For many of us, we kick off New Year making New Years resolutions that often include diet and exercise in the hope for renewed health.

Regular exercise is fantastic and can help not only keep you in shape, but increase your mental health and keep your internal organs healthy.

However did you know that exercise can also help autistic individuals self-regulate and manage stress?

Coach Dave Geslak has created exercise programs for people on the autism spectrum using structure and visual supports. The Exercise Connection programmes are proven to improve body image, motor coordination, posture, muscular and cardiovascular fitness. This helps boost confidence, relationships and wellbeing.

We’ve come up with 4 tips to help boost your health in the New Year as an autistic adult!

1. Recreational sports

Team sports such as football, hockey and netball can have great health benefits and also help you socialise with likeminded individuals. Research has shown that taking part in sport can decrease the frequency of negative, self-stimulating behaviours common among people with autism, such as body rocking or head nodding. Additionally, team sports can discourage aggressive behaviour. Its also common that team sports meet at the same time at the same place and with the same people, which can really help create a positive routine doing something you love. Many universities have sports clubs you can join and if you live in London, you can benefit from Go Mammoths sports clubs.

2. Yoga

Yoga is not only good for your physical body, but it also promotes self-regulation, helps you relax and alleviate stress. Yoga can be done at the comfort of your own home and with little equipment, making it easy to stick to when you first wake up or go to bed. For more ideas on how to implement yoga, have a look at Asanas for Autism and Special Needs. Peaceful Pathways yoga studio has collected a number of articles about yoga and special needs.

3. Hiking

For many people with autism, the peace and quiet associated with the natural world is a great stress reliever. Its a great way to exercise and enjoy nature without the pressure of intense social communication. The UK is lucky to have such fantastic walks and parks which makes it easy for anyone to experience the great outdoors. Walking Britain’s ‘walks near me’ is a great resource to find walks on your doorstep. However if you don’t want to walk by yourself you can always try Borrow My Doggy to find a furry friend to accompany you!

4. Swimming

Swimming is a great exercise and can be done individually or as a team sport. There are so many pools in the UK that are cheap to use, as well as many swimming clubs. As well as this, lidos and outdoor swimming is becoming increasingly popular, helping people to access the great outdoors and doing something great for your health.

This blog has given you 4 ideas to kickstart your health and fitness goals as an autistic adult. Of course, everyone is different and there are lots of different ways to exercise. Its important to try different things out and find what works for you!

For other useful resources visit our blog.