This is something familiar to all of us. If we haven’t had our own experience with this, we’ve seen enough friends, family, and coworkers go through this cycle. People decide they want to get into shape and live healthier lives. This involves a balanced nutritional lifestyle, as well as exercise.
But humans beings are really good at coming up with excuses not to exercise. The same goes for dieting, but that’s a story for another day. It’s sad but true that most resolutions to begin exercising and getting in shape either never get off the ground at all, or falter before any real progress is made.
Exercise is hard, demanding, and not always necessarily as enjoyable as lying on the couch eating chips and watching Netflix. It does seem like most of the people who seem to remain in shape are those masochists that like to exhaust themselves and get sweaty at sports or outdoor activities, doesn’t it?
Well, the truth is, there’s probably some form of exercise that is enjoyable to just about anyone, at least enough. This enjoyability may not (and often is not) enough to motivate people past the downsides – exhaustion, hard work, dedication, making the time.
We’re busy people, and it seems like our career eats enough of our lives, that what time we have to ourselves is precious. It can be hard to spend any of that doing something that’s not relaxing and peaceful.
Well, we can’t change what exercise is. However, we can go over five of the most common excuses for not exercising, and offering solutions most people may not readily think of. In other words, if you have an excuse, today, we’re going to debunk it.
First Excuse: “But I’m way too tired to exercise …”
Oh, we’re all guilty of this one, and most people can empathize. The best time to work out is first thing in the morning, and that’s not a time most of us want to deal with the world in any way. Morning people are rare, the rest of us just hate everything until coffee and perhaps a shower have gently elevated us to wakefulness.
Thus, it’s quite common to say “I am too tired to exercise”. It’s a natural reluctance to embrace rough physical activity just as we wake up. But, what can we do but suffer? Well, there are a few potential solutions.
- Actually, forget the morning exercise thing, and find a time of day when you’re more full of energy than usual. This is often after lunch for many people. This means you’ll have the energy to burn, and won’t feel too tired to exercise. It may not be the most ideal solution all things said, but it’s better than nothing.
- Having an exercise buddy to commiserate with, and with whom to share the motivation to work through that morning routine, can go a long way. Social exercising is going to be a common solution we see here, for those who are social.
- Finally, keep your eye on the prize. Exercise can often be the best source of energy and wakefulness. If you want to feel awake and alive, to shake off that morning funk, getting your blood going will do a lot for you. It may be a bit of a struggle for a few minutes but just push through it. Have some coffee first if you drink coffee, it’ll make the initial push less horrible.
Second Excuse: “Like I can afford it …”
So, another excuse that has some truth to it is the expense of maintaining an exercise regime. Well, the perceived expense, anyhow. A gym membership can be expensive, and we all have so many bills already with utilities, living expenses, and so on. Who wants to shell out their vanishing funds for weekly torture sessions just for a flatter stomach?
For many, they may straight up not have the dough for it, too. Fortunately, there are some solutions to this, because gyms aren’t a prerequisite to having work out routines. Yes, they have their perks, they are ideal, but people have exercised for millennia without them.
- You could purchase some basic gym equipment for your home. Okay, it’s not cheap either, but it’s far cheaper than a gym membership, and if you get this equipment second hand, it can actually be pretty cheap. Some barbells and dumbbells too. You can set up a perfectly serviceable home gym without breaking the bank. This has the advantage of privacy as well.
- There are plenty of exercises that don’t even require gym equipment. All cardio can be done pretty much anywhere. Push ups, sit ups, squats and much more can also be done with no equipment. You can lift anything heavy if you want to build muscle.
Third Excuse: “Who has the time?”
Yeah, this one’s understandable too. We’re busy people with busy lives. We have jobs, we have family and social obligations. It often barely feels like we have time to even get any sleep. We’re expected to take what little free time we have, and exhaust ourselves for the sake of health too? Man, it’s not fair.
But, the thing is, it’s very easy to make time for exercise, you just have to do it.
- Find periods of time when you’re idle, watching TV or something. You could be lifting weights, walking on a treadmill, or any number of other exercises while you did. You could even make it easier to exercise if the duration makes it challenging. Try walking through two episodes of a show you’re binging, at a decent clip.
- Do you have kids? Exercise with them. Take them on walks, play with them outdoors in active ways. Join exercise groups with other mothers, so your kids can play and develop social skills while you and friends exercise and motivate one another. You already seek some social life if you’re a parent, and want to encourage the same for your kids. This is a good way to harness that for health benefits as well.
Fourth Excuse: “What’s my motivation?”
Some people have a hard time facing repetitive and onerous responsibilities for prolonged periods without some sort of consistent reward or sign of progress. Sadly, fitness requires a decent bit of time to show real results, and it’s an uphill battle to maintain it for a while, too.
To many people, while being fit sounds nice, it’s hard to get the motivation to see that result as worth what diet and exercise “put them through”. This is why most people are at least a tiny bit overweight. We are a society of instant gratification, after all.
- Set goals and plot your progress with something like Google exercise sheet. This sense of accomplishment will keep you going.
- Reward yourself for achieving milestones, and for keeping on schedule. You can have a treat now and then, reward yourself with a moderate-sized meal you enjoy, or something.
Fifth Excuse: “I hate exercising.”
Some people are lucky, and enjoy things like sports and other physical activities, which allows most of their exercise regimes to be fun, for them. Those who don’t enjoy these activities will find the repetitive routine of an average person to be tedious.
There are ways to improve this.
- Again, exercise with a friend. Not only will it keep you motivated, but you have someone to converse with, to enjoy the company of, which will make it fly by faster.
- Watch TV or YouTube, or listen to your phone. Audiobooks, vlogs, all manner of entertainment is perfectly fine.
These are the biggest excuses, though there are others. To learn more about exercise, and ways to stay on track, follow us on Facebook.
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