level of fitness and exercise you’re at. In order to effectively activate
our nervous system, this activity needs to be something difficult enough to do that you cannot start to fall
asleep or nod off during it.
During the day, on the other hand, we need to downregulate our nervous systems with calming, rhythmic
movement to maintenance dose. Here, it is not about the exercise so much as it’s about calming the nervous system. This time can also be a great opportunity to do some skill acquisition; things like martial
arts or dance can help keep the brain active and focused while also calming the body down (but it can even be something as simple as walking). Many of us, not just ADHDers, may have difficulty exercising in the morning or feel that we’re lacking motivation. It is important to note here that action leads to motivation, not the other way around.
With the ADHD brain, it can greatly help to have a reward immediately after physical activity. The gamification
strategy could be effective here, as using a timer, scores, or points (some sort of tangible reward) can help with the dopamine hit that reinforces the behavior and keeps us engaged.
Recovery is Crucial
I want to take a moment to stress here that recovery is so, so important! The goal is to listen to our bodies and better manage our ADHD, not to push ourselves to the point of negatively impacting our mental and physical well-being. We are stretching our bodies, not stressing them!
Downregulating is crucial to ensure that our nervous system is not overactive for the rest of the day and
our cortisol levels are allowed to dip back down after the morning boost. If we don’t give ourselves the chance to fully recover, we can end up feeling wired but tired. Let’s say we do the initial hard reset in the morning but don’t downregulate. This can lead to a burnout cycle that starts with difficulty sleeping and a lack of recovery, leading to exhaustion in the morning, and ultimately forces us to run on low fuel for the rest of our day. This can look like sleep deterioration, mood crashes, and internal restlessness mixed with physical exhaustion.
ADHD is fundamentally a regulatory disorder of the Autonomic Nervous System. You can train the body,
but you break the nerves if you aren’t careful, especially considering that nervous system recovery takes
7x longer than muscle recovery. We need to return to baseline heart rate after finishing our workout. This
can be done through things like breathwork, which can help to signal safety to the nervous system, or
sensory reduction, like noise-cancelling dark rooms to reduce input load. Sleep is also key! Many of us can forget how important it is for us to get enough sleep, especially when our ADHD often results in us being filled with energy before bed.
Those with ADHD can often struggle with recovery, so please look out for the signs of neural fatigue:
workouts becoming impossible, dread and a sudden avoidance of the gym, cravings for sugar/dopamine,
volatile mood and irritability, and a decline in performance during physical activity.
A final important note to consider: however it looks for you, just start! Do not feel pressured to begin with a full workout routine. Integrating fitness into our routines can be intimidating, and we often fall into an all-or-nothing trap where we either get in a 30-minute weight-lifting workout or completely fail. Just beginning with a morning walk, or some squats while you brush your teeth, can be a great first step! Go at your own pace, listen to your body, and be kind to yourself.
About Alyssa Nohar
Alyssa is currently completing her master’s of Counselling Psychology with Yorkville University, on practicum with Impart Therapy. She works with teens and adults who are struggling to navigate the ups and downs of daily life. Please visit here to learn more about Alyssa Nohar. To learn more about our ADHD Group Program, please visit: ADHD Group Programs | Skill-Building Support and Psychoeducation