In my first two newsletters, I’ve shared my situation: after 4 years on ADHD medication, I’m now looking at a 2-7 year wait to get back on it thanks to NHS bureaucracy. But I’ve also shared my conviction that I have the tools to manage without medication – and one of those tools is exercise.
Specifically: cycling.
WHY CYCLING?
I’ve never been an “athletic” person. I lack hand-eye coordination and most team sports never grabbed my attention as a kid. And so for 35 years, I did precisely zero exercise.
Then I discovered cycling.
But why cycling? Why does this particular form of exercise work so brilliantly for my ADHD brain when nothing else did?
The science gives us some clues.
THE COMPLEXITY FACTOR
A German study tested 115 teenage students at an elite sports academy. Half did complex, coordinated movements. Half did simple movements at the same aerobic level.
The complex movement group significantly outperformed on attention and concentration tests.
The researchers concluded that complex coordination “preactivates parts of the brain which are responsible for mediating functions like attention.”
And cycling is complex. You’re constantly:
- Balancing
- Selecting gears
- Managing cadence
- Reading terrain
- Anticipating traffic
- Making split-second decisions
Your brain doesn’t have time to wander. It’s too busy keeping you alive.
THE HUNTER BRAIN
There’s a theory called the “Hunter vs Farmer Hypothesis” that suggests ADHD traits were evolutionary advantages for hunters:
- Quick reflexes
- High energy
- Rapid decision-making
Farmers needed patience, planning, long-term focus. My ADHD brain was never built for that. Despite coming from a farming family… Sorry Grandpa.
But cycling? Cycling mimics the hunter environment perfectly: fast, competitive, full of movement and instant feedback.
When I’m on my bike, my ADHD brain isn’t broken. It’s exactly what I need.
THE NEUROSCIENCE
Dr. John Ratey from Harvard Medical School puts it brilliantly: “A bout of exercise is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin.”
- ADHD involves a deficit of neurotransmitters (dopamine and norepinephrine) in the brain’s attention center
- Medication like Ritalin works by boosting these neurotransmitters
- Regular exercise raises the BASELINE levels of both
Not just a temporary spike. An actual sustained increase.
Exercise also promotes:
- Neuroplasticity in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus
- Neurogenesis (growth of new nerve cells)
- Development of new neural receptors
In other words: your brain literally rewires itself to function better.
RIDING IS MY RITALIN
There’s a story about a kid named Adam Leibovitz. In first grade, he was told he’d “never amount to anything” and would “fall through the cracks.”
He went on Ritalin. It helped, but he hated the side effects: the “robot mode,” the emotional flatness, the Monday zombie feeling.
Then he started cycling.
He noticed something: on weekends when he rode a lot, he could concentrate even without his medication. During rest weeks, he’d be bouncing off the walls.
Soon after Adam started high school, he stopped taking Ritalin completely. He managed his ADHD entirely through cycling.
The results? He graduated early, won a national junior time-trial championship and earned a full scholarship to a top university.
His quote: “Riding is my Ritalin.”
MY APPROACH
I didn’t decide to stop taking the medication I personally tolerate well and find really works for me: the NHS has made that decision for me (still really cross about this).
But I do have cycling. Lifting weights. And yoga. Pilates. And long walks across (currently) muddy fields. Different intensities, different cognitive benefits.
More importantly: I have 4 years of experience learning how my ADHD brain works. I know that movement isn’t optional for me, it’s absolutely essential.
So, whether you’re on medication, waiting for medication, or choosing not to take medication, let me say this: exercise needs to be part of your ADHD management toolkit.
Find your thing. The movement that makes you forget you’re exercising. The activity where your brain finally feels at home.
For me, it’s cycling.
What’s yours? Let me know in a comment whether you have ADHD or not.