Hey guys,
I’m looking for a sport to do because I’m super skinny and I’d like to gain at least a bit of muscle. I’ve done cycling and bouldering in the past, but neither made me any less skinny.
The problem with sports is it’s very hard to do any sort of exercise with ADHD because beyond giving you no stimulation, it gives you negative stimulation, like when doing the plank. What’s more, it usually requires a ton of logistic prep/going somewhere, which itself is boring and becomes a barrier.
One thing I can see motivating me is doing it with other people (I enjoy chilling with people and having banter), but for that I might as well go to a pub/society where there’s no pesky ball I have to kick around. Team sports like football never really appealed to me for some reason anyway.
Has anyone had success making sports fun?
Fencing.
Something about being 1v1 with an opponent and facing them in the closest sport to simulated combat other than a martial art just causes me to immediately hyperfocus during a bout. Probably the only time I’ve ever felt that ADHD is a strength.
Also in fencing being skinny is a super duper great advantage.
It’s fucking exhausting tho, a 2 minute bout will absolutely wipe u out at first, both muscularly and cardiovascularly.
You’ll be incentivized to lift and do sprints to improve your technique.
Practicing parries and ripostes is also anything but boring, with each repetition you really feel the intricacy of each motion and it’s never ever boring since you can just imagine your doing it against an opponent
And fencing gyms are rather social environments, nothing like trying to stab someone with a blunt foil to make a friend
Woah this is a great idea! You’re right, having an active opponent must keep you on your toes and I can totally see the focus in that being captivating. This really does seem like a good ADHD sport.
How expensive is fencing to get into? I.e. average lessons cost, membership fees, etc?
Depends, cheaper for kids, for adults usually around the price of a nicer rock climbing gym or like a premium ish gym (cheaper than someplace like equinox, pricier than somewhere like crunch)
Tournaments super pricy but optional
Equipment is dumb expensive but most places will let u rent or borrow and you need to use shitty equipment anyways till u know what u like. Then u usually get it piece by piece. But once u get it, it’ll last ur entire life unless ur like an athlete lol.
It’s solo equipment only usually so u don’t need to worry about things like organizing a pitch or getting nets and goals and whatever, everyone brings their own stuff and the gym provides whatever else would be needed