Exercise Tips for Children with ADHD

If your child has recently been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you'd naturally have every reason to be worried. After all, it's a well-known fact that children diagnosed with mental health conditions struggle not just in their academic lives, but in their lives outside school as well. However, instead of feeling hopeless about the situation, you should be optimistic and encourage your child to make exercise a regular part of life.

Over the years, certain types of exercise have been found to be helpful for children in terms of symptom management. In this post, we’ll share a few exercise tips with you that are sure to improve some of the condition’s most debilitating symptoms.

1. Perform aerobic exercises outdoors

Aerobic exercises such as biking, running, swimming, and brisk walking are known for raising the heart rate for 30 – 40 minutes. They can greatly benefit ADHD-diagnosed individuals by flooding their brains with certain chemicals that can help boost their attention spans. While some of these exercises can be performed indoors, it's best to perform them outside to reap maximum benefits.

2. Participate in team sports

Team sports such as soccer involve not just a variety of aerobic exercises but also require participating players to work together towards a common goal. Children with ADHD often struggle to form strong social bonds with others, but by engaging in team sports, they can slowly start to improve their communication skills. Over time, consistent participation in team sports can significantly increase the self-esteem of an ADHD-diagnosed individual.

3. Do yoga

Yoga, an ancient discipline originating in the Indian subcontinent, combines exercise with an emphasis on breathing. It’s been scientifically proven that when an individual focuses on breathing, it automatically calms the nerves and hence, the mind. Since children with ADHD struggle to focus on a single thing for extended periods, yoga can be helpful in soothing the mind and allow them to concentrate better for longer.

4. Practice martial arts

Martial arts such as judo, karate, jujitsu, and taekwondo involve complex exercises that are aimed at bringing the body and mind together. Some of the skills that are greatly improved through regular practice of martial arts include fine motor skills, memory, timing, consequences of actions, focus, and balance.

5. Try to spice things up everyday

If your child is only doing yoga everyday and not engaging in any other form of exercise, it may become quite boring after a while. The trick to make the exercises work over the long run is to keep things interesting, which is why it’s recommended to combine different exercises. For example, if your child goes out for a run on Monday, he can perform some yoga on Tuesday, and engage in some team sports activities on Wednesday.

ADHD may be a problematic condition to deal with, but by combining different physical exercises with medication, its symptoms can be managed to an extent. At Phoenix Family Medical Clinic, we understand the nature of ADHD and its complications, which makes us the ideal caregivers to children who are diagnosed with ADHD.

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