ADHD & Exercise: How to Move Your Body When Traditional Fitness Fails You

Recently, my 15-year-old walked into the room to find me at my standing desk … dancing. Not cute TikTok dancing — I was bobbing, weaving, doing high knees and side lunges. The sprinkler might have made an appearance, and the Carlton was surely featured … all while I was scripting a podcast episode.

The look on her face? Pure teenage judgment.

But you know what? I was focusing and moving. And honestly? It felt amazing. (OK maybe the look on her face made it even more satisfying.)

Was it weird? Yeah. Did I look like a Muppet that just walked through a spiderweb? Almost certainly. But it worked for my brain and my body on many different levels. And that’s exactly what this article is all about.

In other words: it’s not just about “fitness.” It’s about helping your brain function and improving your quality of life.

Why Traditional Fitness Advice Fails ADHD Brains

If you have ADHD, you’ve probably been told by a doctor (or seen on TikTok) that you need a consistent workout routine. A schedule. A plan. A program.

But what you really need? Is an approach to movement that circumvents the obstacles your brain throws at you.

Let’s talk about why traditional fitness culture is practically designed to make ADHD brains struggle:

The Toxic Fitness Mantras

The way people talk about fitness is basically the opposite of ADHD-friendly:

“The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.”
“You can have results or excuses, but not both.”
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
“You don’t have to be extreme. Just consistent.”
“Success starts with self-discipline.”

I’m sure there’s a sort of person out there for whom that is effective. But people with ADHD? Not so much.

Executive Dysfunction Is the Real Workout

As Dr. Russell Barkley, an internationally recognized authority on ADHD, explains:

“Executive function is the cognitive process that organizes thoughts and activities, prioritizes tasks, manages time efficiently, and makes decisions. Executive function skills are the skills that help us establish structures and strategies for managing projects and determine the actions required to move each project forward.”

People with ADHD have, to varying degrees, impairments in the areas of the brain that relate to these executive functions.

What does that mean for exercise? When you don’t have ADHD, it might not sound like a big deal to get ready and go to the gym. But there are objectively a ton of microsteps and decisions between you sitting on the couch binge-watching Game of Thrones for the 17th time and you who could be at a yoga class or even just going for a run.

You have to:

And if you DO manage to get that workout in first thing in the morning… then you have to take a shower and RE-get ready. Another 40 steps to get stuck in. Oh, then you get to go about the rest of your day.

Other ADHD Roadblocks to Exercise

• We get bored: Repeating the same routine over and over, day after day, week after week? Our brains are like, “Ummm how about no? I think I’ll spend two hours researching crop circles instead.”
• Perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking: We have baseline assumptions of what the “ideal” looks like, and if we fail to meet that — or even think we’ll fail to meet that — it won’t feel like it counted. So instead, we do… nothing. Or if we’ve managed to get the habit going but after two weeks missed a day, then it’s all spoiled. So why bother trying?

Reframing Movement for ADHD Brains

For all of those reasons and probably a dozen more, traditional fitness advice can kindly take a seat. Now, let’s talk about what actually works for ADHD brains — because you don’t need to rely on discipline and willpower. You need flexibility. You need fun. And maybe you need pants. (Although those might be optional.)

For a lot of us, “exercise” lives in the graveyard of shoulds:

“I should go to the gym.”
“I should start running again.”
“I should be doing more than this.”

And you know what’s buried in that graveyard? Shame. Guilt. Unrealistic expectations. And a whole mausoleum full of resistance bands, ab rollers, thigh masters, and every other as-seen-on-TV thingamajig we’ve ever bought that promised a quick and easy path to being a fitness god.

So instead of keeping movement in the “should” category, let’s move it somewhere better.

Movement as a Gift to Your Future Self

One option is to start thinking about movement as a gift you’re giving yourself — or a favor that current-you is doing for future-you.

I always find it easier to do something hard for someone else than just to do it for myself. So I try to think of my future self who will benefit from doing the thing now as a separate person.

Because of our wonky time perception, the future often doesn’t feel … real. So it’s a little easier to talk ourselves into the idea that future-us isn’t really us.

So in this reframing, we’re taking “I should really get off the couch and go workout” to:

“Kim-3-Hours-From-Now really needs me to do these squats for her because she’ll feel better, have a better day, and probably sleep better too. She’s awesome and deserves help, so even though I don’t feel like doing a damn thing, I’ll do it for her.”

Focus on the Feeling, Not the Activity

Another reframe: focus not on what you’ll be doing, but on how you’ll feel because you’ve done it.

Not – “I’m working out because I should.”
But – “I’m moving my body because it helps me focus.”

Or “I’m doing this stretch because I want to feel less stiff.”

Or “I’m dancing around the kitchen because it makes me feel alive — not because I’m trying to burn calories.”

This shift matters. It’s the difference between forcing something and choosing it.

ADHD-Friendly Movement Options

Let’s start with the movement that we often fail to recognize:

Accidental Exercise

This is the movement that happens without being planned. Without gear. Without a warm-up playlist or a fitness app yelling at you. Maybe even without pants.

We’re talking:

These are all examples of “movement by chaos,” and ADHD brains are amazing at it. If it gets your heart rate up or your body out of stillness — even for a minute — it counts. Full stop. The sooner you recognize that, the more you can capitalize on it.

Low-Bar Wins

Here’s the magic ADHD sauce: make the bar so low you’d have to get a shovel to go under it. We’re not aiming for 45 minutes of structured sweat — we’re aiming for low effort dopamine wins.

Examples:

Anything is better than nothing. In fact, something is infinitely better than the guilt spiral of doing nothing.

Why These Little Movements Actually Matter

At this point, you might be thinking, “Great, you’ve got me doing interpretive dance in my driveway. How is this helping?”

Let me try to give some context on how much these little movements actually matter — not just for your body, but for your brain.

Understanding Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)

TDEE is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. When looking at how much energy our body uses in a day, it breaks down into four categories:

1. Basal Metabolic Rate: About 70% of the energy we expend daily is used to just keep us alive — things like breathing and organ function
2. Thermic Effect of Food: 10% comes from the energy your body uses to digest, absorb, and metabolize food
3. Exercise Activity Thermogenesis: Only 5% comes from intentional movement, like doing pilates or lifting weights
4. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): The remaining 15% comes from all other physical movement — fidgeting, standing instead of sitting, taking the stairs, pacing, dancing while you brainstorm

So, while hitting the gym for an hour certainly has many benefits, it’s only a small part of how physical activity affects what happens in your body and brain over the course of a day.

NEAT Is Where the Magic Lives for ADHD Brains

NEAT can add up to significant benefits:

So yeah, that “dumb little dance” you did while waiting for your files to upload? It counts. And it’s doing more for your brain than you realize.

And here’s where this really matters if you’re someone — like us ADHDers — who struggles with consistency.

Showing up for a planned workout every day is hard for anyone, but for ADHD brains, it can feel damn near impossible. Life gets messy. We forget. We hit overwhelm. We get bored halfway through the routine we just started last week.

That’s why these spontaneous, unstructured, everyday movements are so powerful. They don’t require a streak. They don’t need a schedule. They don’t need willpower. They just happen. In the background. In the chaos. In the margins of your day.

If consistency feels out of reach, focus on frequency. Focus on tiny movement wins when and where they happen. That’s how you build momentum without having to be perfect.

Perfection is a lie our brains try to sell us. Progress is the gift we give ourselves when we decide to tell our brains to fuck all the way off with that bullshit.

Quick Wins Build Momentum

When it comes to building any kind of habit or routine, ADHD brains aren’t powered by shame, guilt, or looming pressure (okay, maybe sometimes, but it’s not reliable and feels like shit).

We ARE powered by dopamine, progress, and evidence that what we’re doing is working. That’s why quick wins are everything.

These tiny, low-bar actions may seem like nothing in the moment. But they give you something way more valuable than calories burned or muscles toned. They give you proof:

Every one of those wins becomes a data point your brain can build on. And when you collect enough data points, you start to self-trust.

Self-trust is huge for building a foundation of sustainable habits. Especially for us ADHD folks who have internalized years of inconsistency as evidence that we are doomed to be failures forever. It’s not. It’s just evidence that we didn’t understand how our brains are wired and how to work with that wiring instead of constantly trying to override it.

Movement Menu: Match Your Mood

If your brain likes choices but hates making them, create a movement menu based on how you’re feeling:

The idea is to meet your brain where it’s at — not where you wish it was. And remember, your menu doesn’t have to be fancy. Post-it notes work just fine.

I have a list of links in the notes app on my phone where I save those little quick reels and shorts I see when scrolling social media where someone is doing like, “these three exercises are super awesome.”

Final Thoughts

So yeah — whether you’re doing squats while your coffee brews or chasing your trash can down the driveway, those moments matter. And they’re doing more for your body and your brain than you probably realize.

In my next blog, we’ll dive into how to start building a more intentional movement habit, how to choose what kind of exercise works for you, how to actually fit it into your day, and what to do when your brain hits the “I just can’t” wall anyway.

Remember: Movement doesn’t have to look like what you see on Instagram. It just has to work for your brain and your life. Start small, celebrate wins, and let go of what exercise “should” look like.

Your ADHD brain — and your body — will thank you.