Cassie Withey-Rila

Those of us with experiences of neurodivergence, disability, or chronic illness (and many of those who don’t!) experience a ‘boom and bust’ cycle. This cycle can complicate our ability to engage in active lifestyles, including exercise. Considering how common experiences of neurodivergence, disability, and chronic illness are within the trans, non-binary, and gender wiggly folks, that means this cycle is especially relevant to conversations of trans folks’ access to physical activity. 

 

The boom and bust cycle is simple: when we feel good, we are active, living our best lives (the boom). But sometimes we do so much that we over exert, as we end up crashing, our bodies forcing us to rest (the bust). This can be small, doing just a little bit too much, and are a little bit too tired the next day. For some, it can be quite dramatic, where even what many would consider a ‘normal’ amount of daily activity keeps someone in bed the next day. 

 

You could see how this boom and bust cycle would impact on people’s ability to participate in social events, work, schooling, etc. And for the purposes of this Sweat with Pride blog, you could see how the boom and bust cycle could impact on peoples’ ability to engage in regular physical activity. If getting exercise is something that you do, knowing that you can’t do anything the next day, it can make it pretty inaccessible and unappealing. Navigating the boom and bust cycle requires lot of planning and maths, a lot of work that disproportionately impacts on trans people, as so many of us live with disability or chronic illness.

 

There are no easy, one-size-fits-all answer for managing the boom and bust cycle. Some people find that working to stay slightly under their capacity, so they never overextend, can keep them out of the cycle. It takes a lot of self-control to saying no to things you want to do when you have the energy to do it! It takes a lot of pre-planning if we choose to say yes to things, knowing we will be wiped the next day. (or week!). We live in a world that lacks the flexibility to accommodate people navigating conditions that cause this cycle. When we are advocating for increased physical activity for trans people, we must take these contexts into account. 

 

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It will help me sleep better at night knowing it Share

I have sweated 659 minutes for pride so far this month! My goal was to do 21 minutes a day, which would be a total of 630 minutes total in June. So it seems like I could have gone with a higher daily goal, right? Well, maybe.  

We hear that exercising regularly or even daily is the best way to go. That is true! We have heard that a sedentary lifestyle is bad. Also true. Active transport (as I mentioned in the last blog), and other ways of incorporating exercise into our daily lives makes it way easier. Things we already do, things that are fun, things that we don’t think of as “exercise” can be the key to a more active lifestyle. 

So why don’t more people do it? 

Environments and the boom and bust cycle are two big reasons why people are not more physically active in day-to-day life. Poverty and disability go hand in hand and both are over represented in our transgender communities. Let's talk about the first one...

I have a garden I like to work in, and enjoy getting outdoors. Those sort of things are not seen as the same as going to the gym or going for a run, but if that is a way for people to get physically engaged in our environment, that's a win! But lots of people don't have a yard, don't have the option to get outdoors. Being overworked, lack of transportation, and competing priorities will take up a lot of capacity, leaving little for getting outdoors for leisure. 

So if formal exercise programmes are not appealing or accessible, getting outdoors and into green spaces can be a great way to get active. Unfortunately, our environments need to be accessible for us to engage with them.

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Active transportation (walking, biking, skating, etc) is one of the easiest ways to increase our daily exercise! For me that looks like using my e-bike to get around: running to errands, riding to campus, going to the shops, attending protests. Switching short trips to a form of active transport  not only is an easy way to increase daily activity, it is also a great way to lower our carbon footprints!  Share