How to build a habit of going to the gym when you have ADHD

[00:02] hi everyone this video is about

[00:04] how i've developed a consistent habit of

[00:06] going to the gym as someone with adhd

[00:09] now this entire video is important but

[00:12] if you're more short on time i've

[00:14] labeled which parts are more specific to

[00:16] people with adhd or general

[00:18] neurodivergent people so you can feel

[00:20] free to skip to those or take a look at

[00:22] the script outline that i've linked in

[00:24] the description and feel free to use

[00:26] that to decide how you want to skip to

[00:28] the relevant sections first a brief bit

[00:30] of intro i've always been a bit

[00:32] frustrated by advice when it comes to

[00:34] building habits or going to the gym

[00:37] and look these are things that you

[00:38] should try first if you haven't already

[00:40] so things like promising yourself a

[00:41] simple reward like a snack after going

[00:44] to the gym going on a regular schedule

[00:46] or participating in intramural sports or

[00:48] some kind of team sport where you have

[00:50] some incentive to go and you can be held

[00:52] accountable but videos often stop here

[00:54] with very little additional information

[00:56] some videos talk a little bit more about

[00:57] the dopamine reward system and how

[00:59] reward and habits can can build based on

[01:02] that what i've always wanted is a more

[01:04] specific set of guidelines or a starting

[01:07] point that i could use to develop a

[01:09] habit and this video is is exactly that

[01:12] and i hope it's helpful to give you an

[01:14] idea of how well it's worked for me my

[01:16] gym habits are that i go anywhere from

[01:18] three to five times a week i've

[01:19] maintained this habit since 2016 back

[01:21] when i was 27 i'm 32 now and this was

[01:25] well before starting stimulant

[01:26] medication which i started in 2020 so

[01:29] it's something that really worked well

[01:30] as someone with adhd so we'll get to

[01:32] that and as for the workouts themselves

[01:34] i do a mixture of cardio like running

[01:36] and rowing on machines and i do some

[01:38] lifting like power lifts and olympic

[01:39] lifts and look i'm not physically

[01:42] impressive i am skinny but i do have a

[01:45] robust habit that i've maintained

[01:47] through

[01:48] various things like changing jobs

[01:50] changing countries stress-rated work and

[01:52] stress in my personal life so hopefully

[01:54] this video can help you build a robust

[01:56] habit as well first thing before you

[01:58] even get to the gym there are some

[02:00] things to consider

[02:02] and this is important for really anyone

[02:04] you don't have to have adhd to find this

[02:06] advice useful at least i hope the goal

[02:08] here is to develop a pull towards

[02:10] healthiness and a push away from

[02:12] unhealthiness and if you're familiar

[02:13] with the self-help literature this

[02:15] probably sounds very familiar this is

[02:17] actually from the self-authoring program

[02:19] i won't say anything more about it

[02:20] because i want to be clear i don't

[02:22] support the person behind it however the

[02:24] ideas are fantastic what's helped me is

[02:27] to understand what it means to be

[02:28] healthy and what it means to be

[02:30] unhealthy building up concrete examples

[02:32] of what that means it can be

[02:34] a little more vague or more concrete for

[02:36] example you might feel fine now but the

[02:38] question is will your habits keep you

[02:40] comfortable 50 years from now another

[02:42] maybe a more concrete example is that

[02:44] people tend to age more slowly when they

[02:46] exercise regularly and people tend to

[02:48] age more quickly when they don't and of

[02:50] course this is a more of a correlation

[02:51] but it's something that helps to keep in

[02:53] mind i'll talk a little bit more about

[02:55] this in a moment something that's

[02:56] another thing that's concrete is

[02:58] remembering how your body feels during

[03:00] stretches without exercise if there was

[03:02] a time in your life when you didn't

[03:03] exercise a lot or if you're currently

[03:05] not exercising a lot think about things

[03:06] like how quickly do you get tired you're

[03:08] just jogging a little bit from point a

[03:10] to point b did you not get as far as you

[03:12] would have liked to before running out

[03:13] of breath and then the other side

[03:15] remember how your body feels or felt

[03:18] during stretches when you did exercise a

[03:20] lot do you or did you feel good were you

[03:22] able to jog without losing your breath

[03:24] and did that feel good were you able to

[03:26] do the things that you enjoy without

[03:27] having to stop every few minutes were

[03:29] you able to get out of bed more easily

[03:31] things like that concrete examples that

[03:33] really are easy to remember and stick in

[03:35] your head

[03:36] and for people older than their late

[03:38] twenties

[03:39] how much harder will it be to get into

[03:41] shape now than it was five or ten years

[03:43] ago and think about how much harder it

[03:46] might be as the years go on if you are

[03:48] in your 50s or 60s of course you can

[03:50] start now the point is it only gets

[03:52] harder the point of bringing that up is

[03:54] not to guilt you there shouldn't be any

[03:56] guilt in this you should allow yourself

[03:57] to feel bad if you don't work out but

[03:59] it's a part of a concrete set of

[04:00] examples that builds that kind of push

[04:03] away from unhealthiness and pull towards

[04:05] healthiness of course there are plenty

[04:06] of exceptions a healthy lifestyle is no

[04:08] guarantee of anything there are plenty

[04:10] of people that work out all the time and

[04:12] eat well and whatever and they can get

[04:13] cancer and unfortunately die young and

[04:16] there are plenty of examples of people

[04:17] that don't work out who smoke every

[04:19] single day like a pack a day who live to

[04:21] 90 something there are exceptions but

[04:24] the point of doing healthy things is to

[04:26] improve the chances of staying healthier

[04:28] for longer and to improve the chance of

[04:30] having a more comfortable life as we age

[04:32] so that's something that i think about

[04:33] personally your long-term motivation

[04:35] might be a little different but yeah we

[04:37] all understand there are exceptions

[04:38] these are correlations you want to frame

[04:41] them in your head in a way that helps

[04:43] motivate you and doesn't quite

[04:45] guilt you too much you should do this

[04:47] over a very long time frame it shouldn't

[04:49] be done in a day or two longer is better

[04:51] because your brain will have more time

[04:53] to internalize these examples and make

[04:55] it more second nature for you to

[04:57] understand what healthy means just

[04:58] collect data don't stress over this it

[05:01] should be a passive process the way that

[05:03] i did it i certainly didn't spend a ton

[05:04] of energy googling what it means to be

[05:06] healthy and looking up images and videos

[05:08] of people talking about it if you want

[05:10] to do that that's great but what we're

[05:12] going for here is a long-term

[05:14] sustainable change the less stress we

[05:16] can associate with this the more likely

[05:18] it can be that these ideas will stick

[05:20] the idea is that generally over time

[05:22] you'll make healthier decisions when it

[05:24] comes to exercise try not to buy into

[05:26] fads when it comes to food and exercise

[05:28] do what works for you collect data

[05:30] specific to your body there are all

[05:31] kinds of people out there that will say

[05:33] this or that is the answer you should

[05:35] listen to your medical doctor and you

[05:37] should not take non-medical

[05:38] professionals words as truth including

[05:40] me figure out what motivates you when it

[05:43] comes to health keep it minimal easy to

[05:45] understand specific to you and look

[05:47] these don't have to make sense for

[05:49] anyone else and i'll go from uh more

[05:52] general to more specific so for me it

[05:54] feels good to be healthy i look better

[05:56] clothes fit better now we're getting a

[05:57] little more specific my hair is slowly

[06:00] thinning it doesn't quite look like it

[06:02] from your perspective but it is and i

[06:04] know that i'll go bald eventually i'll

[06:05] start balding eventually at the top of

[06:06] my head a little vain but i see fitness

[06:09] as my consolation prize there i have

[06:11] other motivations for fitness obviously

[06:12] but it's like it's like my little mini

[06:15] consolation prize i might lose my hair

[06:17] but at least i'll be fit i'll also learn

[06:19] how to accept the fact that i'm balding

[06:21] in a more healthy way but i use these

[06:23] small things to kind of keep me

[06:24] motivated in the short medium or long

[06:26] term another thing is that i can

[06:28] basically do whatever i want physically

[06:30] if someone asks me to play just like a

[06:31] 5v5 pickup basketball game now i could

[06:34] do that thinking back to when i was

[06:36] little i could just get out of bed and

[06:38] start sprinting and everything was fine

[06:40] these days as an adult i do have to warm

[06:42] up but i can basically do the same thing

[06:44] and it's really important to me to

[06:45] maintain that for as long as i possibly

[06:47] can

[06:48] whatever works for you collect data

[06:50] about yourself what it is that you like

[06:52] what it is about health that you enjoy

[06:55] or really want or whatever it is kind of

[06:57] observe yourself this does require a

[06:59] good amount of introspection stretch it

[07:01] out over a good amount of time we don't

[07:02] have to rush this i know it contradicts

[07:04] with the idea of working out now is

[07:07] better than working out later well you

[07:08] can work out now too so get the stuff in

[07:10] your head over a long time passively but

[07:13] as efficiently as you can the more data

[07:15] you collect the easier this will be next

[07:17] building an understanding of going to

[07:19] the gym the goal here is over the course

[07:21] of months to years

[07:23] understand what it's like to go to gyms

[07:25] different gyms in different ways how

[07:27] long it takes by car foot or public

[07:29] transport how much energy is involved in

[07:31] going learning what different gyms look

[07:33] like in person videos don't count you

[07:36] can't be pictures you have to be

[07:37] physically be there you have to see it

[07:38] in person you need to know the sights

[07:40] sounds and smells you have to observe

[07:42] how people are working out and

[07:44] interacting with each other and not

[07:46] overtly right you don't want to stare at

[07:47] people that's not cool but start slow

[07:49] and easy

[07:50] this is a lifestyle change and therefore

[07:53] a long-term change

[07:55] you want to make this process as easy as

[07:57] possible and i'll talk about the

[07:58] importance of that in the next section

[08:00] experiment with different schedules of

[08:02] going to the gym

[08:03] you could try

[08:05] regular schedules at different time

[08:06] scales maybe you want to say three times

[08:08] a week

[08:09] at specific hours or non-specific hours

[08:12] you could try going a set number of

[08:14] times a month make a tick mark each time

[08:16] you go to the gym and that could be at

[08:18] specific times or non-specific times you

[08:20] could let go of all of that and just say

[08:22] look i'm just going to go as many times

[08:23] as possible as my brain or motivation or

[08:25] energy will allow and do that at

[08:27] specific times or non-specific times you

[08:29] could try each of these one week or over

[08:31] the course of a month that also is hard

[08:33] what i did was try to commit to a

[08:35] schedule and i failed many times so i

[08:37] did stuff like this and i stuck to it as

[08:39] long as i could and just kept not

[08:41] succeeding for example i tried three

[08:42] times a week going to the gym lasted

[08:44] maybe a month and i stopped going for a

[08:46] while and then i tried running every day

[08:48] in the morning after waking up and i

[08:49] lasted maybe three weeks and then

[08:51] stopped for a while i tried running uh

[08:53] sorry going to the gym once a week and

[08:55] that lasted a few months and then i

[08:57] stopped for a while

[08:58] and then i started running 5k three

[09:01] times a week lasted about three months

[09:03] and i stopped for a while and then i

[09:04] list lifted up three times a week and it

[09:06] actually lasted much longer about six

[09:08] months um and then i again stopped

[09:10] what's interesting is that over the

[09:12] course of a few years of doing this

[09:14] trying and failing i ended up building a

[09:16] good understanding of what it meant to

[09:17] go to the gym and i started to feel more

[09:19] comfortable going and less

[09:21] self-conscious and less anxious about

[09:22] various unknowns related to that even

[09:25] going to the gym regularly and failing

[09:28] sorry going to the gym trying to go

[09:30] regularly but then failing is actually

[09:31] not wasted effort you can try sticking

[09:33] to a schedule and then and then failing

[09:35] and then not going for a while you can

[09:37] try experimenting with different

[09:38] schedules as i mentioned but you should

[09:40] let yourself be okay with fading out if

[09:43] you're really having a difficult time

[09:44] motivating yourself at some point you

[09:46] should be okay with that especially if

[09:48] you're starting out you can also

[09:49] experiment with different gyms and i'll

[09:50] talk about the different gyms that you

[09:52] can consider in a later section there

[09:54] are several helpful things about framing

[09:56] a gym habit as building an understanding

[09:58] 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