[0:02] hi everyone this video is about
[0:04] how i've developed a consistent habit of
[0:06] going to the gym as someone with adhd
[0:09] now this entire video is important but
[0:12] if you're more short on time i've
[0:14] labeled which parts are more specific to
[0:16] people with adhd or general
[0:18] neurodivergent people so you can feel
[0:20] free to skip to those or take a look at
[0:22] the script outline that i've linked in
[0:24] the description and feel free to use
[0:26] that to decide how you want to skip to
[0:28] the relevant sections first a brief bit
[0:30] of intro i've always been a bit
[0:32] frustrated by advice when it comes to
[0:34] building habits or going to the gym
[0:37] and look these are things that you
[0:38] should try first if you haven't already
[0:40] so things like promising yourself a
[0:41] simple reward like a snack after going
[0:44] to the gym going on a regular schedule
[0:46] or participating in intramural sports or
[0:48] some kind of team sport where you have
[0:50] some incentive to go and you can be held
[0:52] accountable but videos often stop here
[0:54] with very little additional information
[0:56] some videos talk a little bit more about
[0:57] the dopamine reward system and how
[0:59] reward and habits can can build based on
[1:02] that what i've always wanted is a more
[1:04] specific set of guidelines or a starting
[1:07] point that i could use to develop a
[1:09] habit and this video is is exactly that
[1:12] and i hope it's helpful to give you an
[1:14] idea of how well it's worked for me my
[1:16] gym habits are that i go anywhere from
[1:18] three to five times a week i've
[1:19] maintained this habit since 2016 back
[1:21] when i was 27 i'm 32 now and this was
[1:25] well before starting stimulant
[1:26] medication which i started in 2020 so
[1:29] it's something that really worked well
[1:30] as someone with adhd so we'll get to
[1:32] that and as for the workouts themselves
[1:34] i do a mixture of cardio like running
[1:36] and rowing on machines and i do some
[1:38] lifting like power lifts and olympic
[1:39] lifts and look i'm not physically
[1:42] impressive i am skinny but i do have a
[1:45] robust habit that i've maintained
[1:47] through
[1:48] various things like changing jobs
[1:50] changing countries stress-rated work and
[1:52] stress in my personal life so hopefully
[1:54] this video can help you build a robust
[1:56] habit as well first thing before you
[1:58] even get to the gym there are some
[2:00] things to consider
[2:02] and this is important for really anyone
[2:04] you don't have to have adhd to find this
[2:06] advice useful at least i hope the goal
[2:08] here is to develop a pull towards
[2:10] healthiness and a push away from
[2:12] unhealthiness and if you're familiar
[2:13] with the self-help literature this
[2:15] probably sounds very familiar this is
[2:17] actually from the self-authoring program
[2:19] i won't say anything more about it
[2:20] because i want to be clear i don't
[2:22] support the person behind it however the
[2:24] ideas are fantastic what's helped me is
[2:27] to understand what it means to be
[2:28] healthy and what it means to be
[2:30] unhealthy building up concrete examples
[2:32] of what that means it can be
[2:34] a little more vague or more concrete for
[2:36] example you might feel fine now but the
[2:38] question is will your habits keep you
[2:40] comfortable 50 years from now another
[2:42] maybe a more concrete example is that
[2:44] people tend to age more slowly when they
[2:46] exercise regularly and people tend to
[2:48] age more quickly when they don't and of
[2:50] course this is a more of a correlation
[2:51] but it's something that helps to keep in
[2:53] mind i'll talk a little bit more about
[2:55] this in a moment something that's
[2:56] another thing that's concrete is
[2:58] remembering how your body feels during
[3:00] stretches without exercise if there was
[3:02] a time in your life when you didn't
[3:03] exercise a lot or if you're currently
[3:05] not exercising a lot think about things
[3:06] like how quickly do you get tired you're
[3:08] just jogging a little bit from point a
[3:10] to point b did you not get as far as you
[3:12] would have liked to before running out
[3:13] of breath and then the other side
[3:15] remember how your body feels or felt
[3:18] during stretches when you did exercise a
[3:20] lot do you or did you feel good were you
[3:22] able to jog without losing your breath
[3:24] and did that feel good were you able to
[3:26] do the things that you enjoy without
[3:27] having to stop every few minutes were
[3:29] you able to get out of bed more easily
[3:31] things like that concrete examples that
[3:33] really are easy to remember and stick in
[3:35] your head
[3:36] and for people older than their late
[3:38] twenties
[3:39] how much harder will it be to get into
[3:41] shape now than it was five or ten years
[3:43] ago and think about how much harder it
[3:46] might be as the years go on if you are
[3:48] in your 50s or 60s of course you can
[3:50] start now the point is it only gets
[3:52] harder the point of bringing that up is
[3:54] not to guilt you there shouldn't be any
[3:56] guilt in this you should allow yourself
[3:57] to feel bad if you don't work out but
[3:59] it's a part of a concrete set of
[4:00] examples that builds that kind of push
[4:03] away from unhealthiness and pull towards
[4:05] healthiness of course there are plenty
[4:06] of exceptions a healthy lifestyle is no
[4:08] guarantee of anything there are plenty
[4:10] of people that work out all the time and
[4:12] eat well and whatever and they can get
[4:13] cancer and unfortunately die young and
[4:16] there are plenty of examples of people
[4:17] that don't work out who smoke every
[4:19] single day like a pack a day who live to
[4:21] 90 something there are exceptions but
[4:24] the point of doing healthy things is to
[4:26] improve the chances of staying healthier
[4:28] for longer and to improve the chance of
[4:30] having a more comfortable life as we age
[4:32] so that's something that i think about
[4:33] personally your long-term motivation
[4:35] might be a little different but yeah we
[4:37] all understand there are exceptions
[4:38] these are correlations you want to frame
[4:41] them in your head in a way that helps
[4:43] motivate you and doesn't quite
[4:45] guilt you too much you should do this
[4:47] over a very long time frame it shouldn't
[4:49] be done in a day or two longer is better
[4:51] because your brain will have more time
[4:53] to internalize these examples and make
[4:55] it more second nature for you to
[4:57] understand what healthy means just
[4:58] collect data don't stress over this it
[5:01] should be a passive process the way that
[5:03] i did it i certainly didn't spend a ton
[5:04] of energy googling what it means to be
[5:06] healthy and looking up images and videos
[5:08] of people talking about it if you want
[5:10] to do that that's great but what we're
[5:12] going for here is a long-term
[5:14] sustainable change the less stress we
[5:16] can associate with this the more likely
[5:18] it can be that these ideas will stick
[5:20] the idea is that generally over time
[5:22] you'll make healthier decisions when it
[5:24] comes to exercise try not to buy into
[5:26] fads when it comes to food and exercise
[5:28] do what works for you collect data
[5:30] specific to your body there are all
[5:31] kinds of people out there that will say
[5:33] this or that is the answer you should
[5:35] listen to your medical doctor and you
[5:37] should not take non-medical
[5:38] professionals words as truth including
[5:40] me figure out what motivates you when it
[5:43] comes to health keep it minimal easy to
[5:45] understand specific to you and look
[5:47] these don't have to make sense for
[5:49] anyone else and i'll go from uh more
[5:52] general to more specific so for me it
[5:54] feels good to be healthy i look better
[5:56] clothes fit better now we're getting a
[5:57] little more specific my hair is slowly
[6:00] thinning it doesn't quite look like it
[6:02] from your perspective but it is and i
[6:04] know that i'll go bald eventually i'll
[6:05] start balding eventually at the top of
[6:06] my head a little vain but i see fitness
[6:09] as my consolation prize there i have
[6:11] other motivations for fitness obviously
[6:12] but it's like it's like my little mini
[6:15] consolation prize i might lose my hair
[6:17] but at least i'll be fit i'll also learn
[6:19] how to accept the fact that i'm balding
[6:21] in a more healthy way but i use these
[6:23] small things to kind of keep me
[6:24] motivated in the short medium or long
[6:26] term another thing is that i can
[6:28] basically do whatever i want physically
[6:30] if someone asks me to play just like a
[6:31] 5v5 pickup basketball game now i could
[6:34] do that thinking back to when i was
[6:36] little i could just get out of bed and
[6:38] start sprinting and everything was fine
[6:40] these days as an adult i do have to warm
[6:42] up but i can basically do the same thing
[6:44] and it's really important to me to
[6:45] maintain that for as long as i possibly
[6:47] can
[6:48] whatever works for you collect data
[6:50] about yourself what it is that you like
[6:52] what it is about health that you enjoy
[6:55] or really want or whatever it is kind of
[6:57] observe yourself this does require a
[6:59] good amount of introspection stretch it
[7:01] out over a good amount of time we don't
[7:02] have to rush this i know it contradicts
[7:04] with the idea of working out now is
[7:07] better than working out later well you
[7:08] can work out now too so get the stuff in
[7:10] your head over a long time passively but
[7:13] as efficiently as you can the more data
[7:15] you collect the easier this will be next
[7:17] building an understanding of going to
[7:19] the gym the goal here is over the course
[7:21] of months to years
[7:23] understand what it's like to go to gyms
[7:25] different gyms in different ways how
[7:27] long it takes by car foot or public
[7:29] transport how much energy is involved in
[7:31] going learning what different gyms look
[7:33] like in person videos don't count you
[7:36] can't be pictures you have to be
[7:37] physically be there you have to see it
[7:38] in person you need to know the sights
[7:40] sounds and smells you have to observe
[7:42] how people are working out and
[7:44] interacting with each other and not
[7:46] overtly right you don't want to stare at
[7:47] people that's not cool but start slow
[7:49] and easy
[7:50] this is a lifestyle change and therefore
[7:53] a long-term change
[7:55] you want to make this process as easy as
[7:57] possible and i'll talk about the
[7:58] importance of that in the next section
[8:00] experiment with different schedules of
[8:02] going to the gym
[8:03] you could try
[8:05] regular schedules at different time
[8:06] scales maybe you want to say three times
[8:08] a week
[8:09] at specific hours or non-specific hours
[8:12] you could try going a set number of
[8:14] times a month make a tick mark each time
[8:16] you go to the gym and that could be at
[8:18] specific times or non-specific times you
[8:20] could let go of all of that and just say
[8:22] look i'm just going to go as many times
[8:23] as possible as my brain or motivation or
[8:25] energy will allow and do that at
[8:27] specific times or non-specific times you
[8:29] could try each of these one week or over
[8:31] the course of a month that also is hard
[8:33] what i did was try to commit to a
[8:35] schedule and i failed many times so i
[8:37] did stuff like this and i stuck to it as
[8:39] long as i could and just kept not
[8:41] succeeding for example i tried three
[8:42] times a week going to the gym lasted
[8:44] maybe a month and i stopped going for a
[8:46] while and then i tried running every day
[8:48] in the morning after waking up and i
[8:49] lasted maybe three weeks and then
[8:51] stopped for a while i tried running uh
[8:53] sorry going to the gym once a week and
[8:55] that lasted a few months and then i
[8:57] stopped for a while
[8:58] and then i started running 5k three
[9:01] times a week lasted about three months
[9:03] and i stopped for a while and then i
[9:04] list lifted up three times a week and it
[9:06] actually lasted much longer about six
[9:08] months um and then i again stopped
[9:10] what's interesting is that over the
[9:12] course of a few years of doing this
[9:14] trying and failing i ended up building a
[9:16] good understanding of what it meant to
[9:17] go to the gym and i started to feel more
[9:19] comfortable going and less
[9:21] self-conscious and less anxious about
[9:22] various unknowns related to that even
[9:25] going to the gym regularly and failing
[9:28] sorry going to the gym trying to go
[9:30] regularly but then failing is actually
[9:31] not wasted effort you can try sticking
[9:33] to a schedule and then and then failing
[9:35] and then not going for a while you can
[9:37] try experimenting with different
[9:38] schedules as i mentioned but you should
[9:40] let yourself be okay with fading out if
[9:43] you're really having a difficult time
[9:44] motivating yourself at some point you
[9:46] should be okay with that especially if
[9:48] you're starting out you can also
[9:49] experiment with different gyms and i'll
[9:50] talk about the different gyms that you
[9:52] can consider in a later section there
[9:54] are several helpful things about framing
[9:56] a gym habit as building an understanding
[9:58] of how to get to the gym
[10:00] because it removes the many many
[10:02] unknowns about exploring new places i've
[10:05] always had very big issues with this
[10:07] even a small task like going to the bank
[10:10] and opening an account was terrifying
[10:12] for me there are just so many unknowns
[10:14] you just don't know what's going to
[10:15] happen learning how to get to the gym
[10:18] it really
[10:19] puts those at ease because you you see
[10:21] that oh okay it really is not a big deal
[10:24] but you can only do that if you
[10:25] physically go it adds a motivator that's
[10:27] distinct from just working out more
[10:29] motivators are always good it
[10:30] contributes to robustness of the habit
[10:32] if you don't go to the gym for an
[10:34] extended time for whatever reason this
[10:36] framing can actually help take guilt
[10:38] away from going to the gym less
[10:39] frequently because data collection
[10:41] doesn't have to be super frequent yeah
[10:43] you have to be careful about that one
[10:44] but
[10:45] for me it's kind of helped okay so
[10:47] getting to the gym
[10:49] this is really important this can be
[10:51] very often make or break
[10:53] certainly in my case
[10:55] and i think this really applies
[10:56] especially for people with adhd first
[10:59] thing is you want to make going to the
[11:00] gym as easy as possible you want to get
[11:03] that foot out the door you want to make
[11:05] sure that getting to the car driving to
[11:06] the gym getting from the car to the gym
[11:09] every single step should be as easy as
[11:11] possible so to do that you want to make
[11:13] your clothing comfortable for the
[11:15] weather all your car problems should be
[11:16] fixed if you are driving so do all your
[11:18] safety inspections fix the check engine
[11:20] lights whatever is wrong with your car
[11:22] that's important to fix fix it if you're
[11:23] taking other forms of transport like a
[11:25] bus make that as easy and as fun as
[11:27] possible like look forward to browsing
[11:29] stuff on your phone listening to your
[11:30] favorite songs watching videos whatever
[11:32] you like doing on your phone let
[11:34] yourself do it on the bus
[11:35] next you want to minimize the time it
[11:37] takes to get out the door
[11:39] if you take more time to get out the
[11:41] door there will be more opportunities
[11:42] for you to get distracted you might
[11:44] start thinking about doing easier things
[11:46] than going to the gym like playing video
[11:48] games when you've thought about easier
[11:50] things for long enough it's extremely
[11:51] hard to convince yourself to go to the
[11:53] gym you will definitely have the
[11:54] willpower to go anyways
[11:56] the catch is that you can only do this
[11:58] once or twice or maybe even 10 times you
[12:00] could probably sustain this for a good
[12:02] amount depending on how how motivated
[12:04] you are but you don't want to fight with
[12:06] yourself every single time you go to the
[12:08] gym that negative feedback loop will
[12:10] build maybe like two people on this
[12:12] planet have the strength to really keep
[12:14] pushing through that because they're
[12:16] insane
[12:17] but you need that strength to overcome
[12:18] other bs related to adhd affecting other
[12:21] parts of your life so you need to make
[12:23] this process as easy and as smooth as
[12:26] possible and if you keep allowing that
[12:28] negative emotion to build up then you're
[12:31] only going to associate going to the gym
[12:33] with very negative thoughts and emotions
[12:35] and this entire process of going to the
[12:37] gym of building a habit is extremely
[12:39] sensitive to negative emotions it has
[12:41] been in my case i wouldn't be surprised
[12:43] if it was the same for your case that's
[12:44] what i've noticed and i think that's
[12:46] important to point out even if you don't
[12:47] go to the gym very often that's another
[12:49] really important thing that i noticed
[12:50] with myself even if i went like the time
[12:52] that i went once a week i started
[12:54] building up these negative associate
[12:55] feelings associated with it it just felt
[12:57] like such a distraction such a chore and
[13:00] i thought well it's only once a week
[13:02] right that should be easy it's not like
[13:03] it's three times a week well those
[13:05] negative emotions build up and it it got
[13:08] to a breaking point i just had too many
[13:09] other things to deal with and i just
[13:10] stopped going it's important to minimize
[13:12] those as much as possible make your keys
[13:15] gym clothes wallet whatever you carry
[13:16] with you to the gym in a standard easy
[13:19] to access area or set of areas for
[13:21] example i always put my wallet keys
[13:24] and phone on my desk somewhere on my
[13:26] desk sometimes i'll put it on my bed or
[13:28] on the floor close to my desk whatever
[13:30] it is i just have a pre-defined set of
[13:32] places where i know where things might
[13:34] be and so if it's not on my desk i can
[13:36] immediately look on the floor or on the
[13:38] bed oh okay there it is grab and go
[13:41] i leave my gym clothes on my drying rack
[13:43] which by the way combined with with my
[13:44] laundry basket this is a really helpful
[13:46] visual cue for when i need to do laundry
[13:48] i've also left clean gym shorts on the
[13:50] floor so they're easy to see but the
[13:51] idea is that it's easy to pick up and
[13:53] put on just go
[13:55] you definitely want to do laundry
[13:56] regularly so that gym clothes are
[13:58] readily available i know that this can
[14:00] be hard and make make or break this is
[14:02] really important for for getting out the
[14:04] door quickly for me not having clean
[14:06] clothes has always been like this
[14:07] kryptonite to not going to the gym
[14:09] because i just i hate doing laundry on
[14:12] the spot you know i realize oh three
[14:13] hours from now i have to go somewhere i
[14:15] need i have two hours to do laundry
[14:17] it's enough time but i i hate doing it
[14:20] it's just not going to happen so i try
[14:22] to make sure to do laundry
[14:24] semi-regularly so i always have clothes
[14:26] available i haven't done this one
[14:27] personally this this is another one
[14:29] takes more prep but less time to get out
[14:31] the door so depending on how your brain
[14:33] works this could be better for you you
[14:34] could put your clean gym clothes just
[14:36] all of them for the week in a gym bag so
[14:38] that it's ready for you the next time
[14:39] you go to the gym you can just grab and
[14:40] go and since there's multiple days of
[14:42] clothes in there you don't have to
[14:44] keep swapping out clothes all the time
[14:45] you just have to take the old clothes
[14:47] out yeah then you can just just grab it
[14:49] walk down the stairs or whatever however
[14:50] your house is laid out apartment
[14:52] whatever and just out the door without a
[14:54] thought this is a bit weird but you can
[14:56] use both meditation methods and a lack
[14:59] of impulse control to kind of make
[15:00] yourself fall into
[15:02] just going out the door and i know this
[15:04] is hard but the point is that you should
[15:06] at least know how to do it even if
[15:07] you're not good at it i'm i'm horrible
[15:09] at it i
[15:10] my brain will not shut up but you should
[15:12] know how to
[15:13] do it and then utilize it in the key
[15:15] moments where you might need it for you
[15:16] know like five ten seconds
[15:18] so understand how it works like
[15:20] you know some forms of meditation you
[15:21] can try just focusing on one thing like
[15:23] a particular sound like your breathing
[15:25] or the cars or the cars outside or the
[15:27] birds for like five minutes just learn
[15:29] how to do that and then
[15:32] once you know how to do that you can use
[15:33] meditation to minimize thinking about
[15:35] the hard parts of the gym or really
[15:37] anything else that's going on in your
[15:38] life that might prevent you from walking
[15:40] out that door then use your impulse to
[15:42] just go without thinking we all know
[15:43] what this is like to just do something
[15:46] without really thinking about it
[15:47] carefully
[15:48] the more you think about
[15:51] all of this though just the harder it
[15:52] will be to just go okay
[15:55] another thing to consider that i haven't
[15:56] done this a whole lot i think i might
[15:58] have done this more subconsciously is
[16:00] that the brain can really it can only
[16:01] focus on a few things at a time so what
[16:04] you can do is you can start singing a
[16:05] song that you like as you're preparing
[16:07] to go so it's it's less likely for your
[16:10] brain to think about something else and
[16:12] this can also be a little easier than
[16:13] that easier than meditation because
[16:14] you're doing something that you're
[16:15] familiar with that you really enjoy so
[16:18] as you're while your brain is kind of
[16:19] distracted with enjoying the feelings
[16:21] and remembering how to sing the song you
[16:23] can pick up your stuff and and walk out
[16:25] the door you can learn to counter
[16:27] specific excuses this is very helpful
[16:29] for example a big one for me is that i'm
[16:31] too tired this really depends on the
[16:32] situation but more often than not in my
[16:35] case it's because i didn't sleep enough
[16:37] or i had a hard workout the day before
[16:39] generally i found that i can still work
[16:41] out fine if i just go anyways i can
[16:42] always scale back weights or reps if i
[16:44] have to but again be safe you know your
[16:47] body pretty well maybe you have a
[16:48] physical therapist or something
[16:50] within reasonable guidelines you can
[16:52] counter this excuse another one for me
[16:54] is i have too much work my brain will
[16:56] use this sometimes even if i don't have
[16:58] work so i have to be honest with myself
[16:59] and either do the work if i don't go to
[17:01] the gym or go to the gym because i don't
[17:03] actually have work i don't always
[17:05] succeed sometimes i'll not go to the gym
[17:08] and not work it happens you just have to
[17:09] be honest with yourself as much as you
[17:11] can and sometimes give yourself a break
[17:13] all right
[17:14] at the gym i'll be a little brief
[17:16] because this is a little more about
[17:17] motivation and there are tons of videos
[17:19] on motivation and working out
[17:21] effectively one thing that
[17:23] i've used very consistently
[17:26] is to enjoy the grind and i don't know
[17:30] if videos talk about this but i've
[17:32] always
[17:33] been in the mindset of of of going in
[17:35] and just you know just trying really
[17:37] hard within again reasonable limits
[17:39] because there is such a thing as
[17:40] overtraining no matter how much you work
[17:41] out or how long you work out over you
[17:43] know however many years your mind will
[17:45] want to give up before your body more so
[17:47] when you're more trained and less
[17:48] trained but either way that does happen
[17:50] you should view this as a challenge to
[17:51] be overcome so really getting into that
[17:53] grind and pushing through uncomfortable
[17:56] physical physically uncomfortable
[17:57] situations that's something you should
[17:58] really learn to enjoy and then view
[18:00] maintaining good form as a top priority
[18:02] if you can't maintain good form or
[18:03] posture in whatever movement you're
[18:05] working on just scale back until you can
[18:08] and you can also view this as a
[18:09] challenge because it can be very hard to
[18:11] maintain good form when performing at
[18:12] one's limits make sure to don't overwork
[18:15] it is possible to have too much of a
[18:16] good thing just be careful of that
[18:18] that's also i guess a general helpful
[18:20] life thing you know try not to overwork
[18:23] but figure out how to enjoy the work
[18:25] when you're working yeah when it comes
[18:26] to working out i think i think that's a
[18:28] little easier because you're really
[18:29] doing it for yourself and for your
[18:30] health something that can help while at
[18:32] the gym is to watch videos of pro
[18:34] athletes working out or training just
[18:36] look at how hard they're pushing you can
[18:38] like pretend like you're kobe bryant
[18:39] training to become the world's best or
[18:40] something whatever works again doesn't
[18:42] have to make sense to anyone else just
[18:44] whatever works for you take clear mental
[18:46] or physical notes of your improvement
[18:48] are you less out of breath did you lift
[18:50] more did you last longer did you do more
[18:52] reps you can take note of this somewhere
[18:54] i usually use my phone and
[18:55] intermittently take notes of different
[18:57] milestones if i remember but it can help
[18:59] show you that you are improving
[19:01] concretely now after the gym if you're
[19:03] taking physical notes like i said i use
[19:05] my phone sometimes enjoy the increases
[19:07] in the numbers because if you go
[19:09] regularly you will see an improvement
[19:10] but
[19:11] also remember
[19:13] that numbers don't always increase this
[19:15] is something that threw me off a lot for
[19:17] years until i finally realized oh that's
[19:19] right some days your body just won't be
[19:21] at 100 that's fine or you were really
[19:23] distracted you had a lot to do and you
[19:24] just didn't work out for a few weeks
[19:26] maybe even a few months and you lost a
[19:28] lot of strength this is a long-term
[19:30] process so it can help to pay more
[19:32] attention to the fact that you went to
[19:33] the gym than the fact that whatever
[19:35] numbers have increased or decreased
[19:37] that's something that was very
[19:38] discouraging for me is that i'd make
[19:39] these really nice leaps in my squat
[19:42] numbers or bench numbers or whatever and
[19:44] then i'd
[19:45] change jobs move to a new city to a
[19:47] different gym that didn't emphasize
[19:48] those lifts and i get weaker at those by
[19:51] the way i go to a class with different
[19:53] programs for for working out so that's
[19:55] why i might not do squats at a different
[19:57] gym okay be mindful of that
[19:59] and
[20:00] your body will remind you that you
[20:01] worked out you'll be sore
[20:03] enjoy it and give yourself a little
[20:05] praise each time you notice let yourself
[20:06] feel good about it take notice of any
[20:08] improvements in physique you want to
[20:10] associate those positive feelings with
[20:12] having gone to the gym workouts or gyms
[20:14] to consider you can consider 24-hour
[20:16] gyms and i mentioned this i haven't done
[20:18] this but i mentioned this because in the
[20:19] past i'd often want to work out at odd
[20:22] random hours one day i'd want to work
[20:23] out at 2 pm the next at midnight the
[20:25] next at 10 am there was no pattern to it
[20:27] it's a good idea to not work out before
[20:29] going to bed but you should try
[20:31] experimenting with this especially if
[20:32] you have random urges to work out at odd
[20:34] random hours like i did because
[20:35] personally for me working out late an
[20:37] hour before going to bed it's never
[20:39] affected my ability to sleep maybe i had
[20:41] lower quality sleep and didn't know it
[20:42] but i could fall asleep just fine and it
[20:45] also let me get that energy out which
[20:47] actually helped me sleep so
[20:49] another thing to consider and 24 hour
[20:51] gyms are just nice because you don't
[20:52] have to force yourself to fit a schedule
[20:54] and it can make the process of creating
[20:56] a gym habit that much easier you can
[20:58] indulge those workout impulses what at
[21:01] whatever time you might be feeling it
[21:03] you're already spending the entire day
[21:04] forcing yourself to fit into all kinds
[21:07] of things into this neurotypical world
[21:10] so why not give yourself a bit of a
[21:11] break with that kind of thing you can
[21:13] consider gyms with classes or coaches
[21:15] like like a spin class or something
[21:17] these are nice because they're more
[21:19] structured in terms of class times and
[21:21] they do have a little more interaction
[21:22] than just going to a regular gym it can
[21:25] help if you prefer those regular times
[21:27] and prefer to interact only a little bit
[21:28] with people being surrounded by others
[21:30] who are positive and doing the same
[21:31] thing could be a good motivator gyms
[21:32] like this also provide a much stronger
[21:34] sense of community structure these
[21:36] classes in different states or countries
[21:38] may be much more similar in terms of
[21:39] people and equipment than regular gyms
[21:42] things like boxing jiu-jitsu gymnastics
[21:44] gyms something very focused
[21:46] these tend to have much more one-on-one
[21:48] interactions and that can be a very good
[21:50] incentive to show up and work hard
[21:51] likewise these gyms probably have
[21:53] similar equipment and social
[21:54] expectations in different gyms worldwide
[21:56] and of course if cost is an issue you
[21:58] can run while listening to podcasts or
[21:59] audiobooks i mean there's countless
[22:01] things you can try there are all kinds
[22:02] of
[22:03] videos and bodyweight exercises on
[22:05] youtube you could try doing intramural
[22:06] or different pickup sports which is also
[22:09] a low-risk way of socializing all right
[22:11] so finally everything i've said is a
[22:13] starting point so you should modify all
[22:15] of this advice in a way that fits you
[22:17] you should start experimenting and start
[22:19] questioning over the long term how you
[22:21] can make this habit sustainable you're a
[22:22] different person you have your own
[22:24] individual quirks and subtle differences
[22:26] over time
[22:27] as much as you can ask yourself what are
[22:29] the problems in the way of building a
[22:30] gym habit that are specific to you
[22:32] modify it and all the questions i've
[22:34] been asking i'm trying to keep it
[22:35] general but there could be something i
[22:36] missed and the this process of
[22:38] introspection is it's really helpful for
[22:40] you to identify what works for you
[22:44] okay so
[22:45] to conclude prepare for a lifestyle
[22:47] change in other words a long-term change
[22:49] this is not something that you can just
[22:52] get up and do right away unless you want
[22:54] it to fail within a few weeks make this
[22:56] process of building this habit as easy
[22:58] and stress-free as possible so negative
[23:00] feelings don't build up physically go to
[23:02] these gyms understand what it's like to
[23:05] to go minimize all the unknowns small
[23:08] and or slow changes can be much more
[23:10] sustainable than fast and or large
[23:12] changes we're going for sustainability
[23:14] look if fast and large changes really
[23:16] work for you and you can sustain that
[23:17] great then just stick to it but i for me
[23:20] if it's a habit like going to the gym
[23:23] that's very hard i need
[23:24] a long-term slow change
[23:27] whatever works for you and remember
[23:29] going to the gym people are not judging
[23:31] you they understand you're there to work
[23:32] out there's a million different reasons
[23:34] why someone might be staring in your
[23:35] direction very often what i'll do is
[23:37] i'll do a difficult rep or like you know
[23:39] get off the running machine i'm trying
[23:40] to catch my breath i'm staring into
[23:42] space and or maybe i was lifting and i'm
[23:44] just thinking about my form you know did
[23:47] this didn't quite feel right i feel like
[23:48] my you know my knees weren't pushed out
[23:50] enough or something you know whatever it
[23:51] is
[23:52] and
[23:53] i'll be looking at someone
[23:55] and i don't mean to so
[23:57] you know i'll look away so that's the
[23:58] thing that can happen and in a gym
[24:00] there's a lot of equipment everywhere
[24:01] someone might be looking at a specific
[24:03] piece of equipment or someone behind you
[24:04] but they're not judging you
[24:06] and if you go to the gym enough in time
[24:08] you get more fit and you realize that oh
[24:11] that's right i go to the gym regularly
[24:12] and
[24:13] i don't judge anyone that's coming in
[24:15] there might be someone that looks a
[24:16] little different but then all you want
[24:18] to do is say like that's awesome man
[24:19] like you know maybe it's someone who's
[24:20] trying to lose weight or trying to gain
[24:22] weight like it's it's awesome that
[24:23] they're there then you start to wish
[24:24] that you could tell them that look no
[24:26] one's judging you but
[24:28] you get the idea you'll just have to
[24:29] take my word for it so hopefully that
[24:31] minimizes some anxiety there i hope this
[24:33] was helpful thank you all so much for
[24:34] subscribing
[24:36] i can't believe how much the channel has
[24:38] grown
[24:39] when i initially started this channel i
[24:40] was really just hoping for 100
[24:41] subscribers and right now it's it's it's
[24:44] over that
[24:45] so
[24:46] we're actually approaching about 200. so
[24:48] yeah i really appreciate it i'll get the
[24:51] the next video which is about the
[24:53] creativity papers
[24:55] going unfortunately i'll be a little
[24:57] slow on that everything is going well
[24:59] work-wise here it's just uh there's a
[25:01] lot going on but thank you all for
[25:02] watching and sticking with me
[25:04] take care