by Daley Jones
Co-Chair | ADHD Alliance

Been a little while since I’ve written anything. Busy busy busy as per.

Speaking of being busy, one thing that I have been endeavouring to find time for of late is exercise.

Now, I don’t need to say anything about the obvious benefits of regular exercise with regards to people’s physical health. There are plenty of articles out there, written by people far more intelligent (and fitter) than me that will explain all of that.

But what has become increasingly apparent to me is how important regular exercise is to my mental health, and in particular my ADHD and dyspraxia.

Now, like many I’ve always hated running. However, having nothing to do during lockdown (remember that!?) and not being able to take part in team sports (football for me), I decided going for a run was better than doing nothing.

I won’t lie… the first few weeks were bloody awful. I hated every single run. But then one day, quite unexpectedly I found myself enjoying my run. It was such a shock I remember the moment clear as if it was yesterday.

I was running along a canal one morning. It was a beautiful autumnal day, I’d run past some canal boats (cooking bacon, the bastards) and some swans. And found myself thinking “Well, isn’t this nice?”

I eventually set a goal of doing a half marathon, which I trained for and completed in June 2021. However, thanks to my good old ADHD… as soon as I completed my goal, my brain said: “That’s it, done now”, and honestly I’ve struggled to get back into running again.

The thing is, my physical fitness massively improved. But what I came to realise, only quite recently in fact was the massive benefit the exercise was having around my ADHD.

There is the obvious point: ADHD man = he like to move.

But what I started to miss was the headspace going for a run gave me. I’d literally have nothing to focus on, or worry about. It would just be me, the road/path/towpath. It was an extremely liberating state of mind.

Then there’s my dyspraxia. I got my ADHD diagnosis first, but I quickly realised the issues I had controlling my big old frame (6’5″ and fairly broad, ladies and gents) and my fine motor skills were causing me far greater self-esteem issues than my ADHD.

It’s always been there. I avoided going to sports day at school. There was an expectation that I’d excel at certain sports like long and high jump due to my size – this was obviously not true. Hop skip and jump: forget it, with my sequencing issues. Javelin and shot put: my force feedback issues prevented me from using the requisite effort. And then there’s one of my life’s great loves: football. I’ve always played football. But it was always apparent there were issues for me that others didn’t seem to have.

Heading the ball? Ha, that requires me to anticipate the movement of the ball, and get my brain to engage my legs to jump with the correct amount of force, move my head back and then forward connecting with the right part of my forehead… NO CHANCE.

What about in goal? Sure, I saved a few shots because I’m a big lad. But judging a low-driven shot? By the time I’d worked out where the ball was heading and processed what I needed to do… the net was already making that satisfying yet galling ripple sound.

The point is – all these perceived failures put me off physical activity.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Caragh McMurtry at a neurodiversity speaking event we were both at. As well as being a generally all round lovely person, Caragh Is a former Olympic rower, representing Great Britain and appearing at the Tokyo Olympics. She also happens to have an autism diagnosis.

I urge you to have a look at Caragh’s brilliant website, read her story and find out how she is trying to help neurodivergent athletes and their coaches maximise their potential.

I’ve been lucky enough to have an in-depth conversation with Caragh about the issues I’ve had as a neurodivergent person wanting to get into sport. She really is very inspiring!

She helped me come to the realisation that regular exercise was having massive benefits to my dyspraxic self-esteem. When I was running, I was no Mo Farah, but I was really proud of my achievements. I was getting out moving regularly, and only occasionally crashing in to things (low hanging branches along towpaths have a lot to answer for).

Needless to say, my new levels of understanding around the importance of regular exercise means I am trying to get back into a routine. I won’t lie, it’s proved difficult – primarily due to issues being organised and executive function. But I’ve re-joined the gym and have benefitted from advice from a neurodivergent-friendly personal trainer: the lovely Shelley Rudge.

Shelley explained the weight based gym exercises in a way my dyspraxic brain could comprehend, really listened to my feedback around the ones I found more difficult, and found excellent easier-to-understand alternatives that had the same desired effect. Check out her Instagram.

So, I implore you… Get out there! It doesn’t matter if you aren’t going to look like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, or be the next Laura Muir. Regular exercise will have such a transformative effect on your mental health, as well as your physical. I just need to start following my own advice on a regular basis! ∎

This blog was originally published on the Metropolitan Police Service Intranet – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author