Oh good, exactly what I'm looking for. If only the executive dysfunction didn't mess with my ability to form any kind of stable exercise routine.
If we're talking about aerobic exercise, you don't need to "form" anything. It's a monostructural movement. Buy a treadmill and jog on it for 20 minutes when you wake up. Buy a rower and do 5k every morning, or evening, or over lunch. Get a stationary bike and do 10 minutes on that whenever you remember to do it.
This isn't strength training which benefits from having an actual program to follow put together by someone who knows what they're doing. Just pick a thing that you can do for 20 minutes without wanting to kill yourself, and do that thing for 20 minutes a few times a week. The most important part (in what the kids today would call "my lived experience") is to push yourself hard, sweat a lot, and do it at least 3 or 4 times a week. More is going to be better, especially at the beginning to build a habit, but twice a week is just sporadic enough where it's too easy to miss one and 2 becomes 1 becomes "once every 4 weeks."
"Stable" also doesn't need to be the same amount of time at the same time of day on the same days every week.
I don't think GP meant "routine" as in an elaborate set of exercises, but rather the daily/weekly routine of doing any exercise at all.
I get where you’re coming from, and I think you’re missing the point. Executive dysfunction (for me at least) means I can “want to do the thing” a LOT, heck I can even have the motivation, but getting my brain and body to actually do the damn thing can feel insurmountable. There are certainly ways to work with and around executive dysfunction, it’s just difficult that one of the key aspects of it is that it makes the act of executing feel incredibly difficult.
Just read the answer below
> The only thing ever stopping you from going out the door and running is putting on shoes and shorts, its easy to form a habit!
For people like us, this is akin to "if you are depressed, just cheer up!". It's ridiculous, bordering on the offensive.
Get an easy win.
I do get out to walk occasionally, and I absolutely love it, and nothing about that makes it “easy” to turn into a habit. I’m working on it, but it’s a slow process. The thing with executive dysfunction is that the desire and will are often there, they just aren’t making the call.
The 5 minutes (or even 30-60 minutes) is the EASY part. I have no problem with that. It's my brain screaming at me with every ounce of its energy that the effort of stopping what I am doing and starting something else is insurmountable. The length of the thing is mostly irrelevant.
It's a battle for most people, some more than others.
One lever I used was self hatred. Instead of babying myself, I decided I was pathetic and worthless if I couldn't even manage to exert myself for 10 minutes every day. Maybe not a psychologically healthy viewpoint in the long term, but it creates the leverage I needed to get out of that dark place.
I struggle with executive dysfunction; when people describe a more aggressive routine than I could manage, I just mentally translate the numbers and level of consistency into what's achievable rather than berate them. Their point was: start with what's possible for you and go from there, because you don't need to achieve a certain threshold of activity or knowledge for the exercise to benefit you.
Anything that gets your activity up will help. Lots of low intensity stuff is probably even more valuable than 20 minutes of moderate effort.
I'm not diagnosed, but have pretty severe trouble getting into a task-oriented mode, so much that dishes go unwashed, and my home is a mess. I feel the mess wearing away at me, but just can't deal with it. I'm not overly busy or tired, just procrastinating.
After 5 minutes on the rower my mood drastically improved and I was much more productive than usual, and the effect lasted about 3 hours. I've had a few more sessions since then with similar effects.
Also, it's a little spooky how often a subject comes on my radar, and then a few days later the subject surfaces on HN. Feels too frequent for it to be a coincidence.
I wouldn't even say you need to push yourself hard. Getting yourself into 120-150 bpm for 30-60 minutes 3x per week will get you most of the benefits.
Have one. Plus chin up bar, and there's always bodyweight.
> and jog on it for 20 minutes when you wake up.
That's a routine.
> Whenever you remember to do it.
That's more akin to how my brain functions. But "when I remember" (/ have energy/motivation) is a huuge variable I struggle with.
I understand you mean well but this is a thing I've struggled with for years. It tends to be boom or bust. I can go months with going to the gym regularly and it helps, then things get chaotic and it all falls apart, and it's exceptionally hard to restart, probably because of exactly such an executive deficit such exercise would help with.
It's not actually about any difficulty in establishing a stable routine. It'd be very easy for almost anyone to maintain a routine of eating snacks and watching Youtube for 20 minutes per day.
The root issue is we've become conditioned to avoid discomfort. Collectively our mental fortitude relatively weak in this area. Engaging in an activity which requires enduring discomfort will be strongly avoided even if the benefits are clear. We need to figure out how to strengthen our mindset.
Exercise is medicine! And requires exertion and discomfort.
From GP's executive dysfunction reference I am assuming something like ADHD, and...you'd be surprised.
Executive dysfunction is fundamentally different from laziness in a way that a lot of people have trouble grasping.
Maybe the Youtube and snacks example was a bit misleading in that perspective. In my head exercise is in the same category of routine as brushing your teeth, showering, getting dressed, and feeding yourself. If one struggles with those on a daily basis then I agree that's a whole different issue. Putting a time slot for exercise on the calendar may work for some but in my view it's a more fundamental part of living.
The only thing ever stopping you from going out the door and running is putting on shoes and shorts, its easy to form a habit!
Only bad part is you get depressed when you don't get to run.
EDIT: if you suffer from executive dysfunction disorder, this is not good advice, but running is awesome either way and will change your life in a small but significant way if you have the appropriate amount of neuro-typicality.
I’m not sure that you do, because
> The only thing ever stopping you from going out the door and running is putting on shoes and shorts, its easy to form a habit!
feels very invalidating, as someone who struggles with an executive dysfunction disorder.
If you feel invalidated, those are your feelings coming from inside you, not something they planted in you. Perhaps it's a sign that you have things you need to work on.
And I appreciate your response - the invalidating part was just that it’s “easy” to start a running routine with just shoes and shorts. It probably is for most people, and for me the shoes would sit there as a reminder of an investment in myself that I can not seem bring myself to take advantage of more than once or twice a year.
Or you actually hate running.
And you will be surprised how quickly you scale from wherever you begin.
Sprinting was the least unpleasant actually, but only for a short while for the first time and only once/day.
Thankfully strength training is much more enjoyable, as is walking, so I'm relying on this combination. Plus some swimming occasionally.
I moved from being mostly sedentary to being able to run 10km, swimming regularly, joining a field hockey team, doing archery. I also do hiit 3 times a week. Still my schedule is fucking chaotic, so beside the field hockey training which is on a fixed date, the other activities are done at, let's say, interesting and random time.
ADHD is a fickle mistress.
After that, I came up with fun ways to meet that goal, like specific paths I might take or things I might do. It feels much less like work if there's some sort of reward along the way, like a coffee or something.