this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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Autism
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No matter how much it sucks, start working out. I know it sounds absolutely counterintuitive but using that energy for a 1h workout will give you so much power back.
When I started working out I joined a boxing fitness class, it was simple. 1 hour, no prep, no need to think about gear and just follow instructions. It was exhausting but it rejuvenated me like crazy. It was like I had never charged my batteries before, because they never really drained so I had all this old, shit energy in me that was finally replenished.
The first few times are rough but you'll only gain from it, keep at it. Find something that's easy to get to, near work or home and just do it. Don't think, pack a bag tonight and try something out tomorrow.
I can’t stress enough how good of an advice working out is. I am incredibly fortunate that I’m living in a beautiful area. So my go to was hiking. It is more time consuming than going to the gym, yes. But I get to see some nice shit and the fresh air is good for my mood. It’s also some great time to keep up with my audiobooks that I love to ignore otherwise.
If you have some mountains in your area give it a try. But it can be costly. At some point you might get a pair of good hiking boots and breathable clothes. But that’s only if you want to go serious with it. For your first few trips casual clothes and shoes will do.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I can’t say I’m really doing a lot of sports. But I do hike a lot these days (the advantage is not having a job atm)
Usually I don’t feel much difference though. (Apart from physical tiredness and my skin feeling burned and dry, I dont deal well with the sun)
Do you think high intensity exercise will make a big difference? I’m a bit scared I’ll do something wrong since I quickly start feeling pain in my neck or knees when doing exercise.
So difficult to tell how much is too much, but still so enough to benefit from it.
Try starting out with bands - they aren't as hard to the joints as weights.
I started a few years ago with a band and the instructed exercises that came with the band ( all of them have it ). After a few weeks i already had a feeling of how much is ok - it comes with the first times you get aware of your body core.
Now i have a set of different bands for different exercises - i can only recommend this for starters
also, drink much water like lot's of water
Edit: and, it's never too late - i started when i was 47, am now 52 and it's a different world for me. Before that i was in the office or home-office sitting 8 hours a day and completely out of energy after work for years ( + 20 years )
Sounds good. I don't know anything about that. What sort of bands would you recommend?
There are different resistance classes, i would start with the lightest ( usually they are in orange ).
Do the exercises until you don't feel any resistance anymore, then you can switch to the next resistance level.
I would recommend a multi band for the beginning, it's very versatile (with loops) and you can train the whole body with one band.
Personally i like the bands from blackroll, but it's up to you which brand you prefer. Keep in mind that some brands have their own color codes for different resistance levels. Most use the Orange ( lightest ) to Black ( hardest ) codes though.
High intensity exercise works great for stress and anxiety. Even just a few minutes will make a noticeable difference.
What should I look out for to notice the difference?
I am surprisingly bad at noticing my own mental state, especially when tired.
Usually after exercise I just feel like I need rest. Then I have some rest or a nap and I feel pretty much like normal again. I can’t seem to tell very well.
I won't notice a qualitative difference most of the time either, but I have noticed that I am much less anxious and have a better time at social gatherings when I have exercised than when I haven't. It's tricky for those of us who can't take stock of ourselves very well.
I suppose I wouldn’t have noticed it because usually the moments I’m doing more sports are also the moments when I’m not working and usually not meeting people. (Since I wouldn’t have the energy otherwise)
Might be good to keep an eye out for those activities after sports, thanks for the suggestion!
High intensity helps me. Going to the gym does not give me the same type of drain.
Find something that's low impact, swimming? The fitness boxing I went to was mainly your own body weight and punching a bag with gloves so not very high impact. Tell the teacher/coach and ask them to recommend you alternative moves.
Get into hot yoga? Zumba or something like that.
Where I live there's a thing called ClassPass and you buy points in the app that you can then spend on whatever class/sports/gym/whatever you want. See if there's something similar near you and test shit out.
I think high intensity also gives better results for me. But I can really start sweating like crazy, even with moderate exercise.
I once joined Zumba and was completely soaked and exhausted afterwards. Didn’t want to do it ever again (even though I kinda liked it)
I actually have classpass here, so maybe i should try out the month trial. How expensive are classes in general? Are the businesses that work with classpass decent quality?
I work in IT, so a desk job with almost no movement. If I wasn't doing sports I'd be crashing hard as well.
I always feel like, if someone with a sporty routine (lets say gym once or twice a week for 2h) stops doing sports for a longer period of time (2 weeks) they will feel generally pissed. But it never feels like sports are the reason. Then you do sports again and suddenly feel much better, at which point you face palm and think 'of course!'.
And it feels like that every fucking time. It's stupid but knowing it helps.
I’ll second this. I don’t have autism, but I do have ADHD and I think we have a lot of parallels when it comes to a social battery.
The gym is no joke when it comes to having more energy and drive to do more outside of work.
The first few weeks will not be fun and you’ll be more tired than ever before, but if you preserve then you’ll soon have more energy, feel more alert and generally be healthier. Keeping a good sleep schedule is key too. Go to bed and get up at the same time even on the weekends will work wonders.