Advantages of Exercise with ADHD
In recent years, more and more of us find ourselves working from home, working at a desk, and Zoom weary. How about a walk to get the blood flowing to the brain while improving mood and cognitive function? Don’t just do it for your body. Do it for your brain! I need it too!
Exercise naturally boosts the key neurotransmitters: serotonin (mood), norepinephrine (focus), and dopamine (reward-system, movement). Norepinephrine boosts the signal quality of synaptic transmission, while dopamine decreases the noise of neuron chatter. Together, they reduce ADHD and enhance learning. Exercise fights off stress, anxiety and depression while enhancing neurogenesis, the ability to grow neurons at any age.
Exercise also boosts levels of the protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF facilitates the learning process and is important for long-term memories. In addition to synaptic plasticity, BDNF also plays a role in energy metabolism. BDNF also ramps up serotonin levels that help with mood, depression, anxiety. In short, exercise releases the same juicy chemicals that directly improve our focus and our mood! It’s MAGIC!
For this reason, I developed Walk & Talk coaching sessions. You get transformational results with:
An accountability partner to get moving on a weekly basis, with consistent start and finish times.
An audio recording of the call. We turn off the video so no one gets hit by a bus or walks into a tree.
Added benefit for your pet. While I’m used to seeing cats walking in front of the computer camera and sitting on shoulders, dogs are welcome to join us on the walk & talk! Feel free to bring your iguana or cockatiel!
The pace you need. We can make the walk as vigorous or as gentle as you need at that moment. Your body and your brain will thank you!