Dyspraxic Adults

Does anyone find that they are more exhausted than other people after exercise? Other people I know seem to be able to bounce back pretty quickly but I am floored for about 2 days after it despite have a decent fitness level. I used to hill walk a lot and would always sleep at about 6pm straight through the night after a walk. I did this activity for about 4 years and it never improved. My fitness improved but I always lagged behind people who were double my age and less fit. I also found it got worse and I think my main issue was that I struggled to regulate my breathing when doing exercise. My muscles always hurt after it too but I guess that's probably because of low muscle tone.

Most definitely. I've been hill walking most of my life (40 odd years now), but still experience a crushing fatigue, even after sometimes quite moderate days. Like you I keep myself fit in general terms, but have always found that I've had to do so in order to keep up with my hillgoing friends. I think you're right that muscle tone is an issue, but also that we as dyspraxics are told that we use 7 - 10 times as much energy doing normal things as do neurotypical folk. Maintaining balance, especially when descending steep slopes, is very hard work for dyspraxics. I also think you're correct that breathing is important. When I'm out running I've developed a rhythm that involves breathing in for two steps and out for three, or one in two out for steep ground. This works for hill walking too. It sounds complicated, but once it becomes a habit it's easy and it means that the breathing is balanced across both sides of your body.
I hope this helps.
Tim

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your message and that gives me some confidence that I can maybe go back to it as had given it up recently as was too difficult. I also went on a mountain leader training course which was a complete disaster. I got nervous so just kept on going the wrong way when navigating and had to slide down on my bum when going down on some rough terrain. I also fell and twisted my ankle and couldnt keep up with the others. The instructor just looked at me like I an idiot and told me that I should get better boots (My boots were only a couple of months old and cost me £150). I learned after that that If I get at feel for a terrain (Its kind of complicated to explain) I know exactly where I am using a map but if I have to pace, use a compass and do all the other stuff that other people do it completely confuses me. At the time I didnt realise I had dyspraxia and was devastated for weeks after it but makes so much sense now. I apologise as thats kind of off topic but good to chat to a fellow hill walker!

Hi Roxy, hi Tim

I'd echo what has been said. I'm a fit guy, spend 10 years as a rower and now go to crossfit which I've done for about 2 years. It's extremely frustrating that I get really out of breath just walking to the shops, when other (clearly less about) people can manage it. I find that to things that include me standing up I struggle with. I can ride a bike reasonably well, turned out to be pretty handy as a rower but putting one foot in front of the other at ANY speed I am no good at.

I've also read that us nerodiverse folk use a shed-load more energy/brain power doing normal things than neurotypicals. This means that we need a great deal more energy than others, sourced from out diet. This may explain (at some levels) a typically low muscle tone in our bodies. Breathing is difficult. I like to find rhythms with it, like paces, but it must be more difficult when walking on uneven ground. I find also the trap I fall into is looking at the ground when walking (trying to avoid tripping over anything) but the problem is that that makes it difficult to keep pace with anybody.

Yeah it's pretty rubbish eh! I think fatigue is probably the worst part of this for me as it makes everything just that bit more harder. No one understands as well why you are so tired and always out of breath. The one benefit I guess is I have always been relatively slim even before I did any exercise, I don't know about you? I can eat and eat and eat but rarely put on much weight, I'm thinking its probably because I'm burning a lot more energy just doing every day tasks. I have issues with blood sugar aswell even tho doctor has ruled out anything physical, again I don't know if this is down to burning more energy than others.

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Clumsy wrote:
I've also read that us nerodiverse folk use a shed-load more energy/brain power doing normal things than neurotypicals. This means that we need a great deal more energy than others, sourced from out diet. This may explain (at some levels) a typically low muscle tone in our bodies.

That is perhaps the most interesting thing (for me) I've read on this site. It explains a lot of things in my life! I think that because of this we probably need to be extra careful to eat high quality food.

roxy176 wrote:Yeah it's pretty rubbish eh! I think fatigue is probably the worst part of this for me as it makes everything just that bit more harder. No one understands as well why you are so tired and always out of breath. The one benefit I guess is I have always been relatively slim even before I did any exercise, I don't know about you? I can eat and eat and eat but rarely put on much weight, I'm thinking its probably because I'm burning a lot more energy just doing every day tasks. I have issues with blood sugar aswell even tho doctor has ruled out anything physical, again I don't know if this is down to burning more energy than others.

I have always got tired verrry suddenly. I also like you seem to not be able to put on weight.

Funnily enough I have also recently found out that I'm pre-diabetic. It seems strange having too much sugar in my blood when I'm so thin. At the moment I'm trying to combat this with a low carb high fat diet. I'm even starting to wonder whether my faulty blood sugar level is partly responsible for my dyspraxic symptoms. Anyway, I'll let you know of any further developments.

What kind of blood sugar issues do you have if you don't mind me asking?

roxy176 wrote:Does anyone find that they are more exhausted than other people after exercise? Other people I know seem to be able to bounce back pretty quickly but I am floored for about 2 days after it despite have a decent fitness level. I used to hill walk a lot and would always sleep at about 6pm straight through the night after a walk. I did this activity for about 4 years and it never improved. My fitness improved but I always lagged behind people who were double my age and less fit. I also found it got worse and I think my main issue was that I struggled to regulate my breathing when doing exercise. My muscles always hurt after it too but I guess that's probably because of low muscle tone.

Yes my stammina is much less than my friends and also my strength i wwight train and do cardio have done for years and i dont get anywhere near the results that someone else would and my diet is good. I have 0 muscle tone and i am weak for my size can be vey annoying sometimes

Mac

Please seriously consider making an appointment to see your doctor at the earliest opportunity.

You too Roxy176, should you be reading this too.

Absolutely, I get out of breath as a result of just taking a simple walk and doing basic errands. Of course i am 62 yrs. old now and have diabetes. But for most of my life i have been very hypoactive except for a period of time in my 20's and 30's when I forced myself to lift weights. I needed amphetamines to get up the energy( which had been prescribed by my psychiatrist because in the US we don't have dyspraxia---it's always misdiagnosed as ADD).
Anyway, I had slowly built up my strength and balance and noticed that although I lacked the strength of the average young man in the gym, my body reacted inordinately to the amount of weight I was lifting. I developed muscle tone quickly and dramatically and was quite muscular. Oddly, I wasn't nearly as strong as most men in the gym thought and many would ask me to spot them because I looked strong. I couldn't handle the weights they were lifting so I was a dangerous spotter and was too embarrassed to tell them I was not nearly as strong as I looked. I was always mystified by that. Anyway, all of that muscle tone is gone and my doctor has prescribed testosterone , iron and vitamin D3 to increase my strength. I don't notice much difference though, either in muscle tone or strength.